Jessops, HMV and Blockbuster - who's next?

Waterstone's is probably okay, as someone else said, many readers like to have books in the flesh. But they have the same owners as HMV, bear that in mind

My local WHSmiths is closing down soon. The next nearest has been struggling for a while too, with quite a few people ready to jump ship as soon as an opportunity arises. However I think this is a similar picture across the board in retail.

Also, quite shocking to read comments along the lines of "XYZ shop deserve to go" "I hope XYZ shop goes..." - all I think about are the job losses, the empty high streets and the strain on the welfare state.

That's surprising, where do you live? I think WH Smith largely staggers on through loyalty amongst older customers, unavoidable locations at railway stations and airports and the fact that they pay terrible wages.

I agree totally about the impact of all these closures, especially on students who often used to be able to get jobs in them. The scope for p/t work for younger people and students is disappearing at a rate of knots.

South Essex. The stores I mentioned are in shopping centres - where there are cheaper alternatives for people to go to. This may explain why these stores are performing badly.

I think this is a huge opportunity for our high streets. It's the free market at its most ruthless - and its most revolutionary. I'd rather have the dross and the zombie chains cleared out so they can be replaced with shops that consumers actually want to use, stimulating our economy.

Most of these shops have been obsolete for a decade, dead men walking, it's just the recession that's dealt the final blow. The problem with a failing business model that nevertheless has a lot of capital is it's kept running for as long as possible with higher and higher prices while being asset-stripped behind the scenes. This rips off consumers, erodes working rights and enriches fat cats.

It's also a huge ****-you to the real-estate speculators who charge shops such high rent, the same people who ensured it was only chains who could afford the rents on our high streets. I'd welcome some of the air coming out of that bubble. It might even open up more space for residential housing in the city centre, in this era of housing shortages and expensive commuting.

Our high streets will never be empty. There are three sectors that will never leave the high street:
- Bargain bins (charity shops, 99p shops)
- Things where your body has to be there (tanning salons, coffee shops, cafes)
- Shops which offer an "experience" or a unique environment

The third one means the more unique the shop, the more likely it is to survive. That bodes well for the reinjection of some local character into your town centre.

It could also be a golden opportunity for co-operatives and local currency schemes, stuff like that, if high street shops can get together more and work together more to draw consumers away from the Internet and the shopping centres that already use this co-operative model.

South Essex is in a state of chronic Toryism, so that may explain it - WH Smiths after all sell deeply subversive publications like the Guardian and New Statesman, not just magazines about hot hatches and how to colour your hair even more extremely blonde. Sorry, couldn't resist.

As an Essex blond, I could become quite angry at that statement. But I'll overlook it. This once.

As for the Toryism - yeah it's quite annoying.

I think BHS might be in trouble, not sure who actually shops there. Personally I hate all this talk predicting the death of the book/newspaper/magazine. I for one would rather own a hard copy than a digitally stored one that requires a piece of expensive hardware to access it. The whole tablet, smartphone and kindle thing really doesn't do it for me, feel like I'm a dying breed and becoming a bit of a technophobe. Also not liking the way the gaming industry is going, having all games being streamed or downloaded simply isn't practical and I'd rather just own a copy of the game, and what EA are doing with restricting online access to pass codes makes my blood boil.

I very much agree with most of what you said . Although it may sound unsavoury to most that major retailers such as HMV, Blockusters, Jessops, Woolworths and the like are closing down causing huge job losses, there is perhaps a greater benefit for the economy in the long run. The reorganisation and realignment of the markets will help create and expand markets which are in demand and naturally decline or put level those which are not so much needed - it's the most greatest thing about the free market. Let's face it guys, having HMV, Blockbusters etc stay open isn't doing them, or most the consumers any favour. They're building up their debt and only fooling themselves in keeping themselves open. It's a sad truth but inevitably there will come a point when they can no longer hold on. Thank the internet for causing most of this 'mess' we see today, it's totally revolutionised the way people shop and how products are priced.

There will still be a market for some products where having physical stores will be handy, but there will only be very few retailers which operate in a particular market. There will be fewer retailers and markets will be in the hands of a few large retailers and corporations. We have already seen how smaller independent shops have gone out of business over the years.


I predict the next major British retailers to go out of business are going to be: