There's been an outpouring of nostalgia and sadness on yet another bad day for the once mighty Movie Rental market in Ireland with the news that the Xtra-vision chain is to close.
For decades the Irish retailer was a household name, however the once ubiquitous Xtra-vision, has fallen victim to the rapidly changing way people consume entertainment with the result that the majority of its 580 full and part-time jobs are likely to be lost.
Today, the High Court heard that Xtra-vision Entertainment Ltd and its sister company, Xtra-vision Ireland Ltd, are insolvent and it agreed to the appointment of a provisional liquidator.
Xtra-vision, which billed itself as "the future of home entertainment", has over 80 shops in Ireland and Northern Ireland and occupied a special place in the hearts of generations of movie fans.
A household name in Ireland for over three decades
Daily browsing of its shelves, in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions, and trivia jousts with staff were rites of passage in many a misspent Irish youth/adulthood.
Despite diversifying into games and the sale of confectionery, the threat from illegal downloading, the Video on Demand market (VoD) and subscription services such as iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Prime, has left the company facing the same fate in homes as Betamax.
In court today Xtra-vision cited bad Christmas sales and the erosion of the DVD rental market for why it was now facing liquidation. Gift vouchers issued by the company though will be honoured by HMV.
Although it's definitely the end of an era, today's news - while not exactly a shock for many - has left former customers feeling decidedly nostalgic especially about unwound tapes and the panic to get to the store before the overdue fines kicked in.
My parents got their first Xtra-vision card in January 1988... Before that we got them from a man in a mobile van. https://t.co/XDA25LMJQc
— Rick O'Shea (@rickoshea) January 27, 2016
Sad to see XtraVision go, enjoyed my mid-00's run there. Sign of the times, all this were fields, etc...
— Dave Hanratty (@HanrattyDave) January 27, 2016
Sad to see Xtravision go. End of an era, kept us entertained for many a Saturday night.
— Jaylynn Frost (@Jaylynn_Frost) January 27, 2016
Xtra vision ran out of business , I feel so old
— Luke (@Lukeobrien__) January 27, 2016
Xtra Vision closing is like another ending to my childhood 💔
— Rachel Cooke (@RachelC1012) January 27, 2016
Sad to see Xtravision go. End of an era, kept us entertained for many a Saturday night.
— Aoibhe (@aoibhe_riggs) January 27, 2016
