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XTRA-VISION IS SET to close 28 stores, which will affect up to 90 employees.
A store manager told TheJournal.ie that the closures are likely to happen at the end of January, when the leasing agreements are up for certain stores.
It’s understood that the decline in DVD rental is causing the closures.
BBC reports that eight stores in Northern Ireland are set to close, with the loss of 18 jobs.
The company will not be renewing leases that were due to come to an end at the start of February.
A statement released to The Irish Independent by the company said that a consultation process is underway with staff.
Reflecting the changing dynamic in consumer behaviour as customers favour the retail opportunity in the entertainment market, Xtra-vision is condensing its store portfolio to a smaller number of focused retail locations.
The company added that it will ‘remain dedicated’ to its vending machine operation Xtra-vision Express and online channels.
It’s understood that the majority of store managers were called about the closures yesterday.
HMV owner Hilco Capital bought Xtra-vision when it went into receivership in 2013.
Calls to Xtra-vision’s representatives from TheJournal.ie today were not returned.
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How on earth is it still going?
My thoughts exactly…… Thought they were all gone….
Lads it barely is. Thats why it’s closing.
I still rent from them. They used to have a shop in Carpenterstown and when that closed a couple of years ago, they set up a dvd vending machine in the Spar next door. I don’t rent as often as I used to but I still do.
I’m 2 years late with a DVD – hope they don’t remember
What is a DVD rental?
Their prices are ridiculous. I was renting games for years from them. 7 quid for a week. I was dropping back a game one day and decided to rent another one. They said the price went up to ten euro. No bother I said, still good value, a tenner for the week. Oh no, she said, it’s a tenner for 3 nights now. Overnight the price jumped 300%. Haven’t been near the place since.
Sad but times are a changing
So do I get to keep that Point Break video now or what?
It’s yours lad. Say nothing
Does it have the “New Release” sticker on it?
Just make sure you rewind it.
I worked for them for years. The old owners had no direction or plans other than blaming everyone and everything for their failure. I feel sorry for the store staff.
Worked for them for a year, sad to see their decline but can’t say they treated their staff very well.
Is this the thread where former XV staff come to vent? I still have nightmares ;_;
I worked with them for nearly 10 years, really enjoyed my time there until the recession hit, then (as Dave said above) they started blaming everyone and everything when people weren’t coming in to rent, and those that were, we had to push deals to them. When they didn’t take them, we got threatened with verbal warnings for it! I remember I got told I wasn’t smiling enough so the customer didn’t take the offer, I laughed all the way home that night. At least I can say it was entertaining! Haha
I feel for the staff now as it was the ones in Head Office that made stupid decisions that lead it to where it is today (along with people not renting as much) Of course, the ones in HO will waltz in to other jobs with their experience while the ordinary staff member is left to worry about what coming next
I worked for them for a while during college and although it was a handy job and i enjoyed it, the writing was on the wall for the company for a long time. Even purely from an operations perspective they were doomed-treating their staff as the enemy, very aggressive and incompetent area managers, insufficient stock being sent to shops etc…
As for the prices they’d charge? Unjustifiable.
Kevin I think you’re wrong about execs from HO walking into other jobs.
Xtra-vision execs are unattractive candidates.
They couldn’t see obvious: streaming was of course going to replace DVDs. Blockbuster made the same stupid error and they fell over 2 years ago.
Then electronics shops stopped selling DVD players.
What on earth did Xtra-vision execs think was going to happen here? I wouldn’t hire one of them if you paid me.
Who rents out dvds?
I agree
Apparently the lad in the comment just above ya!
The population who still haven’t the luxury of high speed broadband, but sure like the banks and everything those poor h@@ra get left by the wayside.
Once again another victory Internet has over the retail sector
Ah i’d argue everything has its purpose and place Shane.I remember people saying Amazon and the Kindle would see the closure of Chapters and Easons Bookstore.I have a kindle and i use Amazon but i also like the feel of reading a paper book and magazine too.Its nice to go in and have a coffee and read in these places rather than just buying online..Plus the Exchange rates for sterling and dollar are making the Irish stores way more appealing
I agree Harry, but a lot of book shops have closed. I used to love Waterstones and having a decent shop like Borders in blanch centre often saved me having to go into the city to buy books. Both gone now I’m afraid, and the Eason in Blanch is a poor excuse for a bookshop.
Rather in this case, the internet hitting what was once Xtravision’s core business – rental, not retail. They hung onto some rural stores where rental held up better than large urban stores.
I live in co Waterford Mick and our local xtravision was one of the first to close, gone about 4 or 5 years now.
Amazon is back tracking opening physical book stores…
Not sure if it will be successful. It’s quite surreal, very like shopping online… And you have to look up the prices online they aren’t displayed and get the usual Amazon recommends and suggestions when you do.
Molly, their store finder still shows two stores in the Waterford county. If it’s out of date, then it doesn’t say a lot about their website. They tended to shut smaller stores when leases ran out and open larger retail outlets.
