Chartbusters

Chartbusters was an Irish video rental chain founded by former Xtra-vision chief executive, Richard Murphy.

History
Chartbusters was founded by Richard Murphy following his departure from Xtra-vision in 1990. The company was registered on Jul 28, 1993 as Chartbusters Limited. The chain rented out VHS/DVDs and games. In addition to this, they also sold VHS/DVDs, computer games, cassettes and books.

Stores
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. In 2003, stores began to offer stand tanning under the company's tan.ie branding in the outlets. At the height of their popularity, in 2004, the chain had 52 stores across Ireland. By 2009, there were 44 stores open.

On Jan 21, 2011, a fire broke out in the vacant Chartbusters store in Stillorgan resulting in the adjacent restaurant and Mill House pub to be evacuated.

Liquidation
In 2009, Chartbusters' debts mounted to €20 million and they declared that they had gone bust, later going into examinership. The company made an announcement that they were to cease trading on Oct 29, 2010 with the loss of 87 jobs. The petition for winding up was struck out on Nov 15, 2010.