Xtra-vision was a video, film and music retailer that operated across the island of Ireland. Founded in 1979, it had 200 shops at its peak before running into financial difficulties, changing ownership a number of times, and ultimately closing in 2021. All physical Xtra-vision stores closed across Ireland in January 2016.
History
Xtra-vision was founded by Richard Murphy in 1979. At its peak, it operated over 200 shops across both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Murphy later went on to form Chartbusters in 1993.
Xtra-vision went into financial difficulties in the early 1990s after aggressive expansion of their retail network caused a massive increase in their stock price on the Irish Stock Exchange, without sufficient liquidity to continue the network expansion, and their books having overestimated the value of their video stock in shops. The company entered examinership and its finances were turned around by businessman Peter O'Grady Walshe in 1993. The company was bought by a venture capital consortium in 1994, with O'Grady Walshe as managing director.[1] In 1996, the company was sold to US giant Blockbuster.[2]