Blockbuster Closing up to 960 Stores
Blockbuster stores going bust.
We heard earlier this year that Blockbuster was in some financial trouble, which is bad news even in light of the recessionary times that may or may not be over.
A filing with the SEC revealed Blockbuster's plans to close up to nearly 960 retail store locations by the end of 2010, according to CNet's report.
After Blockbuster's analysis of over 7,000 stores, it found that 18-percent of them--at least 1260--were unprofitable. And as a business' number one goal to be profitable, Blockbuster is ready to make cuts.
While it's almost certain that hundreds of Blockbusters will be closing its doors over the next year, it may not actually reach 960.
"All these stores are candidate stores," Blockbuster spokesperson Randy Hargrove said in a phone conversation with CNet. "Although we may in fact close that many stores, if we can renegotiate leases or remodel stores to make them more profitable, that number might go down."
Some stores, instead of closing, could be turned into outlets for sales rather than just rentals, which would bring Blockbuster's grand total of rental store closures to 1,335 to 1,560, figured the report.
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RIP blockbuster.
They're doomed. With downloadable media and Netflix service available, their business model simply can't compete on price or convenience.
I haven't set foot in a video rental store in a number of years now.
I also agree with the above post about crappy copies of movies. I'm amazed how many people enjoy low quality videos these days.
But with netflix streaming HD over an xbox360, I assume it makes things a lot more convenient. Wasn't blockbuster going to stream on something? I already forgot what it was
I cancelled my cable TV with Fios and am paying for Netflix on my xbox instead. $60 a month for crappy on demand vs $9 decent on demand. Although I am not a huge TV watcher others may justify the $60.
No, bail them out! Does anyone remember when BlockRuster got rid of late fees? (granted, they replaced them for similar priced "restocking fees"if you didn't bring the movie back on-time, but at least it wasn't a "late fee") They did that for us, the loyal consumers. WE must now help them out so their employees will not be on the streets, murdering people to support their drug habits. BlockRuster must persist so that Hollywood studios can continue to shaft online content providers by withholding new releases to brick and mortar outlets. Won't someone think of the children!
It's what you get from not keeping up with technology.
Internet is killing the movie renting business... a little normal since internet give you access to the international market which I highly love. The last good american movie I really loved was Gran Torino... easily the best film of Clint Eastwood.
YAY!! Brick and mortar movie rental places are dissapearing thanks to online rentals and rentals via the mail.
They are getting what they deserve for charging $9 to rent a game.
F*** THAT! I never rented from them because it's such a rippoff. The only use a place like that has: .... old movies that you can't seem to find at these online rental sites or on the PS3
Back in the 1980s I remember smaller video rental stores coming and going quicker than the blink of an eye. How Blockbuster lasted this long I'll never know?
The only good thing about BlockBuster and Hollywood video is they have a bigger selection than RedBox. Netflix has an even bigger selection (though I don't watch enough movies to justify a monthly subscription), and RedBox carries all new-releases for $1 a night. Really, there's no reason left to go to a movie rental store, especially when some of the older gems you might go there to rent are probably available in the Wal-Mart $5 bin for purchase (rentals are what, $3.99 or $4.99 for 3-5 days now?).
Sorry Blockbuster, but instead of ignoring Netflix when they came out, you should have jumped on that bandwagon. You could have easily outdone Netflix with your existing studio partnerships and vast resources. And who wouldn't have minded a Blockbuster kiosk at their local McDonalds, rather than having to drive farther to the 1 Blockbuster store in their neighborhood.
Speaking of bad business decisions, anyone remember those Blockparty chains? Their spectacular failure makes me wonder how Dave and Buster's seems to do so well.
Internet is killing the movie renting business... a little normal since internet give you access to the international market which I highly love. The last good american movie I really loved was Gran Torino... easily the best film of Clint Eastwood.
I'll have to disagree with you, the best was Fistful of dollars
There have been two instances recently where I was watch a Netflix rental DVD of a television series. I watched the whole DVD, but was dying to see what happens next, so off I went to the video store. One was a Hollywood Video, the other a Blockbuster. In both cases, they didn't have the series at all. And these were not obscure titles, one was 24 season 7, the other was The Shield season 7 (so much for lucky number 7).
