Blockbuster in administration

[domainseller200]

Blockbuster has now gone into administration too !

 

[boxerdog]

didn't see that one coming to be honest, but I'm not surprised

 

[Tricky1]

How could they compete with people streaming films..

The one near me is still called Blockbuster Video, tells you something about a company.

 

[Aegean]

I think the 'video shop' has been on death row for some time. It doesn't surprise me that Blockbuster is getting the last rites before the switch is pulled. As long as Bob Holness isn't too upset

 

[tifosi]

They've swapped and changed their display practices loads of times in the last couple of years to a point where I couldn't be arsed with them.

Notably their practice of only having the latest films on the shelf and flogging all the rest in bargain buckets. Fine if you don't go to the piccies, but they lost out on an enourmous back catalogue that the online derivatives capitalised on.

Shame. Likely to find a buyer I think.

I'd buy shares in Deloitte! They must be minting it!

 

[Edwin]

Presumably the remaining DVD sales/rental outlets must be doing better with Play.com walking away from retail and both HMV and Blockbuster bust, all within the space of a week. Although people buy less DVDs these days, they're not going to switch instantly to buying none at all so all that unfilled demand will need to be met by other retailers.

 

[tifosi]

When they have the rental price of a dvd at nearly 40% of the price I can buy it online then you're on a hiding to nothing.

They've continually put prices up - either for profits or higher cost or both - while the cost of buying the dvd has dropped.

Not sustainable.

 

[scooter]

play.com rebranding to rakuten.co.uk and wuaki.tv rebranding to play.com


http://tamebay.com/2013/01/play-com-to-become-lovefilm-netflix-killer.html



.

 

[murph]

I'm surprised they weren't one if the first to go... I mean all they had left was game rental...

 

[doodlebug]

HMV and Blockbuster use to make a lovely couple but now have both grown old and useless so time for a bit of euthanasia and put them both to rest.

R.I.P

 

[Bailey]

Indeed, the death-knell was there waiting in the wings for the last couple of years.

most of us oldies can remember having a thriving video-rental shop (or three) around the corner.(usually ran by a couple of Mr Ali's) that was until the big boys had all the latest pristine copies and in DVD that Mr Ali didn't stock.

Even allowing for Gaming, How anybody could believe the business model could survive this long baffles me

note - ah shucks - Baffles.Me and it's derivatives are taken

 

[GreyWing]

What I really don't understand is why they all continue to go down hill until they collapse. Why some of them don't give up the ghost before it gets into administration.

Any of us could have spotted places like HMV and Blockbusters were a failing business model. When one of my sites are failing for example, I shut it down and move on. But I shut it down and move on while I have cash in the bank to fund other ventures. I don't throw everything at it, end up with nothing and then stuck if I think it is a declining market.

They should have shut everything 6 years ago and gone 100% online. Turnover may have been 1% of what their stores took but hey, they may have made a decent profit... or any profit in fact would have been better than what they were doing.

 

[Murray]

What I really don't understand is why they all continue to go down hill until they collapse. Why some of them don't give up the ghost before it gets into administration.

Any of us could have spotted places like HMV and Blockbusters were a failing business model. When one of my sites are failing for example, I shut it down and move on. But I shut it down and move on while I have cash in the bank to fund other ventures. I don't throw everything at it, end up with nothing and then stuck if I think it is a declining market.

They should have shut everything 6 years ago and gone 100% online. Turnover may have been 1% of what their stores took but hey, they may have made a decent profit... or any profit in fact would have been better than what they were doing.

Indeed, they obviously had no future doing what they were doing, they could have been progressive and evolved into lovefilm or netflix before either of them had a chance, but nope.. just continued the course and let themselves decline.

 

[GreyWing]

The only thing I can really think of is that Directors are happy taking as much money as possible all the way to the end of the line. Usually to the cost of shareholders, although I don't think Blockbusters had publicly listed shares though.

 

[aZooZa]

Completely negligent IMO. Directors could have seen this coming years ago. The current streamers are not much better - old and obsolete libraries with few updates. Until the torrent sites are brought into line, there's no business model in video.

 

[GreyWing]

Completely negligent IMO. Directors could have seen this coming years ago. The current streamers are not much better - old and obsolete libraries with few updates. Until the torrent sites are brought into line, there's no business model in video.

Someone on here posted out getting netflix unlocked for the US, that isn't bad at all. A big step up from the UK version and some great titles.

Wasn't one of the first into this arena actually Enron. A strange case of someone being too early to market and Blockbuster being too late. Timing is everything I guess.

 

[disruptive]

The only thing I can really think of is that Directors are happy taking as much money as possible all the way to the end of the line. Usually to the cost of shareholders, although I don't think Blockbusters had publicly listed shares though.

I'd love to disagree and believe the best in the people...but I have to agree. Having worked with similar companies and organizations before, directors, MD's, CEO and the guys that cream the money are never keen to shut off the money supply.

These guys are waged and have little stake in the business. What makes these guys different from, say, Michael Dell (Dell.com) is that they have never built anything in the first place and feel no pain when in-decline or a responsibility to *really* tiller the ship.

I'd go as far as to say that there is a 'ponzi' scheme mentality to the directors, in that many know they will fail, but are happy to gee along the troops while taking massive salaries.

My own countless stories about companies ripping off investors, shuttering companies, selling the IP under the table make one decide that these guys at HMV, Blockbuster are not idiotic or deluded but in fact complicit in value extraction. Why? It's human psychology...

 

[foz]

These guys are waged and have little stake in the business. What makes these guys different from, say, Michael Dell (Dell.com) is that they have never built anything in the first place and feel no pain when in-decline or a responsibility to *really* tiller the ship.

Applicable to the Nominet board.

Wage earners that have never been on their own, fending for themselves.