Xtravision liquidation

A liquidator has been appointed to Xtravision according to the news at one on RTE Radio 1.

http://m.rte.ie/news/business/2016/0127/763350-xtra-vision/

seamus

Yeah, on rte.ie as well.

Unfortunate for the 580 people who are going to lose their jobs, but ultimately inevitable. Xtravision were always teetering on the edge - they were in trouble some years back after expanding too quickly and never really recovered from that. Then they "saved" HMV, which while laudable was basically consolidating two doomed business models into one.

Between online services like Netflix, and music and game downloads becoming the norm rather than the exception, their business model was destroyed from multiple flanks.

They made a good attempt to reinvent themselves to be fair, but unless they'd gone and become some kind of Irish Netflix and acquired streaming rights in Ireland to their libraries, they were always doomed.

smash

Even disregarding Netflix, Xtravision only moved to a DVD postal system around 9/10 years after others who operated in Ireland like Screenclick/DVD Bee etc. They were destined to doom well over a decade ago.

wil

Sad, but inevitable. How many times has it gone bust historically?
Had a look in some of the remaining stores recently and left again with a feeling it couldn't be long. Empty stores, poor pricing, just can't compete as it stands.
Will they be separated from the Hmv parent again?

wil

seamus wrote: »

They made a good attempt to reinvent themselves to be fair, but unless they'd gone and become some kind of Irish Netflix and acquired streaming rights in Ireland to their libraries, they were always doomed.

I didn't see much by the way of reinvention, little different, every other area they ventured in to seemed to just peter off. TVs, small personal electronics, games, phones. Store today looks much like 10 years ago, most of the store still consists of overpriced DVD rentals and high priced sale DVD, CDs and games.
They were good for the Friday night in but now superseded.
Will miss them, as a bygone institution and a regular customer, but it's pretty much the end of the video rental store.

road_high

They only opened a new flagship HMV store in Kilkenny about a year or two ago- 4 floors including an Xtra Vision. Are all the stores doomed so?
Didn't the one on Grafton st move also recently? Surely if the business was so precarious, why were they still expanding like this?

Hammer89

I feel bad about owing them £7.50 since 1998. Maybe had I paid up this could've been avoided.

warpdrive

Surprised it took this long when it's been possible to get BluRays and CDs cheaper online. To be fair though, they did have some great prices on new games.

TrustedApple

Like it was to be expacted as the price of the stuff was just nuts in the shop compare to online to begin with.

75 to 80 euros for a new video game is crazy in this day and age where i can just go to argos and get it for 55 or go online for less.

Blu rays 20 euro + new. 30 euros for the Marvel superhero films i can 4 or 5 films from amazon for the price they are charging for one.

With netflix and the likes there rental market was more or less gone as 5.50 for one night of a film ?. While i can stream 1000s for 8 euros a month ?.

Sad to see the staff loseing there jobs but as a bussiness its days where numbered years ago.

whiskeyman

I thought it was gone already.
Local store shut around a year ago and they put in a vending machine in the local supervalu. Never see anyone at it though.

Used to love popping in after college or work on a Friday night and getting out 2 DVDs for the weekend. Haven't done so near as much since getting Netflix over a year ago though.

the groutch

wil wrote: »

Will they be separated from the Hmv parent again?

HMV have done a deal to have concessions in Tesco stores
I'd say all Xtravision & HMV stores will be gone soon, with just the Tesco deal and an online presence remaining.

chrissb8

I haven't rented a dvd since 2006 just shocked they lasted all these years.

Penn

While obviously disappointed for the sake of all the staff's jobs and companies who provide services to Xtra-Vision, I have very little sympathy after the sh*te they pulled a few years ago with the XBox One release and how they very likely would have tried the same with the PS4 release if not for the backlash of the XB1.

One of the sh*ttiest moves I've seen such a large company pull, which hurt double as I was always a big fan of Xtra-Vision up to that point. Literally spent thousands in there over the years, between consoles, games, dvds, blu-rays, dvd players etc. Think the only time I bought something in there since was because I was badly stuck for a particular Xmas present.

Sad for the staff if they go under, but like I said, very little sympathy for the company. They never changed with the times and made some really poor decisions trying to play catchup (whose f*cking decision was it to start selling greeting cards?).

smash

wil wrote: »

I didn't see much by the way of reinvention, little different, every other area they ventured in to seemed to just peter off. TVs, small personal electronics, games, phones. Store today looks much like 10 years ago, most of the store still consists of overpriced DVD rentals and high priced sale DVD, CDs and games.

In my locality there are 2 Xtravision's and neither are stores. They are self service kiosks. One is outside a shop on the footpath and one is in a supermarket.

the groutch

Penn wrote: »

While obviously disappointed for the sake of all the staff's jobs and companies who provide services to Xtra-Vision, I have very little sympathy after the sh*te they pulled a few years ago with the XBox One release and how they very likely would have tried the same with the PS4 release if not for the backlash of the XB1.