At any rate, after that I pretty much wrote off brick-and-mortar video stores. I agree with the previous posters who declared them DOA.
I remember when I was younger, went to a Blockbuster to watch a film we all wanted to see. It'd be expensive and inconvenient, because we had to drive 3 miles to get there to then have to rent it, then drive 3 miles back to it. Then came along the internet. To begin with, it was all piracy, because we could get it on demand, but not for a fair price legally. Now, I don't bother pirating films. It's too easy to get them cheap, legally and quickly, all without having to visit a Blockbuster. The atmosphere in that place was awful too. Very mass-produced and unfriendly.
I remember when I was younger, went to a Blockbuster to RENT a film...
Correction.
We've stopped going to BB because of the $4-6 movie rentals - at least for some of their locations. Another location we used to go to was less than $2 for a week (franchized store), which if kept that long made it cheaper than Redbox. So I agree, unless they lower prices for rentals, they're not going to stick around much longer.
Those Red Box DVD rental stations at grocery stores are a huge hit. A buck to rent a movie for a day. And Netflix is dominating this area as well. Sorry Blockbuster.
Yup since Blockbuster hardly carries anything more then the redboxes wats the point of even going to the store? Who goes to blockbuster to get anything but a new release? Thats wat the local video store is for. Though that is going the way of the dinosaur to. Have a great vid store with about every film known to man, actually there are two of em in my town and about half a dozen redboxes. Bye Bye blockbuster.
I remember when i was little i used to think "Block Buster" was a bad word, lol.
The one near us has been closed for a year now.
I never liked blockbuster they ripped everyone off. I always went to smaller stores for movies.
Holy crap. 960..? lol
Next is Hollywood Videos.
Does this mean they are going to have "clearance" sales where we could buy the DVDs???
At any rate, RIP.
lol, here in new zealand the internet is too slow to even stream sd movies
and plus we have internet caps 
i'm on the biggest plan which only offers 40gb of downloads. i still rent dvds for better quality and not having to wait around. 
Hollywood Video already succumbed to the closing disaster. They had well over 50 stores in the Atlanta metro area and now they're left with a little under 10.
lol, here in new zealand the internet is too slow to even stream sd movies and plus we have internet caps i'm on the biggest plan which only offers 40gb of downloads. i still rent dvds for better quality and not having to wait around.
I keep being used to the US being compared to european and other countries where our internet is considered slow. But internet caps? I'd break a limit that small in the blink of an eye. Even when my speed was still locked at 1.5 Mbps. They really need to work on that, internet's pretty important. It's definitely something I'd look at if I were considering changing countries.
...or more and more people are watching illegal crappy copies instead of renting/purchasing.Not good.
Illegal crappy copies? Hmmm odd because I have never rented a DVD that didn't skip, yet the mkv files i download are perfect copies... So these rental rip-off places can all go bankrupt for what I care because they're obsolete and unreliable in providing their customers with quality merchandise.
The one thing blockbuster style places had that red-box didn't was the collection of slightly older copies. Too bad they were usually beat the shreds by that time, and were STILL overpriced. Automotive wasn't the only industry to eat it hard due to not keeping up with the times.
Killed by Red Box. $1 daily rentals.
Theres 2 of my corners (1 on each side).... go figure.
Theres 2 units in every grocery store in my area too.
If i remember correctly, the main reason our family stopped renting from blockbusters is simply because they charge significantly more for their rentals than a corner rental store.
Killed by Red Box. $1 daily rentals.Theres 2 of my corners (1 on each side).... go figure.Theres 2 units in every grocery store in my area too.
..that's why I work for RedBox...lol There's a year backlog for our units. We can't get them installed fast enough. Blockbuster finally has their own DVD rental kiosks but we're dug in deeper than an Alabama tick as the saying goes. If you ever see one of Blockbuster's kiosks just laugh...why? They are paying the store chain 2-3x what RedBox is because they are so far behind. We're taking bets as to go goes under first at work... Blockbuster or Hollywood video.
I feel bad for the all those employees that are losing their jobs though. Their HQ's were too stupid to see this coming years ago and got left behind.