Ruh-oh.
No sooner have HMV gone into administration than the UK wing of Blockbuster video joins them.
Evidently the notion of renting movies has moved wholly online – which I’m not sure that I’m entirely happy about – and the signs are increasingly pointing to a streaming future, which I’m certain that I don’t want, as the UK’s broadband infrastructure just can’t handle that level of demand and the quality isn’t there.
Another 4000 people face the prospect of unemployment as a result of this announcement – and it’s hard to imagine that there’s going to be a white knight who swoops in and buys these locations to run as a going concern. This is, after all, a business sector which seems to have been outpaced by technology.
Time will tell whether Blockbuster’s online rental business continues to trade – it’s the one part of the business which seems best placed to weather the current economic storms battering the UK retail sector, albeit by relying on old-fashioned physical media.
The question arising for me out of all this? Where the hell do I buy my steelbook copy of “Resident Evil – Retribution” from now, then?
Related articles
- Blockbuster calls in administrators (telegraph.co.uk)
- Blockbuster enters administration (bbc.co.uk)
- Blockbuster Forced to Call it Quits Too (gizmodo.co.uk)
I’m fortunate to have a locally owned video store that is still in business, and surviving. I hope they stick around, because it’s nice to browse the shelves and get other people’s opinions.
It is an increasingly rare thing to be able to go to a video store and participate in the simple pleasure of browsing and checking out the little recommendation cards from the store staff.
Den of Geek has a fun post on this activity, soon to be lost to time:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/24136/the-fading-wonder-of-video-rental-shops