Xtra-vision in receivership (1 Viewer)

[pete]

Another nail in the coffin of physical media outlets?

OVER a thousand jobs at Xtra-vision are in jeopardy with a receiver about to be appointed to the company today.

The video and electronics retailing chain has been in financial difficulties for the past few years as it struggled with high rents, declining trade and the impact of illegal video downloading.

and Netflix?

This i did not know:

The company generates most of its revenue from the sale of electronic items rather than the rental of DVDs and games.

http://www.independent.ie/business/...ravision-goes-into-receivership-29228866.html

 

[lemonbravo]

my local one has been selling birthday cards for the last 6 months.

 

[RayRay]

My local one closed about a week or two ago

 

[David Kronenbourg]

No chance I'm paying that late fine now

 

[Anthony]

Pity and all but when there was 2 video shops in town I would never go to Xtravision. They were always hated weren't they. Horrible shops.
Don't know about anyone else here but the owning of films and never got me like owning albums does. Sure I've got about 4 shelves of dvds here but I'd stop buying films in a heartbeat with a better system, and considering we just bought an AppleTV and are trying out that free month on netflix that time is probably already here.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

me and a couple of mates got chased into the Xtra Vision in Sandyford Village by a local neighbourhood tough when we were about 13 or 14. the girl behind the till had to shut down the shop for an hour and drive us all home to our mammies. that's my xtra vision story.

 

[Lili Marlene]

I had assumed they'd already closed.

There was never any vinyl-style resurgence of VHS/Betamax/whatever for fans of film was there? Steve Hoffman forums style.

I guess the, eh, legitimate way of watching a film is in a cinema with a projectionist rather than at home?

 

[dudley]

phew, just used me voucher n' all

 

[hermie]

me and a couple of mates got chased into the Xtra Vision in Sandyford Village by a local neighbourhood tough when we were about 13 or 14. the girl behind the till had to shut down the shop for an hour and drive us all home to our mammies. that's my xtra vision story.

Xtra virgin story

 

[washingcattle]

Xtra Vision related tales here.

1. A mate worked in an Xtra Vision in Artane where a pair of idiots came in and held up the place while wearing McDonalds bags on their heads for balaklavas. They were apprehended when security footage of them acquiring the bags in the local McDonalds was obtained. The saddest thing about the robbery though has to be the fact that one of the lads being held up put his health at risk by laughing uncontrolably because salt sachets kept falling out of one of the mens "disguise"

2. An Xtra Vision beside my home in Tallaght was held up every week for about 4 months by the same masked assailants. No one would work in the shop except 3 of my mates (I applied for a job there and was told "no one wants to work there except those filthy stoners, but you seem nice so you can work in the head office - worst job ever. I wanted to be one of those filthy stoners, those filthy stoners where my mates damn it, I was one of those filthy stoners) The place was filthy, they never emptied the bins, they were lazy and wasted most of the time but since no one wanted to work there they got away with everything. Finally the powers that be decided to install "bullet proof" glass, a security door and a shutter which seperated the back of the counter area from the store room. This was to be pulled down at night to avoid ram raiding, as they'd started stocking playstations and mobile phones. The glass came in strips with a gap between each strip the length of a video box, so about 6 inches or so. the robberies ceased for a while until a drunken man weilding an axe arrived, threatened the staff and then attacked the glass. The lads retreated behind the store room shutter. The drunken man tried to squeeze between the glass strips and became stuck. So when the lads opened the shutter to see how things were progressing they were met with a pissed loon weilding an axe and shouting his head off, in a state near passing out. So without access to a phone or an exit. They did what any self respecting Xtra Vision employee would do. They rolled a joint pulled the shutter down as low as possible and poked him with the end of a broom until he freed himself and left.

Apparently true stories.

3. the Xtra Vision summer staff party that I went to in the City West hotel was one of the closest experiences to being in Led Zepplin I've ever managed. The hotel was over run with slacker video shop employees and things got downright debauched. One lad who was recently let go from his job managed to half fill the bath in his room with piss. It got ugly. Great craic. I was in work at 6 the next evening. I could barely see.

 

[mark]

Do I get to keep the Godfather Part Two DVD I rented from the Blanch branch in 2003?
SCORE!!!

 

[HMD]

Shame all those people lost their jobs but they needed to adapt to the online nature of the industry

 

[worthit]

A friend of mine shoved a malteaser up his arse once and asked the staff of Xtravision if he could use the toilet. He stayed in there until he pooed it out.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

A lad I know used to sell hash cakes under the counter from the local Xtra.

Even before the internet was poised to wipe it out it never had a great stock of films and as it moved into selling phones, games consoles, cameras etc. there was less and less space for dvds. I had a look in my local one the other week, rented three films, went back another day and there wasn't a single other film I had any interest in seeing. Do the American style Redbox vending machine yokes exist here? Stick them in Tesco and I'd say they'd do all right business. Some people don't want to pay a monthly fee (netflix etc.) others are a-scared of illegal downloading, so I'd imagine there's still somewhat of a viable market for dvd/bluray rental if you don't have to actually rent a premises and staff.

 

[jimmybreeze]

See,this is what happens when you don't rewind your tapes before you return them

 

[IFF]

See,this is what happens when you don't rewind your tapes before you return them

i blame myself for not rewinding those dvd's i got.
it's all my fault.

Another nail in the coffin of physical media outlets?

outside the one in my town, there is a sign outside it saying "go online to xtravision.com" to advertise not going into the actual shop and to instead use the website.

it must be a depressing job to put out that sign onto the street every morning. if it was me "go online to put me out of a job"

 

[nlgbbbblth]

Pity and all but when there was 2 video shops in town I would never go to Xtravision. They were always hated weren't they. Horrible shops.
Don't know about anyone else here but the owning of films and never got me like owning albums does. Sure I've got about 4 shelves of dvds here but I'd stop buying films in a heartbeat with a better system, and considering we just bought an AppleTV and are trying out that free month on netflix that time is probably already here.

I buy plenty DVDs but never from the likes of Xtravision. The selection was shite.