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  #21  
Unread September 17th, 2009, 03:38 PM
Ghost of AtlanticVamp Ghost of AtlanticVamp is offline
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Originally Posted by deathbydanny View Post
Exactly my point. Much as they annoy me, the trolls do have a valid point: Blockbuster is in some serious debt, and in the current economy, it IS almost necessary to think "When will this ship finally sink?" But this move actually does make sense. I live in an area that currently has six stores. There are several small towns around ours, and each has at least one of their own Blockbusters. In a 30 mile radius, there are 18 Blockbusters now. There were 25, but seven of them had closed. Of those seven, four of them were because they were essentially competing with themselves; sure there's Redboxes around, but there's also another Blockbuster literally five minutes down the road in both directions. Two of those closed because of leases-- one lease literally quadrupled in price (pricing themselves out of business, they had another leasor who backed out, and the building, which would have been profitable had BBV remained, is now derelict, with a decaying "now leasing" sign as a sad beacon of once was) and the other just plain deciding to rent to another business they saw as MORE profitable. Of the remaining one, it was legitimately closed due to lack of business.

To make my point, the remaining stores in the area have seen a MASSIVE surge of new members, including my own. On top of that, despite the once a day "Redbox is kicking your ass," I can't help but chuckle at times... because on a busy Friday night, out and about town, you pass by a Redbox and see three people at it, meanwhile the parking lot of my store, right across the street, is full to bursting. Even with cheaper competition across the street, people are still making an effort to get out of their cars, wait in our lines, and pay the extra $2... why? Who really knows? The company as a whole may not be in good shape, but that doesn't really matter to me. My parking lot is full. My customers are happy, my wallet is happy. Our store is turning a profit, and if another store close by closes down, all of those things will be even happier because I will see another upswing in asses walking through my doors.
Which is a good point. Half of Blockbuster's problem wasn't how much crap they sell or if Netflix/RedBox/SugarDVD (online porn service like Netflix) was running us off. We're killing ourselves. We lost the cachet of our brand and the implication of our quality by making it COMMON. For instance, Starbucks was supposed to be the best quality coffee in the nation (harhar!). But once they were on every street corner (four in my town of 17,000, including one in a hospital building), it stopped being "exclusive". With Big Blue in multiple locations in major cities, we've stopped being exclusive.

So, maybe if we pull back a little, and aren't blanketing every square mile or so, maybe we'll not look like freakin' McDonald's or Starbucks....or Bank of America...or 7-11...or...

Well, you get my point.
  #22  
Unread September 17th, 2009, 07:45 PM
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To hammer that home-- in the next parking lot over, not the one across the street with the four Redbox kiosks, but the other side, there's a hospital. The hospital has a Starbucks in it.

Across the street from THAT, a Super Target. With a Starbucks (OK, and McDonalds).

One block down, entering the rich people neighborhood? A Starbucks standalone.

Hell, now that I think about it... one parking lot over on the other side of the place with all the goddamn Redboxes.

Wow, that's about right. I never actually thought of it, but counting little stores inside other businesses, there are four Starbucks within a block.

Ironically enough, one of my 4-Stars has a second job at Starbucks.
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OK ladies, gents, shareholders... I must admit, I haven't a goddamn clue about what to do. Things seem so rough, I just wanna go home. No lies, we're in a pickle... WAIT! I HAVE AN IDEA!
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Originally Posted by deathbydanny
If I want the experience of being in the store, let me have it on my own fucking terms.
  #23  
Unread September 18th, 2009, 03:21 AM
madness madness is offline
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To all those that are affected from the store closings my sympathies. My store closed in July so I lost my job but make sure you speak with your District Manager, for those who can't transfer to a surrounding store you will receive a severance package. It's not much for part-time, mostly full time. You get 2 weeks pay for every year you have been with the company if your full time, part-time only recieves a flat two weeks pay. Make sure you inquire they are a little sneaky about letting everyone know this.
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  #24  
Unread September 18th, 2009, 03:29 AM
Ghost of AtlanticVamp Ghost of AtlanticVamp is offline
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Originally Posted by deathbydanny View Post
To hammer that home-- in the next parking lot over, not the one across the street with the four Redbox kiosks, but the other side, there's a hospital. The hospital has a Starbucks in it.

Across the street from THAT, a Super Target. With a Starbucks (OK, and McDonalds).

One block down, entering the rich people neighborhood? A Starbucks standalone.

Hell, now that I think about it... one parking lot over on the other side of the place with all the goddamn Redboxes.

