Poem: Irrelevant as a Blockbuster Store

[meridian_rose]

Have your ever felt as irrelevant as a Blockbuster store
Or maybe Woolworths or BHS
One of those chain stores that folded
And people who once shopped there
Say things like "Oh, that's so sad"
And "I'll miss it"
Not because they still shopped there
But because they did, in times past

They liked the familiarity of a store
The idea of it
The notion that it would always be there
Without them having to actually visit
Or make purchases
Buying stationery elsewhere
Choosing other clothes shops
Prioritising other retailers

Have you ever wondered how long it would be
For anyone to truly notice if you disappeared
Or if they'd care
How long they'd miss you for – how long you'd miss someone else
It's no use shedding tears over a store you don't shop in closing down
Or a show you've never watched getting cancelled
Or a musician you never listen to quitting show business
Or someone you don't seem to care about dying.

Notes: in the UK Blockbuster placed its UK subsidiaries in administration 2013. Today the Blockbuster brand has mostly been retired, with one remaining US store open, and a few in Australia. Blockbuster continues as a video on demand service in some Nordic countries (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_LLC).

Woolworths Group was a listed British company that owned the high-street retail chain Woolworths. It entered administration in 2009,and was officially dissolved in October 2015. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolworths_Group)
Woolworths Limited, the largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand; named after the American F.W. Woolworth brand, is unrelated (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolworth)

British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, was a British department store chain. It entered administration during and was dissolved by the end of 2016. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Home_Stores)

While Blockbuster fell victim to new technology and streaming services, other stores have fallen out of popularity for other reasons. There's often a nostalgic outpouring when something familiar disappears, sometimes by those who did nothing to support the business. If you like a business, a television show, a musician (or any other artist) or care about a person, you should probably show your appreciation in some way.

Rewrite of an older work. Published and promoted at wordpress;fic blog;tumblr;twitter;pinterest;facebook

Comments

[cmcmck]

Excellent! :o)

[meridian_rose]

Thank you :D

[under_the_silk_tree]

This made me feel all sorts of nostalgia. I remember Blockbusters being my go to place to stop on a Friday night. America also had a company with a similar name and although Woolworth was long gone from my hometown before I grew up there is still a reminder of their time occupying a spot downtown. Even though many stores have since come and gone, the front walkway has a mosaic that still spells out the name Woolworth. Every time we passed by when I was a kid my father would tell me about how my grandmother worked there when he was a kid.


Thanks so much for sharing. Awesome poem!

[meridian_rose]

It's always lovely to hear that feelings have been evoked! Thanks for reading, commenting, and sharing your own nostalgia :)

[tinny]

Have you ever wondered how long it would be
For anyone to truly notice if you disappeared
Or if they'd care
How long they'd miss you for – how long you'd miss someone else

Oooh, I like this!

[meridian_rose]

Thank you very much :D