News - Blockbuster in administration, third high street casualty of 2013

[HEXUS]

4,200 jobs are at risk at Blockbuster UK, which operates 528 shops.

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[OilSheikh]

Burtons
Peacocks
Dorothy Perkins
Optical express
H&M
NEXT
House of Fraser
Blue Inc


All need to go. Complete waste of space

[3dcandy]

H&M - Yes
House of Fraser - not yet
Burtons, Peacocks, Dorothy Perkins - have gone numerous times, so why not
Next - too profitable

I'd add in WH Smiths, Monsoon and Claires to the list of maybe's with also Eddie Stobarts I here struggling with cash flow...
Eddie Stobarts, although not High Street are the supply chain for many, so go figure

[Matsy]

I can't even remember last time I went to blockbuster.
Retail stores have little to no reason to be here these days, they are largely redundant.

[TheAnimus]

I would have thought Claires would do fine 3dcandy?

Small cost, high volume business, that relies on "OOOOOH SHINEY".

[3dcandy]

Low cost, can't sell enough. Know of 6 or 7 closed in the last year alone. Also know an employee (manager) who reckons they are experiencing stock shortages of popular items, which always starts alarm bells ringing! I think that once again, they opened shops when credit was easy, and are finding it tough now. Could be wrong, hope I am wrong especially Wh Smiths, but a few have mentioned them now

[3dcandy]

Oh and just to say, if Blockbuster and HMV go we'll be back like we were in the 1980's when shop vacancy rates were in the 20% range. Currently hovering at 17% but those 2 will add 5% to that figure...

[MercutioUK]

To be honest, I think clothes shops are likely to stay on the high street. I'd much rather try something on than buy it online but for most other stuff. Yup.

Certainly media. There's no reason to buy a book/CD/DVD in a shop other than an impulse purchase (or forgot a birthday). Other things are a bit more personal.

[NinjaStyles]

Why would optical express go down? I'll assume most people viewing this website need specs lol.

[Spank]

I've been waiting for this for a while tbh, Netflix killed them of in the US a couple of years ago, so it was inevitable that it would happen here.

[Noli]

Ahh but I'll miss the likes of Jessops as it allowed me to go to see with my own eyes, and physically handle, the cameras I'd read about on the internet.

Before then walking out of the store and buying them on the internet.

[Saracen]

...

Certainly media. There's no reason to buy a book/CD/DVD in a shop other than an impulse purchase (or forgot a birthday).

Of course there are other reasons to buy in a shop.

First, not everyone has a computer. I know quite a few folk that don't, and the older you are, the more likely it is.

Second, couriers can be a pain.

Third, if I buy in a shop, I can get it, whatever "it" is, right now. If I buy online, I have to wait a day or two, or more ..... and even that assumes it shows up when it was supposed to. Which not only involves the shipping company's stock and order system, but also brings me back to point 2.

Fourth, if there's something wrong with it, I can pop it into a local shop, explain and/or demonstrate the problem, get a replacement and go home with it. If you bought online, you've got to package it up, quite possibly go the the post office, very likely pay for carriage and quite possibly have an argument over who pays for that, and then do without while it's shipped both ways, and hope that whoever tests it bothers to read your description of the problem properly before declaring it NFF, at which point you get to start with the shipping process back to them all over again.

Fifth, not everyone wants banks, credit card companies and payment processors to build data profiles of them. Pay in cash, in a store, and they can't. Pay electronically online and they both can, and do.

And that's just what occurs to me late at night.

The problem is, most people seem to care more about saving a bit over any of that. And if that's how they feel, fair enough. But some of us would much rather use shops locally, for convenience and hassle avoidance, even if it costs a bit more.

Oh, and that reminds me of another point, so sixth, I think .... Local shop => local jobs, as opposed to jobs in a call centre or warehouse which may not even be in the same country, never mind same area.

[Bunjiweb]

WHSmiths profit margins are far too big to go - They're not in the same boat as these guys *yet* as there's still too many people who want print media, books etc. and aren't giving up and resorting to digital content yet.

Also, H&M I can't see going. In Cheltenham where I live, they're building a multi-million pound flagship store in the centre of town.

[Whiternoise]

Ahh but I'll miss the likes of Jessops as it allowed me to go to see with my own eyes, and physically handle, the cameras I'd read about on the internet.

Before then walking out of the store and buying them on the internet.

The family run photo business where I live are doing just fine...

If you're in London you can go to MicroGlobe. They're literally just a warehouse in the middle of Bloomsbury, but you can ask them to show you things if you're interested and the prices are some of the best (even online).

Burtons/Peacocks - probably, I've never been in one and I can't see how they can compete with BHS, Debenhams and House of Fraser. Of the latter three, I don't know how well BHS is doing these days. House of Fraser is sufficiently 'luxury' to keep going, I think. They sell a lot of very popular brands of clothes and of course the beauty sections.

WHSmith will be around for a while I think, they were smart enough to go into things like ebook readers which are competing quite well with the Kindle. Otherwise they're a semi decent bookseller, have literally any magazine you care for and have a reasonable selection of cards. Stationery is lacking, go to Rymans.

I'm surprised Waterstones is still going. I rarely go in because everything is full price and there are, frankly, better bookshops. I'm thinking of Topping and Company (Bath/Cambridge), numerous indie bookstores in London and heck even Oxfam. Amazon of course usually trumps on price..

DSG is balancing on a knife edge. They were exceedingly close last year, we'll see how things pan out.

Bring it on. We need good old independent retailers on the high street again.

[3dcandy]

WH Smiths so I've heard is not the retail arm, they're the distributor for nigh on 99% of the mags and newspapers and it's that side that is dragging them down...

Clothes shops are far from immune, and again it seems it's decisions made last year that are backfiring. H&M was a "tip" said to me by someone who'd worked for them..

[3dcandy]

Seems DSG will survive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21055640