Wow, that's about right. I never actually thought of it, but counting little stores inside other businesses, there are four Starbucks within a block.

Ironically enough, one of my 4-Stars has a second job at Starbucks.
I concur with you about the saturation of other stores/entities. Let's compare notes, shall we?

There are three RedBoxes within a block of my home store, including one in a McDonald's, one beside a drug store, and one in front of a grocery store. We're literally surrounded by these damn things. Compare this to the store I'm subbing in, which has one inside the grocery store we share a plaza, and one across town at the drug store.

Starbucks, meanwhile, has one stand-alone about two blocks from my store, and THAT one has another location in the Target behind it. There's one across town next to IHOP, McDonald's, KFC, Taco Bell, and Burger King. Then the one I mentioned earlier in the medical building. There's also a stand-alone about three miles from the store I'm subbing in...next to the McDonald's, Burger King, and Chick-Fil-A. And Starbucks is experiencing similar problems to Blockbuster's with closings and profitibility. Gee, wonder why?

I'm hoping that we manage to use the current push for Rewards, as well as upcoming pushes for TiVo (Lord knows the laziest people will love us for it!) and the Blockbuster Express machines will drive the brand. Rewards makes more sense than things we've pushed for before, like online, whose exchanges nearly sent the stores to the poor house.

Speaking of stuff that didn't make sense, does anyone remember when Blockbuster was selling DirecTV? I have a SL at my home store who worked in another state before she started with us and she was telling me about the push for the satellite service, which would garner the seller a $40 bonus for each system sold. This was obviously years ago, but anyone?
  #25  
Unread September 18th, 2009, 04:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Ghost of AtlanticVamp View Post
I concur with you about the saturation of other stores/entities. Let's compare notes, shall we?

There are three RedBoxes within a block of my home store, including one in a McDonald's, one beside a drug store, and one in front of a grocery store. We're literally surrounded by these damn things. Compare this to the store I'm subbing in, which has one inside the grocery store we share a plaza, and one across town at the drug store.

Starbucks, meanwhile, has one stand-alone about two blocks from my store, and THAT one has another location in the Target behind it. There's one across town next to IHOP, McDonald's, KFC, Taco Bell, and Burger King. Then the one I mentioned earlier in the medical building. There's also a stand-alone about three miles from the store I'm subbing in...next to the McDonald's, Burger King, and Chick-Fil-A. And Starbucks is experiencing similar problems to Blockbuster's with closings and profitibility. Gee, wonder why?

I'm hoping that we manage to use the current push for Rewards, as well as upcoming pushes for TiVo (Lord knows the laziest people will love us for it!) and the Blockbuster Express machines will drive the brand. Rewards makes more sense than things we've pushed for before, like online, whose exchanges nearly sent the stores to the poor house.

Speaking of stuff that didn't make sense, does anyone remember when Blockbuster was selling DirecTV? I have a SL at my home store who worked in another state before she started with us and she was telling me about the push for the satellite service, which would garner the seller a $40 bonus for each system sold. This was obviously years ago, but anyone?

I sold Direct TVs. It was nice to be able to watch NFL on Sunday afternoons.

BBV is selling TiVo??? That's like putting yourself on a platter, sticking an apple in your mouth and throwing yourself in the oven. Stupid.
  #26  
Unread September 18th, 2009, 04:27 AM
Ghost of AtlanticVamp Ghost of AtlanticVamp is offline
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Originally Posted by orbitdvd View Post
I sold Direct TVs. It was nice to be able to watch NFL on Sunday afternoons.

