Member Since: 5/10/2012
Posts: 10,996
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Blockbuster to shutter remaining American stores
Quote:
Blockbuster, which had more than 9,000 retail stores across America nine short years ago, will close over the next two months the few hundred video-rental stores that it still has, the company’s owner, Dish Network, said Wednesday in a bittersweet but long-expected announcement.
Dish, which acquired Blockbuster through a bankruptcy auction in 2011, after the retailer had already been decimated by digital video distributors like Netflix, said it still sees value in the brand name and will use it in limited ways.
But it will close all Blockbuster locations — it says there are about 300 left and the distribution centers that support a DVD-by-mail service. Dish declined to say how many employees would be laid off, but previous cutbacks by the company have affected thousands of workers. The remaining locations have, on average, 10 employees or fewer each.
The announcement amounted to a surrender: a statement that Netflix, symbolized by its little red envelopes and more recently its streaming service, had prevailed over the little blue boxes that Blockbuster VHS tapes and DVDs came in.
“This is not an easy decision,” Joseph P. Clayton, the chief executive of Dish, said in a statement, “yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment.”
Mr. Clayton added, “Despite our closing of the physical distribution elements of the business, we continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand, and we expect to leverage that brand as we continue to expand our digital offerings.”
Dish still operates “Blockbuster @Home,” a streaming film service for its satellite television subscribers, and “Blockbuster On Demand,” a competitor to the iTunes Store. Dish said it would hold onto the rights it owns for streaming content.
After Blockbuster shutters its own stores, there will still be a handful left -- there are 50 Blockbuster locations owned by third-party franchisees that are not affected by the announcement, although they are suffering from the same business pressures.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/bu...tore.html?_r=0
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The ones near me closed a few years ago I think. So sad, it used to be so fun to walk through the aisles. But Netflix and Redbox are just so much more convenient.
used to buy lots of used movies and games at my local one before it shut down a few years ago, I remember going with my dad to rent VHS movies when I was really little 
seeing that Blockbuster card in everyones wallets/purses/cars 