We have a local bookshop in cork city called vibes & scribes & i find them way better then big chain stores like eason & waterstones… They can order most things that would have gone out of print unlike chain stores… Therefore i always give them my business!
Agree , and I see Amazon have just started opening retail stores exactly for that reason , they recognise the value of having customers engage in the real world so to speak..
I do know Mick that when they moved to our town they undercut the other 2 local rental stores forcing them out of business, so I hated using xtravision for that reason. Their old store is now a charity shop in aid of a local cause, at least something good came out of them closing.
Haven’t stepped foot in an xtravision or hmv store since their antics during the Xbox one release were they held console preorders ransom forcing customers to buy a game or they wouldn’t get the console. Bye bye xtravision you sneaky sods.
I came here to write exactly that.
Complete dick move by them and I have not been in since.
Exactamundo!
I just compared the buy price of a DVD box set (us rural dwellers subject to rubbish internet connections are still compelled to buy/rent DVDs). HMV are charging €10 less than Xtravision and free delivery – seems like a strategic move….
HMV turned a profit last year and lots of people still like browsing music shops for music
aren’t some extra vision stores run as a joint venture with HMV now?
Yes , I believe HMV stores in Ireland are run by Hilco, just like XtraVision
They are the same store, Some of them are even branded as Xtravision-HMV. Still very overpriced though.
My point exactly
I can’t afford to go to the cinema so I use to rent DVD now it looks like I am watching movies on tv again with advertisements
Vodly(dot)to or movie4k(dot)to use chrome as your browser, buy a chromecast.
Buy an android box and download the showbox app. You have movies for free.
Download Kodi, install, Google Andy’s build for Kodi, install, cancel cable….. The end..
Use your local library, its free and they can order the films in for you if your local branch doesnt have them. They stock box sets of tv shows too.
Or just simply download from Viooz or Watch22 etc and watch them in your own time!
oops watch 32
Kickass is your friend.
Unfortunately it was only a matter of time, I’m actually surprised they have held in there so long. No doubt there’ll be a whole new load of sunbed shops popping up now.
Since nobody else has bothered to say it I hope all the staff but especially full-time are able to find employment after this,I worked for them years ago and know that it has been very rough for some staff over the last few years of uncertainty,I also know that it is not an easy job,at all.Staff are often caught between the company and the public and blamed squarely for company policies. Best wishes to the staff of these stores and good luck ,hopefully the company concentrates on its HMV brand and manages to keep people employed for another few years.
The Internet has smashed local retail and jobs as people buy on line from foreign companies. The Internet has created a lot of unemployment.
And the Internet has created lots of employment.
“Internet has created a lot of unemployment.”
He says as he types on internet accessible hardware that he bought, using an internet connection that he”s paying for, commenting on a website that has employees, via his twitter account, as he generates ad revenue via internet traffic.
Gonad.
It might create a lot of IT-related employment but it has shut down a hell of a lot of retail outlets in its time
It’s given us a new age of enlightenment and its impact on exports is huge too.
“It might create a lot of IT-related employment but it has shut down a hell of a lot of retail outlets in its time”
Yeah, the guy who invented the horse & carriage said that about the car.
To be honest over the next 20 years or so we’ll see a massive decline in IT jobs as self replicating and self learning technology comes online. Outside of a few ‘leets’ here won’t be much of a market for people sitting around hacking code.It will be more conceptual than technical. The industry has self obsolescence built into it. And don’t even get me started on these ‘data centers’ the government has being touting as a cure all for unemployment.
There’s probably some new “thing” bubbling under or in someone’s head, something we can’t even perceive…..and will change everything again and probably create loads of jobs.
Yes but where are the employees of these retail places meant to go when they’ve been shut down. Not everyone can seamlessly move into another type of job. I think it’s not something to be celebrated
The future of IT and employment would seem pretty clear.There will be a shift where all businesses will go online. Moving into niche and local markets that are too small for large companies to pursue and using local knowledge, existing presence/connections/customers and specialties to better exploit opportunities.
Previously small businesses were disadvantaged they didn’t have the same IT resources, to finance expansion, build websites, track and target customers, launch marketing campaigns, volume discounts from suppliers, logistics…
All that will change. A one man operation or family business will be able to tap into all the same services of a huge corporation as and when they need. Without huge investment costs and risks
The new IT companies won’t want to do the ‘dirty work’ of actually making and selling products and services. They just want the monopoly on being the go between for a business and customers
He would have been right, The car probably did kill the horse and carriage business, do you think differently
Of course I agree baz – but it’s called progress. We evolve & move on. So does business – but new industries are created so it all balances out. 100 are lost in Xtra Vision and an IT firm just announced 98 new jobs in Cork yesterday.
Might as well close the rest now while they’re at it. Classic case of a changing world leaving a defunct business model behind
This can be traced back to the time Xtravision management decided to extort their own customers in November 2013.
