Pound technologies - HDMI cables for retro systems.

[J T]

'99p Stores' got purchased by Poundland a couple of years ago. They are all Poundlands now. I can't help but wonder if people complained about the price increase.

I hope this has been investigated by the Monopolies Commission. It's a worrying sign if one single company can corner the whole low-end market.

[Stephen Coates]

They'll probably have an even bigger advantage now that PoundWorld has gone out of business.

[Harrison]

'99p Stores' got purchased by Poundland a couple of years ago. They are all Poundlands now. I can't help but wonder if people complained about the price increase.

I hope this has been investigated by the Monopolies Commission. It's a worrying sign if one single company can corner the whole low-end market.

I think it was more a case of most of the stores going bust so they stepped in to save the stores and the jobs. It's now a similar situation with some of the UK department stores. BHS went out of business a couple of years ago. Now House of Frasier has gone into administration, but SportsDirect has purchased it and currently managing to keep many of their stores open, although sadly my local one in Chichester has just shut, which was a very history store (previously an Ex Army and Navy department store).

[J T]

Future generations may never understand 'Are You Being Served'

[Harrison]

Very true.

Many already don't understand and will never experience many physical store experiences. Record stores is a huge one. It was an amazing experience in the 80s and 90s spending ages going through the LPs discovering new stuff and not knowing exactly that you had discovered until you got it home and played it. Or even going into a video game store and picking something at random to buy purely based on the boxart.

These days you look at the reviews and scores before making any decision. And with music Spotify and other services have made music throwaway, being able to play a few seconds and move on without giving it a chance. If you had physically purchased an LP you listened to the whole thing to give it a chance and quite often discovered something that grew over time. Books at the next one, although schools are still heavily encouraging children to read and explore physical books which is great. They could have so easily gone down the ebook/tablet root. Physical book don't seem to be being replaced by digital versions in quite the same way. It's still great to get a new book.. the smell, the feel etc, even putting a book mark in the page. I just can't easily read novels digitally. It's different with reference books, because when designing or coding it's very useful to have your reference books in digital form on your phone or table. Still kind of prefer a physical reference book, but it's not as much an issue.

[J T]

Ah yes, record shops, and the second-hand / collectors shops too, unearthing a bargain in there was a good feeling, or maybe rediscovering an old gem that wasn't carried in the big shiny stores like HMV or Virgin.

I feel a little sad that we were around to witness the decline. I understand that habits change and that nothing lasts forever but it was a shame to see the rows upon rows upon rows of CDs gradually replaced by plastic merchandise tat, and then see the shop shrink in front of our eyes. Of course, I haven't bought a CD in many many years so I'm part of the cause too.

[Harrison]

True. I used to buy CDs every month back in the day. I only now buy a CD for something I really want a physical copy of. The last one was the last Metallica album. Tend to just listen to Spotify or MP3s on a memory stick in the car these days.

[J T]

Spotify is so incredibly convenient. That's a major part of the reason I stopped 'obtaining' music by 'other means'.