You can tell they were really squeezed as they seemed to be employing less than 8 people per shop. A shame but inevitable.

I hear Deloitte are hiring………

Blockbuster owned and operated Xtra-Vision in Ireland from 1996 until 2009. Hopefully this move by Blockbuster in the UK will not adversely impact upon the safety of jobs in the home entertainment industry here.

I was in Xtra-Vision on Saturday night and there was about three people in it. It’s very difficult to see how they can reverse this trend. Unfortunately it’s only going to get worse which of course affects jobs within the industry.

A thousand thumbs up!

That’s the key to it.

Traditional “bricks” retailers need to concentrate on the experience of the customer that can not be replicated on line.

‘The experience’ ??? What experience are you talking about? You mean driving to the store trying to find something to watch, usually getting something you have no clue about and will probably be s***e, xtravision carry an increasingly narrower range to chose from, and the you forget to bring it back for the next couple of days, costs a fortune. Much as I am concerned by the loss of jobs the business model was doomed several years ago as was HMV’s and others. They are way behind the times.

So, William, how exactly is xtravision’s business model at fault because you have s**t choice in movies and can’t be bothered to bring them back on time?

Well that’s somewhat good news :)

That’s good news!

Well they entered administration in late 2011/early 2012….and came out of it again but I would say things aren’t too good. They never really adapted to the market and to be honest I think the day of the electronic entertainment retailer is fast coming to an end. I’ll miss them though, I like being able to browse around the shop and see the physical copy of what I might buy but they just cannot compete really with online retailers on price.

For sure.
A few years back only the nerdy types downloaded movies…now any body can do it with services like NetFlix etc.
The writing has been on the wall for some time now for these stores so this should come as no surprise to anyone.
And even if Xtravision had moved into the digital space offering a NetFlix type service, this would still not save the jobs of the store workers.

Third in a week. Jessops last week

No, they owned Xtravision once though

Why are you depending on the government?

Its up to a business to change as the market change, the very fact an awful lot of Irish company’s don’t have even a website shows they’ve ignored the whole “internet thing”. Very foolish indeed,

Obviously I beleive it’s up to businesses to get their act together but government action is also very important. Sky high rates and upward only rent reviews on high street premises are a large part of why they have become unprofitable. The government also screw the motorist as do the car parks. The hight streets will be ghost towns with nothing but coffee chains and McDonalds selling burgers if some action isn’t taken. The famous Irish pubs are knackered for a different set of reasons. As a business man said in the UK recently, I don’t pay high rates on my web depot.

Need I remind you that the web is a global phenomenon unconcerned with what a few politicians off the coast of Europe get up to.

I’m not suggesting the TDs can stop the inevitable but they can plan for it.

Good point. Buying the cheapest product is natural. Buying online is common sense. Bear in mind though that buying online in Ireland implies you are not in any way shape or form supporting the Irish economy. The online firms we are supporting are paying no taxes whatsoever to the Irish state. They are creating no employment in the Irish state. In the long run and in the bigger scheme of things the Irish economy is going to suffer very badly. Local councils are going to encounter severe problems going forward as they are not going to be getting rates from all these collapsed retailers. Ultimately we the Irish tax payer is going to have to come up with the shortfalls. Obtaining the cheapest product online may be beneficial short term but in the long term we are going to have to pay in the form of more taxation as a consequence of the demise of our domestic retail economy. Buying local or Irish does no small wonders.

Eddie, web based businessess like eBay employ thousands of people in Ireland! My concern is that the high streets will be destroyed and town centres like ghost towns.