Customers who wanted to preorder an XboxOne for Christmas were forced to buy an additional full price (obviously overpriced) game.
Companies tend to disappear up their own arse when greed becomes their mission statement.
This can be traced back a lot further than that. Xtravision’s upper management were horrendous. I remember when they wanted staff to write to their local TD to have internet speeds reduced because of “illegal downloads”. They were clueless to their market.
So very few places to buy games as it is. Now gamestop and smyths have zero competition. Not good.
Tesco and Supervalu sell games too.
Buy online, much cheaper
For new games it’s not really any cheaper plus you have to pay postage and wait for the bloody thing to arrive. Not exactly an ideal solution.
Postage? Most games platforms allow for instant download/install…
Digitally downloaded games or music have big drawback though, you cannot have nice collection on your shelf and there is no exchange / resale value as you cannot sell it or swap (easily anyway). Ease of use and accessibility is a plus. Price wise it’s also weird as online downloads are often more expensive than physical discs. So there is no disc manufacturing cost and yet it’s still more expensive. Lot of games on PlayStation online store still in region of 50-60 euro when brand new boxes copies are going for half this price…
Ger, Amazon deliver for free on anything over £25 if you’re happy to wait 3-4 days for it. Games there are considerably cheaper than retail in this country.
Just bought Fallout 4 for ps4 on amazon – €54 including delivery!
I just bought fallout4 for the ps4 – €54 – postage included!
I don’t go to them anymore as they do not sell pc games (internet is crap where I am so I try to get physical copy) I used to when I was a console peasant, but no longer will I be going to xtravision..Hope the staff find jobs after!
Do we know what stores
A little bit of advise ,don’t buy gift vouchers.
At least they are waiting until after Christmas, most do it before.
They didn’t treat their customers very well. After a number of instances where I took a game off their shelf and tried to purchase it for the stickers price only to be told that the price was more than advertised. When I told them they had to sell it at the advertised price by law, they said no and that someone could have changed the price. I then went to the location where I picked it up and EVRY SINGLE COPY was priced “incorrectly” so either they’re incompetent by pricing them wrong or someone decided to price everything incorrectly using their price gun for sh*ts and giggles….NUMEROUS TIMES (at least 5). What’s more believable? I refused to pay the higher price and never darkened their door again. Tullamore store. Buh Bye Lads and Lassies. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya! No sympathy for the staff there as it was the staff that refused to act legislated for.
Whatever about the staff at other stores, I definitely do sympathise. Losing your job any time is no fun but around Christmas is definitely sh*te. :-(
“I told them they had to sell it at the advertised price by law.” I hated customers like you when I worked in retail – let me guess you did Junior Cert Business Studies and now you’re an expert on consumer law? Simple staff error or that head office could have recently changed the price and the already overworked and underpaid staff member didn’t have time to get to that section yet. The customer is always (read: hardly ever) right.
“When I told them they had to sell it at the advertised price by law”, this is not true. If they inform you before they make the purchase, you have the choice of not buying the good.
http://www.consumerhelp.ie/pricing-rules
Sometimes the tags would be changed (happened a lot when I worked there) or they would often send through price changes but would only have one staff member on to do them. I’m not saying this is what happened in every store but definitely in the smaller ones.
Firstly, isn’t there a consumer act to protect people from instances like this? I never claimed to be an expert on consumer law. If the prices do not match then there is a breakdown in the system and that needs to be rectified, it’s not the customer’s fault. Also, if this happens numerous times then it’s a chronic problem. Hating customers like me is your prerogative and that attitude is exactly why purchasing anything in that store was a bitter experience for me as a customer. You don’t have to like me, in fact I couldn’t care less about what you think of people like me (your customers), I do expect you to honour the law and do your best to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. I walked with my feet and that played a part in biting the company in the arse.
First of all, it happened on three occasions that I handed them over my money and the purchase was made. They refused to honour the price advertised and then refunded me the money when I told them the prices didn’t match. They refused to sell it at the advertised price. I know mistakes can happen which then made me more weary on the prices after that. I then asked them to scan anything before I purchased them. I did make the decision not to purchase, I amassed my collection online or through Gamestop.
Some companies will sell it at the sticker price out of goodwill, Tesco for example. Xtravision, well considering they insisted that people who preordered an Xbox One had to buy a game to get it…
Who needs these anyomre
Well there’s a surprise, NOT.
They’re the lads who tried to rip off customers that pre-ordered Xbox One by forcing them to buy an additional game before they would honour the preorder, and they’re in partnership with the company that went into administration and refused to honour gift vouchers. How they stayed in business this long is a mystery.
I’m surprised they lasted this long.
Didn’t see that coming!
I still use the one in Clondalkin a lot. I prefer renting DVDs to buying them as I usually only watch films once. It’s a fairly busy store in the evenings and weekends and I hope it isn’t one of the ones closing
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Expect hmv to go the same soon. Again.
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