Blockbuster to close 164 stores, 800 jobs under threat

Another 164 Blockbuster stores are to close, threatening 800 jobs and leaving the DVD and game rental chain with less than half its stores surviving.

The latest round of closures is on top of 160 closures already announced. That takes the number of doomed Blockbuster stores to 324, leaving just 204 branches remaining of the 528 open when Blockbuster first went into administration.

The branches earmarked for closure will stay open for the time being, but there's no word on how long for. Fear not though -- stores will inform customers ahead of time to give you opportunity to return rented items. Returning items to a company that's about to go under, that'll definitely be at the top of the to-do list.

In the meantime, the Blockbuster website has a clearance sale, including a deal to get you 6 pre-owned DVDs for £10 -- and we're talking proper recent movies like True Grit, Star Trek andBridesmaids.

The administrators were called in in mid-January and are currently searching for a buyer to see if Blockbuster can continue trading.  

Blockbuster's administration is handled by Deloitte, which ushered Comet to the great high street in the sky last year and is also currently administering to ailing music and movie shop HMV. HMV is closing 66 stores in the UK, threatening nearly 1,000 jobs, and abandoning Ireland completely at the cost of 300 jobs.

Meanwhile camera emporium Jessops, which has disappeared from the high street, is to reopen online after buyers -- including Dragons' Den tellypreneur Peter Jones -- snapped up bits of the brand.

[Source: CNET]

Tesco Clubcard TV has free on-demand telly, sign-in wobbles

The fun of shopping at Tesco no longer has to end when you leave the supermarket -- now you can immerse yourself in Tesco all through the evening, with the company's new streaming service, Clubcard TV.

The service is free for anyone who possesses a Tesco Clubcard (if you don't have one, it's free to sign up), and puts a slew of movies and TV shows at your on-demand disposal, at the impressive price of precisely zero pounds. Batman, Goodness Gracious Me and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps are among the available programmes, the Telegraph reports.

The service is very similar to rivals such as Netflix or Lovefilm Instant, except for the lack of a monthly subscription fee, and the promise of more horse meat. You select what you want to watch, and the programme or film is streamed via your broadband connection.

At the moment the service seems limited to in-browser streaming, though as Tesco's promo video cheerily informs us, you can hook your computer up to your telly using an HDMI cable.

Teething woes

Signing up for the service appears to be borked at present, with three Clubcard-clutching CNET members unable to proceed past the Clubcard number entry page, which sees the site demanding a 'Privilege Card number'.

Privilege Cards are something given to staff once they've worked with the company for six months, so perhaps the service has been tested internally, and the supermarket forgot to turn off the Privilege Card number requirement.

Rival £6-per-month service Netflix recently launched its homemade House of Cards series, starring Kevin Spacey. Sainsburys, meanwhile, already has its own video-streaming service.

[Source: CNET]

New shopping companion Stuffster launches to track and alert consumers of online price drops

Stuffster’s Fastest Fallers Index reveals that TVs and Cameras saw the biggest tech savings in January 2013*

• Stuffster launches today, a new online shopping tool that tracks items and alerts you when the price drops to what you want to pay
• Stuffster’s Fastest Fallers Price Index reveals that Cameras and Children’s Tech had the highest number of technology sales over the January sales period*
• Stuffster sees the average price of items online fluctuate by as much as 17.5% during the day
• The new The new price drop alert service features an easy to use bookmark function so consumers can add items to track in Stuffster from their web browser in just one click, helping organise their shopping

LONDON, January 31, 2013 – Following a wealth of new products announced at CES, Stuffster.com, a free online shopping companion, has launched today to help consumers buy the products they want for the price they can afford. The revolutionary new service tracks global price drops and will enable consumers to track products that they want to buy and set the price they want to pay, following which Stuffster will alert them when the price drops to their target price.

Supporting the news, Stuffster has also revealed the launch of its Fastest Fallers Index, which has tracked price fluctuations of 691 online products between December 2012 and January 2013. Using Stuffster to continuously monitor price changes, the site revealed that fashion, beauty and technology products saw the biggest price drops, as over a third (34.9%) of items monitored fell over this period, with savings of up to 80% on popular products. From the technology items and websites monitored, Cameras and Children’s Tech saw the biggest percentage of items drop in price, with brands like Currys and Amazon slashing prices over the past four weeks. TVs and cameras saw particularly high savings with prices dropping by hundreds of pounds on items like Sony’s Full HD 3D Camcorder and LG’s Full HD 47” LED 3D TV, which fell from £1,699.99 to £999.97 and £1,299 to £649 respectively.

Keir McConomy, CEO for Stuffster.com, commented, “Over the past few years we’ve seen a boom in online shopping as consumers log on in search of the best deals. There are big savings to be had online for the savvy shopper. With tech giants launching new products every other week, retailers often slash their prices on old stock, but we even see prices fluctuate by as much as 10-30% in the same day due to flash sales and changes in the market, so it can be easy to miss out on these great deals.”

Using Stuffster’s Trakology technology, the site did not only reveal price drops, but also price increases and dailyfluctuations. Online prices can vary by as much as 17.5% in a day, as retailers adjust their prices multiple times according to supply and demand. For example, Stuffster saw Samsung’s NX 1000 Digital Compact Camera drop from £399.99 on Amazon to £329.99, only to increase back up to £399.99 just 6 hours later.

