Store closures

[wellfield]

Now add Jessops to the list of lost high street stores.It look likely that HMV will follow.I was in Preston St Georges Centre today and the Sony Centre store was closed,no notice in the window as to why.How much longer before we no longer have town centres

.

[noel]

It's a sad reflection of the times. Stores like HMV have unfortunately passed their sell by date due to internet downloads and supermarkets. You can't help but feel sorry for those losing their jobs. If the bus station gets pulled down like the town councillors want, Preston is going to look a real dump.

[filmoss]

The council have not ruled out the demolition of the Guild Hall as well !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lan...e-20985235

[anacortesdamp]

Sorry, folks, but these issues are the result of businesses not recognising the shifts in the marketplace soon enough. HMV is roughly the equivalent of a seller of horse whips (buggy whips in US terminology) after the introduction of motor vehicles.

If a company can't adapt to market conditions and rapidly changing technology, they're going to fail, unless they can capture the nostalgia market. Face it, how many of you still use a record turntable on a regular basis? I still have one, but I'm using it, when I have the time, to re-record all my old vinyl records on to the computer. I'll make CDs to play for the time being, since I've resisted iPods and similar devices, but at least I have a digital version of the oldies which I can transfer to whatever medium is popular in another decade.

I'd be unhappy to lose Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, Terry Lightfoot, The Worzels, Cleo Laine and other very British music of which I have vinyl LPs. Most of my "limited" listening on radio is in the car when I'm on my own, since Eileen's tastes wre quite different (except for the Beatles). For me, it's classical music, mainly Baroque, on CBC Radio 2 (Vancouver or Victoria) and occasionally KING-FM in Seattle. Unfortunately we live in a radio frequency "black hole", caused by the way we're ringed by hills. I can't even get CBC at the house unless it's on the car radio after I come off the ridge and the car radio can keep track of it. When I was a transit driver, I couldn't contact the company dispatcher from our neighborhood, even though the antenna is at 4000' up in the mountains.

BTW, I'm not up burning the early morning oil, it's only 19:30 on the 15th here.


Frank

[noel]

Sometimes shops are unable to adapt Frank. Shops are closing like collapsing dominoes over here, there's nothing left to adapt to. Comet, Jessops HMV all gone within a month.

[noel]

Blockbusters now gone into admin, that's 16,000 jobs in jeapordy over a 6 week period of time.

[Martin]

I was always surprised that Blockbuster was still going. Video shops went out of fashion decades ago.

[frank h]

I understand Blockbusters is going in to administeration, but still trading looking for a buy out. It is reported in the local press B&Q are in talks with Morrisons about leasing upto 1/4 of floor space in over 150 stores.

frank h.

[JohnT]

Frank,I believe internet radio is fantastic and you can get special internet radios as well.

[JohnT]

Here is a RadioNZ link for ad-free good NZ radio.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national
And here is a link for Radio Kidnappers (Named re Cape Kidnappers where one of Captain Cook's crew was nabbed).It is a local community station playing lots of jazz and c/w.
http://www.radiokidnappers.org.nz/internet_audio.php