I remember that well, and although I wasn't one of those effected, I haven't been in an Xtravision since.

warpdrive

Penn wrote: »

While obviously disappointed for the sake of all the staff's jobs and companies who provide services to Xtra-Vision, I have very little sympathy after the sh*te they pulled a few years ago with the XBox One release and how they very likely would have tried the same with the PS4 release if not for the backlash of the XB1.

One of the sh*ttiest moves I've seen such a large company pull, which hurt double as I was always a big fan of Xtra-Vision up to that point. Literally spent thousands in there over the years, between consoles, games, dvds, blu-rays, dvd players etc. Think the only time I bought something in there since was because I was badly stuck for a particular Xmas present.

Sad for the staff if they go under, but like I said, very little sympathy for the company. They never changed with the times and made some really poor decisions trying to play catchup (whose f*cking decision was it to start selling greeting cards?).

What happened?

Penn

Penn wrote: »

While obviously disappointed for the sake of all the staff's jobs and companies who provide services to Xtra-Vision, I have very little sympathy after the sh*te they pulled a few years ago with the XBox One release...

Which was...

fleet_admiral

They would have been saved if they had installed private boots and started renting blueys

LDN_Irish

To echo everyone else's sentiments, they've been on death's door for a long time. I used to work beside one and was friendly with the staff in there. None of them had a good word to say about the place. I always found the service in there shocking and I'm guessing that's due to how the staff were treated. Their attempts to diversify didn't seem to come with any additional training for the staff and made the electronics they sold (for the same price or more than everyone else in my experience) an unviable purchase if you wanted any actual info on it. I went in to buy a Nexus 7 tablet for 250 euro and the guy couldn't tell me a thing about it, "how long is the warranty for?" "Dunno." No attempts to check or anything. That might be alright when someone is handing over a fiver to rent something but not when you're spending 250 quid.

lertsnim

They closed here a few years ago and put a kiosk in supervalu instead. Only ever see teenagers browsing on it.

The stunt they tried with the Xbox One launch left a sour taste with a lot of gamers. It was run by idiots.

the groutch

warpdrive wrote: »

What happened?

People who had pre-ordered the console were told they couldn't buy the console unless they bought (an) extra game(s) with it at Xtravision's extortionate prices. This was at a time when the € was very strong, so buying games from Amazon etc could be easily €20 cheaper.

5rtytry56

the groutch wrote: »

People who had pre-ordered the console were told they couldn't buy the console unless they bought (an) extra game(s) with it at Xtravision's extortionate prices. This was at a time when the € was very strong, so
buying games from Amazon etc could be easily €20 cheaper.

Ultimately, Xtravision were legally compelled to sell the console to customer without having to fork out for the quite average run of the mill game.

TrustedApple

I am still pissing myself over Xtravision makeing you buy another game with your xbox one ?. What where you going to be playing on them anyway if our not going to buy a game with it .

Just a fancy paper wight ha ha

the groutch

TrustedApple wrote: »

I am still pissing myself over Xtravision makeing you buy another game with your xbox one ?. What where you going to be playing on them anyway if our not going to buy a game with it .

Just a fancy paper wight ha ha

Games bought in places other than Xtravision for cheaper?
Or games bought on PSN?

TrustedApple

the groutch wrote: »

Games bought in places other than Xtravision for cheaper?
Or games bought on PSN?

PSN on Xbox the joys of having a Sony Box One 4 .

The fact is i would have just bought a game there and then myself as you will more then likely be like f it give me fifa as well.

smash

TrustedApple wrote: »

PSN on Xbox the joys of having a Sony Box One 4 .

The fact is i would have just bought a game there and then myself as you will more then likely be like f it give me fifa as well.

You would have been willing to pay €70 for a game you could have bought for €45 or €50 down the road?

von Smallhausen

Being reported that all stores are to close with immediate effect.

B.A._Baracus

Gone bust again?
It would suck if you were one of the original staff who got rehired when it got bought. But then only to face this again.

TrustedApple

smash wrote: »

You would have been willing to pay €70 for a game you could have bought for €45 or €50 down the road?

Tell me on the day the xbox one and PS4 came out games where 50 euros ha ha. They where 70 + everywhere. I just looked at my orders on my amazon account i paid 63 euros for black Flag for my PS4 from them when it came out :rolleyes:

Only place that you could have got the games for 50 euros was from Chandra when the new consoles came out.

But get back to me if you see a new release game in a retail store in Ireland for 45 50 euros for the xbox one or the PS4 not a hope in hell. Anything that has a funny name is 80 euros now in gamestop ha ha.

Maximus Alexander

TrustedApple wrote: »

PSN on Xbox the joys of having a Sony Box One 4 .

The fact is i would have just bought a game there and then myself as you will more then likely be like f it give me fifa as well.

Ah well if that's what you'd have done then sure we'll just make a rule and apply it to everyone.

Maximus Alexander

TrustedApple wrote: »

Tell me on the day the xbox one and PS4 came out games where 50 euros ha ha. They where 70 + everywhere. I just looked at my orders on my amazon account i paid 63 euros for black Flag for my PS4 from them when it came out :rolleyes:

Where'd you get the PS4?