BBV is selling TiVo??? That's like putting yourself on a platter, sticking an apple in your mouth and throwing yourself in the oven. Stupid.
It's actually meant to promote BB OnDemand through TiVo, a pay service. Methinks they're trying to cover their bases, a la, "Well, if the company shuts down, we can still make money off the name."
  #27  
Unread September 18th, 2009, 08:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Ghost of AtlanticVamp View Post
It's actually meant to promote BB OnDemand through TiVo, a pay service. Methinks they're trying to cover their bases, a la, "Well, if the company shuts down, we can still make money off the name."
More than likely, someone else will make money by buying the name. Thanks for the clarification.
  #28  
Unread September 21st, 2009, 08:40 PM
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Originally Posted by deathbydanny View Post
To make my point, the remaining stores in the area have seen a MASSIVE surge of new members, including my own. On top of that, despite the once a day "Redbox is kicking your ass," I can't help but chuckle at times... because on a busy Friday night, out and about town, you pass by a Redbox and see three people at it, meanwhile the parking lot of my store, right across the street, is full to bursting. Even with cheaper competition across the street, people are still making an effort to get out of their cars, wait in our lines, and pay the extra $2.
You are a corporate tool who is spinning the truth on this board in hopes to get a few more people to believe in Blockbuster.
For you. or anyone. to believe that the Blockbuster "brick and mortar" store will not soon be extinct is foolish.
p.s. You ramble too much...you bore me.
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  #29  
Unread September 22nd, 2009, 09:01 AM
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Originally Posted by KAWLIGA View Post
You are a corporate tool who is spinning the truth on this board in hopes to get a few more people to believe in Blockbuster.
For you. or anyone. to believe that the Blockbuster "brick and mortar" store will not soon be extinct is foolish.
p.s. You ramble too much...you bore me.
Point A: Corporate tools don't complain about Blockbuster as much as I do. Since you love to point out old posts, peruse a few of mine: I'm critical of Blockbuster just as much as you. The difference is, mine not only comes from an inside perspective (meaning I can see firsthand the failings of the business, not just some newspaper article with an inherent bias) and my criticism tends to be more constructive. You, however, seem to offer nothing more than "I hate Blockbuster for absolutely no reason! Eat a dick, BBV!"

So I challenge you to take the high ground for once: What's your story? We all know Chris's story. Chris legitimately got screwed. Reading YOUR posts, however, seems to jump from "I'm a former employee of Blockbuster" to "I hope BBV fails lmao!" So let's get serious: What did Blockbuster do to you? Be serious for a minute. Can you do that? It'd be a lot easier to take you seriously if you have some beef with Blockbuster beyond "I didn't like them so I quit. FU BBV!"

Point Two: If I'm guilty of being a truth-spinning tool, you, my friend, are just as bad, but in the opposite direction. Obviously, working for the company, I see a lot of pro-BBV bullshit I take in with a grain of salt. Trust me, Kawliga, I've probably read just as many I HATE BLOCKBUSTER news articles as I have I LOVE BLOCKBUSTER articles. I get my info from BOTH sides. You seem to get info only where it agrees with you. Again, obviously I have a vested interest in BBV doing well as it allows me to keep a job and a healthy paycheck, but how many corporate whores do you see posting "When BBV closes down, I can put 'Manager-X years' on a resume"? I challenge you to find a few pro-BBV articles, and put more thought into it than "Bullshit. I don't agree with it, therefore it's untrue and it must be spin." Yeah, negative news can be spun, too, tool.

Point Three: You fail basic economics. We have reports printed in-store that not only tell us how many Redbox kiosks there are within 5 miles, but we also know our customer bases/overlap and how many stores are in surrounding areas. Obviously if someone likes going to brick and mortar stores, and one near him closes, but another one less than 2 miles away remains open, that store would get overflow.

Do you think people will stop eating McDonalds because one closes? Nope. They'll just go to the one a little further down the street. Or, by your rationale, order pizza or go to Burger King instead.

An article posted in the forums elsewhere points out just this: That Blockbuster has a significant amount of stores ridiculously close to others. The town I live in has seen it: They closed a store on both sides of mine, and rather than see business decrease overall, my business has EXPLODED. Customers who went to BBV STILL GO TO BBV. Suddenly, I'm raking in the money that THREE stores were making, but it's not being divided between three stores, only one. If you didn't fail business and economics, you'd see three times the profit with only 1/3 the expense, rudimentally speaking. How is this spin and not Economics 101, Kawliga?

Not that I expect you to read and give a valid reply to this, in which case you've proven my point and I'm finished with you. You trolls are getting boring. Bring something legitimate to this, and you have yourself a debate and maybe you'll be something more than a flea in my opinion. Or, this is my attempt to see if there's any merit to any of you trolls.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Keyes
OK ladies, gents, shareholders... I must admit, I haven't a goddamn clue about what to do. Things seem so rough, I just wanna go home. No lies, we're in a pickle... WAIT! I HAVE AN IDEA!
Quote:
Originally Posted by deathbydanny
If I want the experience of being in the store, let me have it on my own fucking terms.

Last edited by deathbydanny; September 22nd, 2009 at 09:06 AM.
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  #30  
Unread September 25th, 2009, 01:36 PM
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My DM was supposed to email us a list of the stores that were closing (dunno if it was all of the store, or stores in our district), but we never got it in.

Count on the DM to not send us anything...
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