Bye Bye Game!

djkav said:
If you have any vouchers/store credit, I would get it spent now. Once they go into administration, they become worthless. You will be last on the list of creditors to be considered.
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Main thing that bothers me is losing the one place who sorted dodgey consoles/swapped them out etc without any posting BS or fudging about. They swapped my 360 for a refurb then 18 months later they swapped the refurb for a spanking new Jasper because they didn't have a refurb to give me.
A while back I got a sweet trade in deal on an old 40 Fat for a 160 slim & thought I'd get the same cover with this but if they shut down it's back to the hard way. :(
It's the One shop in my town that I'd really miss.
 
no_1_dave said:
Within a 10 mile radius of my house there are about 4 or 5 small/family shops that buy & sell games/DVDs. They are all doing fine even though in the same 10 mile radius there are 3 Game, 2 Gamestation and 2 Cex. Take away the competition and they'll get busier and a couple more will probably open.
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I don't see that happening personally.

Shares down 68.66% to 1.10p. Hope no one here are in GMG :(
 
Went to my local GAME on Saturday (in Derby) and all the games were still full price though they were marking down the 2nd hand games but by about a quid. :(
 
I can't say that I will miss game. Pretty much the same complaints as everyone else here. The staff in Romford were always disgustingly mannered.

I will just say this. I work for HMV. We do try to be competitive. If you see something on the shop floor at a ridiculous price, ask a member of staff to check the price or check if the item is in a sale - 8/10 they are. Try and grab an experienced looking member of staff (the old t shirts give them away).

Also, my branch of HMV has stopped stocking PC titles, except for customer orders. I'm going to try and change that, but please go into your local and urge them to stock PC games (if they are reasonably priced).

Anyway, sorry for the people who will lose their jobs. I've felt like that wasn't too far off for me a few times the last year or so.
 
I've shelled out a lot in Game in recent years (young kids !) and the store near me has usually been staffed with knowledgable types. My son will be gutted as there won't be a GameFest this year.

Does seem inevitable though - remember when there were Game and Electronics Boutiques everywhere ?

Welcome to the Megalomart.

cj
 
I will keep my fingers crossed however unlikely this could bring back small independent stores with friendly staff. However I doubt it because the buying power of the mail order companies would beat them on prices everyday.
 
Went in to use my Gamestation card points in Waterloovillr near Portsmouth - 320gb ps3/faster blu ray/uncharted 3 for £149.95 before points taken off. Now to decide if to flog it, split it or use it as second ps3 for house due to Netflix/games etc. they had more in stock if of use to anyone.
 
@danjama

HMV have the same issues in my opinion and may well suffer the same fate unless they become more competitive.

For example I went in and looked at Harry Potter Film Box set:

Amazon Price = £29.50
HMV Price = £50.00

It seems to me that HMV rarely update the pricing of the products and therefore online stores are undercutting them heavily or they are profiteering on the unsuspecting. Although i can understand a premium on bricks and mortar stores say 10% I dont think anyone can justifying spending an extra 40%.

HMV can survive but they need to be more competitive
 
iamtheoneneo said:
their worthless now, you'd have to be truly mental to want to buy them out.
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Why?

Their market cap is only 10 million or so but annual turn over is more than a billion, the right company could turn it around and make a good profit.

Adam said:
I don't see that happening personally.

Shares down 68.66% to 1.10p. Hope no one here are in GMG :(
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Christ, I was going to buy a grand or so at 5p in the hope they went up again, so glad I didn't :p
 
Gerard said:
I bought a copy of Company of Heroes in game and it has no serial number included, they had to go through several copies to find one that had a serial number. Some screw up at the place making the manuals appartently :p
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LOL - another reason to buy online.
 
If the info about nintendo giving next to no profit margin on releases I doubt it mate.
As you've said tho mail order/online companies without the overheads are extremely price competitive, even the supermarkets at time too now.

Wonder how the whole jersey/tax thing will affect this.

I very much doubt that in the current economic climate anyone would consider opening an indie store, especially with rent and rates going up also :(
 
Cold Fusion said:
@Danjama

HMV have the same issues in my opinion and may well suffer the same fate unless they become more competitive.

For example I went in and looked at Harry Potter Film Box set:

Amazon Price = £29.50
HMV Price = £50.00

It seems to me that HMV rarely update the pricing of the products and therefore online stores are undercutting them heavily or they are profiteering on the unsuspecting. Although i can understand a premium on bricks and mortar stores say 10% I dont think anyone can justifying spending an extra 40%.

HMV can survive but they need to be more competitive
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I agree completely. We seem to sell things at a very good margin for a while after release, just about staying competitive with online prices, but then as you say, they whack the prices up, and wonder why we struggle to maintain sales and footfall. We complain about this endlessly to our manager, and even talk with customers about the issue, but the man upstairs does NOT listen (Simon bloody Fox)! This is a problem with everything from new release to back catalogue. People come in and look perplexed when a 10 year old film is £10, and we can't explain it. They can get the same film for the cost of delivery on amazon, or a small cost at play.com. I can understand its hard to maintain margins on such a large catalogue, but they hire enough bloody people at head office that they should be on top of it! It's infuriating.

As I say though, do ask a member of staff as things are normally in a sale or have the wrong price on.

Luckily HMV is not a career for me, but I would be genuinely sad of they went under. The business direction has been terrible for the last couple of years, and I think they're starting to realise that now.
 
Sad times for those who will soon be out of a job.

Also, so much UK gaming history will be lost. Virgin Games, Future Zone, Gameplay (originally a dial-up premium gaming service IIRC), Gamestation, Barrysworld. All gone.
 
I've been after the Star Wars Blu-ray set as I have some High Street vouchers which only HMV will accept. Except I've been trying to buy from HMV since Xmas, but each time, I'm told there's no stock.

Funny how Argos, Asda, Amazon, Play, and Uncle Tom Cobbly and all have stock, but just HMV don't.

I'm hoping it's just a temporary blip, and not a foretaste of things to come for the last remaining entertainment specialist.
 
danjama said:
I agree completely. We seem to sell things at a very good margin for a while after release, just about staying competitive with online prices, but then as you say, they whack the prices up, and wonder why we struggle to maintain sales and footfall. We complain about this endlessly to our manager, and even talk with customers about the issue, but the man upstairs does NOT listen (Simon bloody Fox)! This is a problem with everything from new release to back catalogue. People come in and look perplexed when a 10 year old film is £10, and we can't explain it. They can get the same film for the cost of delivery on amazon, or a small cost at play.com. I can understand its hard to maintain margins on such a large catalogue, but they hire enough bloody people at head office that they should be on top of it! It's infuriating.

As I say though, do ask a member of staff as things are normally in a sale or have the wrong price on.

Luckily HMV is not a career for me, but I would be genuinely sad of they went under. The business direction has been terrible for the last couple of years, and I think they're starting to realise that now.
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I agree. It seems to be totally mis-managed.

As has been said, i wouldnt mind paying an extra 5-10% if i saw something in HMV and could buy it that day but whenever i go in there, everything i might want to buy is just ridiculously overpriced when compared to the internet.

For example, i ordered Transformers 3, triple play edition, from Sainsburys online soon after release for £12.99. i went in HMv the other day and noticed the same product is STILL £19.99??

It is just bonkers, and i can't understand why they don't change their business model.

The same applies to GAME. I often see titles priced at 50-100% more than the same title online.
 
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