 Logo as of 2004 | |
 Chartbusters store in Ranelagh, 2009 | |
| Company type | Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video rental |
| Founded | 28 July 1993 |
| Founder | Richard Murphy |
| Defunct | 15 November 2010 |
| Fate | Liquidation |
Number of locations | 16 (2010) |
Area served | Ireland |
Chartbusters was an Irish video rental chain founded by former Xtra-vision chief executive, Richard Murphy. [1]
Chartbusters was founded by Richard Murphy following his departure from Xtra-vision in 1990. [2] The company was registered on 28 July 1993 as Chartbusters Limited. [3] The chain rented out VHS/DVDs and games. In addition to this, they also sold VHS/DVDs, computer games, cassettes and books. [4]
The first store that opened was in Blanchardstown followed by the second in Tallaght, both of which were classed as superstores and were reported to be generating £6,500 to £7,000 per week in 1994. [5] [6] In 2003, stores began to offer stand tanning under the company's tan.ie branding in the outlets. [7] [8] At the height of their popularity, in 2004, the chain had 52 stores across Ireland. [9] By 2009, there were 44 stores open. [10]
On 21 January 2011, a fire broke out in the vacant Chartbusters store in Stillorgan resulting in the adjacent restaurant and Mill House pub to be evacuated. [11] [12]
In 2009, Chartbusters' debts mounted to €20 million and they declared that they had gone bust, later going into examinership. [13] [14] The company made an announcement that they were to cease trading on 29 October 2010 with the loss of 87 jobs. [15] [16] [17] The petition for winding up was struck out on 15 November 2010. [18]
A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditions and terms agreed upon in a rental agreement or contract, which may be implied, explicit, or written. Many video rental stores also sell previously viewed movies and/or new, unopened movies.
Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is an online retailer in the United States and operates 6 remaining Kmart big-box department stores — 3 in the US Virgin Islands and one each in Miami, Florida; Bridgehampton, Long Island; and Tamuning, Guam.
Blockbuster Video is an American multimedia brand and former video rental store chain. It was founded by David Cook in 1985 as a stand-alone mom-and-pop home video rental shop, but later grew into a national store chain featuring video game rentals, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on demand, and cinema theater. The company expanded internationally throughout the 1990s. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster employed 84,300 people worldwide and operated 9,094 stores.
The Sunday Tribune was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Previous editors were Conor Brady, Vincent Browne, Peter Murtagh, Matt Cooper and Paddy Murray. The Sunday Tribune was founded in 1980, closed in 1982, relaunched in 1983 and entered receivership in February 2011 after which it ceased to trade.
Iceland Foods Limited, trading as Iceland, is a British supermarket chain headquartered in Deeside, Wales. It mainly sells frozen foods, including prepared meals and vegetables, alongside non-frozen grocery items such as produce, meat, dairy and dry goods. The company also operates a chain of shops called The Food Warehouse.
Tesco Ireland Limited is the Irish subsidiary of supermarket group Tesco. Tesco Ireland was formed by Tesco plc's 1997 purchase of the Irish retailing operations of Associated British Foods, namely Powers' Supermarkets Limited and its subsidiaries, trading as "Quinnsworth" and "Crazy Prices". There are 152 Tesco stores in operation in Ireland as of August 2018. Tesco had approximately 21% of the Irish grocery market in 2019 and its main competitors are Dunnes Stores and SuperValu.
Xtra-vision was a video, film and music retailer that operated across the island of Ireland. Founded in 1979, it had 200 stores at its peak before running into financial difficulties, changing ownership a number of times, and ultimately closing in 2021.
Dundalk Football Club is a professional association football club that competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of football in the Republic of Ireland. The club is based in Dundalk and its home ground is Oriel Park. The club crest is three martlets on a shield, which was adopted from the town's old coat of arms, and the team colours are white shirts and black shorts.
Argos Limited is a British catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and formerly in the Republic of Ireland, acquired by Sainsbury's supermarket chain in 2016. It was established in November 1972 and is named after the Greek city of Argos. The company trades both through physical shops and online, with 29 million yearly shop customers, and nearly a billion online visitors per annum. It has also franchised overseas to countries such as China.
Primark Stores Limited is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original Penneys brand is not used outside of Ireland because it is owned elsewhere by American retailer J. C. Penney.
Arnotts is the oldest and largest department store in Ireland. It is located on Henry Street, on the north side of central Dublin. Together with the Brown Thomas chain of department stores, it is owned by UK-based Selfridges, which in turn is owned by Thai Conglomerate Central Group and Austria's Signa Holding.
NTUC FairPrice is the largest supermarket chain in Singapore. The company is a co-operative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). The group has more than 100 supermarkets across the island, with over 160 outlets of Cheers convenience stores island-wide.
Brown Thomas & Company Limited is a chain of five upmarket department stores in Ireland, located in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Dundrum. Together with Dublin's Arnotts department store, it is owned by UK-based Selfridges, which in turn is owned by Thai Conglomerate Central Group and Austria's Signa Holding.
CIVIC was a home video rental chain that offered titles on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray, as well as console video games, for rent. At its peak it operated hundreds of franchise and corporate-owned video rental shops in Australia and New Zealand. In the late 2000s and 2010s the chain saw significant store closures. On 28 February 2023 the last remaining store in Windsor, New South Wales closed after 38 years in operation.
Hilco Capital is a British international company based in London, England that specialises in restructuring and refinancing other companies.
Lidl is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 12,000 stores, present in every member state of the European Union, Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, which also includes hypermarket chain Kaufland.
Eason Retail PLC, known as Easons or Eason, is an Irish retail company best known for selling books, stationery, cards, gifts, newspapers and magazines. Headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, it is the largest supplier of books, magazines, and newspapers in Ireland.
Harbour Place Shopping Centre is a shopping centre located in Mullingar, Westmeath, Ireland. Opened in 1997, the centre is anchored by one of the largest Dunnes Stores branches operating across Ireland.
HMV Ireland is an entertainment retailing company operated in Ireland by Hilco Capital Ireland. The first incarnation was first established by HMV Group Plc as part of their international expansion into Ireland and Canada in 1986. The first store in Ireland established was at HMV on Grafton Street in Dublin. HMV have announced their return to the Irish market, and a new store opened in Henry Street in Dublin in 30th June 2023.
Boots Ireland is the Irish subsidiary of the British pharmacy and beauty chain, Boots. Since 1996, the chain has expanded to almost 90 stores across the Republic of Ireland.