Forum - View topicNEWS: Blockbuster Hires Advisors, US Virgin Megastores to Close
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Emma Iveli
Posts: 679 Location: Hobo with internet |
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It did... I never really shopped there I usually went to the two Borders... Seresoully there are two Borders down town in that area. One opened a couple years ago... but still. My friend mostly shopped for hard to find DVDs though... like I said... he doesn't know how to use amazon. |
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GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
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Hate to add to the misery, BUT
Borders is in big trouble, too. Has been for a few years. Their stock price has tanked and people just aren't buying as many books, period. The whole discount bookstore chain economy has been in trouble for quite a while, too. Their main competition, Barnes & Noble is somewhat better off. I just got confirmation from a Waldenbooks employee the other day that the Borders flagship store in downtown Chicago -- across from Water Tower Place on the Magnificent Mile aka North Michigan Avenue -- is being closed. It's a four-level store that was probably the best bookseller in Chicago. At least it was when I lived in Chicago. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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That's too bad. I actually enjoyed going to Virgin because they carried CDs that I couldn't find at Fry's and Best Buy, which was totally unrelated to anime. Now I'll have to online to feed my metal passions. I never really have bought anything from Borders. If ever I have bought English manga it's been from B&N, but on very rare occasions. |
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Horitsuba
Posts: 35 |
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Just two days ago as I was going home, I passed by a Virgin Megastore right next to a closing Circuit City and I thought, "I wonder how they're doing right now?"
...Now I know. I think I used to buy anime there years ago. |
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Vapors
 Posts: 139 Location: Bay Area |
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You should direct your friend to Rasputin and Amoeba, the former is nearby the Virgin in Union Square, the latter is in Haight /Ashbury. Both should fulfill the anime needs as both have a pretty wide selection of new and used stuff. On top of other genres of movies and whatnot. It hasn't really been good times lately for all retail. I know online is the way to go with cheaper rates and no sales tax (well, technically anyways), but I like taking some time out to browse the aisles, read the covers, get a "feel" for the product, etc. I guess I am old fashioned like that. I didn't use the Virgin store personally for my shopping needs, but this is pretty bad in the long run. It means fewer avenues for anime companies to show off their wares and hopefully capture a sale. Here's hoping things get better. |
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Emma Iveli
Posts: 679 Location: Hobo with internet |
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I know about them, I've been to them... and he usually shops at Virgin for non-anime DVDs that he can't find at the Raputin near his house (he lives in the east-bay) in fact despite being an anime fan he rarely ever buys them, he buys hard to find DVDs like Batman animated movies and that live action Kitataro movie. |
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CaptainAvatar
 Posts: 381 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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Video-on-Demand, Netflix, and downloading off the internet has killed the DVD rental business, and Blockbuster has obviously felt this. My sister works for one of the busiest Blockbuster stores in the Twin Cities area, and the store barely turned a profit last year. I hate to say it, but I think the day of the video rental store is coming to an end. In fact, I think the number of video stores in the town I live in has dwindled to 2 - 1 of those the Blockbuster store I mentioned. Hollywood Video just closed up last week.
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5527 |
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never heard of any Virgin Megastore lol. and s167, blockbuster does online buisness too.....and lets you return the dvds locally if u want instead of mailing them back. they just overcharge and have late fees...
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Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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Am I the only one who finds the whole first paragraph darkly hysterical? "We're hiring bankruptcy experts to advise us but we're really not going to declare bankruptcy!" Yeah, so you hired people who are experts in one field to advise you in one that they aren't experts in?
Blockbuster's been in trouble for a long time. I think there's a lot more to it than just competition, they've made some costly mistakes here and there, and now they're coming to the end. (They should be more honest about it and just admit the jig is up. I feel sorry for the few shlubs who will believe they aren't going into bankruptcy.) We've been hearing rumblings about the Virgin stores going for a while so just another inevitable announcement. It's sad to see companies falling apart but there was more than a little mismanagement here. New leadership and new entrepreneurs are needed now to fill the gaps. |
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SongstressCela
 Posts: 615 Location: Pennsylvania |
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Sigh, talk about depressing. I love Virgin, though there aren't any anywhere nearby. I always stop when I'm out in San Francisco though, almost more for the atmosphere for anything else. Plus I loved hanging out with friends at the Citizen Cupcake near the top, looking out over the city below. Effing economy. -_-
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plastique
Posts: 28 |
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It was inevitable. Most Blockbusters have a fairly poor selection and they charge $5 to rent a movie for a few days, and half their movies aren't widescreen. Netflix charges $8 a month with nearly every R1 dvd ever made that you can keep as long as you want, and you don't have to go in a store to do it.
Virgin also had supermarket-size stores sucking up their rent and fairly high prices last time I was there, which was years ago. Many people I know don't even buy music anymore, and that was their crutch. I think all physical releases will stop in the next couple years. Everything will be streamed. After that, they will be BEAMED STRAIGHT INTO YOUR MIND. |
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Richard J.
Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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Ghost in the Shell might very well be prophetic. Or Terminator. I'll take my immortal cybernetic body now please. (Just don't put me in a Jameson my AI Master Control Program.) I expect to see something like a Persocom before I die at the very least. On a serious note, I think there will always be physical media. I do agree that it will become far less prevalent but I doubt it will completely cease to exist. If it does, well, trust me when I say something will go inevitably wrong and we'll lose it all. |
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Mykelti
Posts: 64 Location: New Jersey |
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^Yep, like the ancient library @ Macedonia, where in flames the whole world lost precious centuries of mankind's documented progress.
POOF! Just like that. & History repeats itself... A cyber-conflagration of sorts, you say? *gets out trusty ol' chisel & slate set for next 'post'* |
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SongstressCela
Posts: 615 Location: Pennsylvania |
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You mean Alexandria. ^^;
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jr240483
 Posts: 4378 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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The problem is some people won't do buy things like videos cause they can just download it online in some site or go to a ill-legit streaming website and such. And it's a bad thing in this economy. I bought Negima vol 2 and Tsukuyomi vol at the time square branch of vergin megastore and at discount price a while back so seeing it go will put more harm than good. It looks like the economy is going to get worse than better and the future of anime will end up being online streaming only. |
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