The End ~ Gatherings from Ireland # 251

I don’t know how many people will understand but I feel a huge sadness that the the Xtra-vision Store here in Tramore is closing in the next few days.

Xtra-vision, Tramore, Co. Waterford.

Xtra-vision has been in Tramore for a very significant decade in my life ~ years when my son was moving from Thomas the Tank Engine  to over 18 movies. It’s also a place I associate with buying various mobile phones which brought great, good, difficult and sad news as well as ordinary, everyday chatter.

In ways the coming of Xtra-vision to Tramore with its snazzy lay-out, huge range of movies for rent, late night opening, pop-corn … was not unlike the arrival of our first television in 1963. A whole new era bringing the world into our living-rooms.

One of the great things about Xtra-vision here in Tramore was the way you were guaranteed to meet friends and acquaintances, in entertainment mood, searching the shelves for a movie and eager to exchange opinions on the latest movies.

The closing of any business is tough, tough, tough and while Xtra-vision may not be a long-standing family business in Tramore, it is a place in which the staff have invested many years serving both locals and the many visitors who swell the population of the town each Summer.

Yes, is the end of an era and I know that I’ll be seeing the red and yellow  Xtra-vision signs at the top of the town long after they have been taken down.