Stuffster tracks prices of any product on any website in the world, including Amazon, PC World, John Lewis and Currys, and has been established to help consumers take control of their shopping so they never need to worry about missing out on a bargain. Consumers add items to Stuffster.com by clicking the +STUFF button which they add to their browser and then setting the price they want to pay. All items are stored in Stuffster in a “Stufflist”, a central Wishlist of items they want to buy, or they can organise them in “Stuffboards” – helping categorise items in any way they want, from gadget essentials, to clothes, to specific categories like tablets. 

Stuffster is a free service for consumers to use, and has launched following over a year in development.

Keir McConomy continues, “We’ve launched Stuffster to help put the power back into consumers’ hands. Stuffster helps take the stress away by constantly tracking the items you want, so you never miss out on a bargain if the price drops on an item or it goes on sale. By using Stuffster, you can regularly save 25-50% off many of the most popular gadgets you want to buy and in today’s economic climate that can make a big difference or allow you to treat yourself with the savings made. What’s more, Stuffster helps save you time and hassle by organising your shopping items in one central place, so you never have to make a manual list of items ever again.”

To get price drop alerts for your favourite items, visit Stuffster.com for more details.

HMV shops could be bought by administration survivor Game

HMV could be thrown a lifeline from an unlikely source: Game. The video games retailer survived administration last year, but is considering buying branches of HMV as the music chain crashes into oblivion.

Game boss Martyn Gibbs says it's interested in buying a selected number of stores, but hasn't confirmed numbers. He probably has two that he wants but doesn't fancy anything for the third.

HMV has around 235 branches. Sources say there are around 40 HMV branches in places where there's no branch of Game, so they could well be targets.

Game isn't the only player interested in HMV. The Financial Times reports there have been as many as 50 expressions of interest in buying the company. 

4,000 jobs are at risk if the 91-year-old music and movie chain doesn't make it. Administrators Deloitte were called in at the start of the week, suspending online sales and refusing to accept gift cards -- prompting anger from the many gift card-holding customers left out of pocket. If you do have a gift card, you're at the back of the queue to get your money back from HMV, but if they were bought with a credit or debit card you could get your money back; check out our guide to your legal rights and what you can do.

Game has itself circled the drain in recent times, entering administration last March and closing a whopping 300 stores. The gaming chain was bought by investment firm OpCapita and is now in much better shape; after a better holiday season than expected, it's set to hit this year revenue targets.

Not every shop is so lucky: Comet, Jessops and Blockbuster have all entered administration in the last few weeks.

[Source: CNET]

HMV stops online orders as potential buyers circle

HMV has powered down its HMV.com website, halting online orders entirely, as the longstanding retailer enters administration.

Although its high street shops are still open, HMV says its website "has been suspended following the appointment of the Joint Administrators", going on to confirm, "No purchases can be made online until further notice."

HMV is continuing its post-Christmas blue cross sale in an effort to generate more cash, but for the time being it seems any bargains you snap up will have to happen over the till.

It's possible HMV will reopen its site further into the administration process, though when now-extinct retailer Comet went the same way last year (also turning to administrators Deloitte), it similarly put the kibosh on online orders.

The 91-year-old company has sparked anger by refusing to accept gift cards or vouchersfollowing the news that it was looking for a buyer. If you had an outstanding order with its online service, it's unclear what will happen to your purchase -- I've contacted Deloitte about this, and also to ask whether the site will reopen, and I'll update this story if I hear back.

HMV could have a future, meanwhile, as Deloitte says it's been contacted by parties interested in buying the ailing chain, Sky News reports. It's not clear who would be keen to snap up the firm, but as a major high-street name HMV's business could hold some appeal, even though the existing management wasn't able to make enough cash to keep it afloat.

[Source: CNET]

Jessops closes for good, 1,370 jobs lost

Sad news: Jessops is to close its doors, leaving 1,370 employees out of a job. Just one day after Jessops went into administration, administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers announced that all 187 stores would close.

Shops will begin shutting today. 1,370 jobs will go in stores, with more job losses to follow at the company's head office in Leicester. PWC blames a lack of support from suppliers, without which the chain cannot continue to trade, for the death of the 77-year-old company.

The Jessops website is still showing cameras and other products, complete with prices, but you can't buy them. You also can't return goods bought from Jessops. If you do have a problem with a camera or other kit bought from Jessops, try contacting the manufacturer; Nikon told me today that you can return faulty kit for free.

Nikon says it's working on completing outstanding repairs to kit being fixed under Jessops Photo+ extended warranty, and will contact affected customers directly.

The Jessops photo service is still available.

Jessops is the first high-street casualty of 2013, following a raft of closures last year. The biggest gadget shop to go under is Comet, which crashed to Earth leaving a £50m unpaid redundancy bill to be footed by the taxpayer.

Meanwhile, HMV has launched a major sale to raise fast cash as it too struggles to meet debt obligations. It seems unlikely that Jessops will hold a sale.

[Souce: CNET]