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Blockbuster To Close Remaining US Locations
UnknowingFool writes "Blockbuster announced that it will close its remaining 300 U.S. locations by January and discontinue the DVD by mail service. Before being bought out by Dish, the chain was slowly closing locations. Dish's CEO said, 'This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment.' From an all-time high of 9,000 locations in 2004, the chain has fallen on hard times and had emerged from bankruptcy in 2011."
Blockbuster still exists?
They were supposed to close years ago. They never got the memo because they only communicate by telegraph.
I loved going in and buying the used flikcks; sometimes 4 DVDs for $20 or 2 Blurays for $20. I built up a nice physical collection which I much prefer to just files. If they shut down any local stores I'll make a point to be there early for the sell-off day.
I guess I'm in that minority that likes the in-store experience and browsing shelves rather than clunky cable box UIs.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
I realise I live in an 18th century house with '70s heating system and am dripping in Old Money, which means I have the best money could buy... 30-300 years ago, but have people really moved on that quickly that everyone today has an IP-connected TV in their living room with which to watch films?
nonsense, they were success in early 80s. that business model was what every VHS shop had, except BlockBuster's rates were lower, they had more of the popular movies and the fine was nominal.
Dish's CEO said, 'This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment.'
Oh, sure, blame it all on the consumers!
Let's be realistic here: Yes, increasing consumer demand for instant gratification is part of the video stores downfall, but they're experiencing an equal amount of pressure from the content cartels, who have spent years trying inadvertently (or intentionally) to kill off the rental industry with their obsession over controlling how consumers can access media.
Content cartels... like Dish Network.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Mine only closed about a year ago. It was replaced by a nice restaurant. Here's hoping everyone else gets a nice replacement.
It would be easy to say that Netflix killed Blockbuster, and certainly Blockbuster inflicted harm on themselves. Netflix did play a part but Blockbuster's problems come from a business model that came under threat from multiple fronts.
Netflix challenged Blockbuster by offering both instant streaming and titles by mail services but mainly in older titles and TV shows. Blockbuster still had an advantage for consumers in new releases.
Unfortunately, the rise of VOD competitors like Apple's iTunes, Amazon Instant, VUDU, Microsoft, etc offered consumers better choices when it came to new releases and offered advantages over Blockbuster. Even at the same price of a Blockbuster rental, consumers didn't have to physically get and return the title. Stock was never a problem, and the catalogs were better than a consumer could get at a Blockbuster's location.
For consumers that could not stream video, Redbox has taken away the last advantage of Blockbuster. The prices are cheaper and even if the selection is as limited as a Blockbuster location, there are far more Redbox locations. Since Redbox's model allows rentals to be returned to any location, this means the death of Blockbuster in many locations.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
My sister still likes going to the store and browsing.
"Digital delivery" for which the market has spoken does not work in combination with crappy (monopolistic and sometimes transfer-capped) internet.
Having a near-by rental store had its benefits.
Blockbuster pushed out many of the independent video rental places. I wonder if some of them will make a come back, to fill what ever niche there will be for renting physical videos. Or maybe that niche just won't exist anymore.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
I always find it difficult to understand the mentality of those cheering and saying good riddance that a long time business [even former giants of the industry] has failed.
Hey, it could be your workplace next.
If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
If they were on every corner then you could walk, no driving necessary. Coincidentally mine was actually on my corner. I walked by it often, near daily, sometimes I stopped in.
Others were located in shopping centers that people were driving to or driving by anyway. Over the decades I don't think I made many special trips to the video store. The resources argument seems to be a red herring.
That said, its an obsolete business model. Mine turned into a nice restaurant, something far more useful these days.
A large segment of the market is not watching their movies on the TV in the living room, or any other room for that matter. There is a huge generational shift to kids watching movies on a computer or tablet.
They went digital then they switched from VHS to DVD.
The problem is that the selection on Netflix sucks balls. And I say that as someone who has had their streaming service from day one. Netflix streaming is great when you're content to watch whatever they happen to have at the moment (mostly older stuff). It sucks when you want to watch a specific movie.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
At some point when they were extremely profitable, half of BlockBuster's money came from late fees.
For some reason, I suspect that was the beginning of the end.
That wasn't a model you could use by mail.
nonsense, they were success in early 80s. that business model was what every VHS shop had, except BlockBuster's rates were lower, they had more of the popular movies and the fine was nominal.
Except of course, unless they fined you for the hell of it even when you turned in the movie on time.
I stopped going to Blockbuster after they did that to me, and they lost a class-action lawsuit over the issue a few years later. They didn't exactly build consumer loyalty.
But really it was Netflix's DVD-by-mail that killed video stores for me.
And Netflix loves to send their version of the DVD that has all the cool extras stripped out.
No, I think it sticks in their craw and chokes them just a little, because those stripped down "for rental only" discs were forced on them by the content providers. I think Netflix would prefer to send the full retail versions.
Oh noes netflix knows what programs I watched! The horror, the horror. Yeah your tinfoil hat is on way too tight.
All they can do with that data is use it to figure out what to recommend.
Psst, your mail order DVD service also knows exactly what movies you watched. Better cancel it.
They closed a lot of stores, but many still remained. Until now.
Ironically, this mirrors the situation with the UK chain which just went bankrupt for the *second* time a little over a week ago, having first gone under in January and closed a number of shops. (I assume it was a legally separate and/or spun-off business of the US parent before it first went bankrupt, as this seems to have happened independent of the troubles of the US Blockbuster).
I've no idea if any stores will remain open this time, but given that there was no obvious future for the chain when they *first* went bankrupt, it'd be surprising if it happened again.
Shame for the remaining people that worked there, but no surprise, and not a sad loss. Blockbuster entered the independent store and small chain dominated UK market at the end of the 80s (by buying the then largest rental chain), and ruthlessly exploited its US parent's size and connections to drive them almost all out of business- via predatory means- during the next decade, leaving a virtual monoculture by the turn of the millennium. From a comment on this page by Madiain28 at the time of their *first* bankruptcy earlier this year:-
This was a company owned by Viacom that is also parent company of most of the big distribution rental market. They showed no mercy in the late eighties and nineties closing thousands of independent rental shops by opening next door to them. Whilst independent shops had to pay between £30-60 per copy of film blockbuster could bulk receive from distributors virtually costing nothing just rejigging figures. They would strike a deal taking thousands of copies at a cost of about £5 then mass rent for a few weeks and sell off for more than the initial cost. Whilst the small independents struggled to buy a few copies and make any profit.
I worked part time for them when I was at college in the early nineties and there underlying ethos was to ensure they shut down any competition in the area by undercutting then as soon as they got rid of the competitor they whacked the prices up. 20 years ago they were charging £3.50 to £4 per night rental in Aberdeen once they closed Global video down.
He/she also adds:-
With the launch of Netflix and Lovefilm it was inevitable. As the market leader in the rental market they did not invest in online streaming or offer comparable deals in store as even their own online packages for post rental were far cheaper. Although I sympathise with all the staff as a company they deserve to go.
In short, nasty soulless corporate chain that monopolised the market then got so used to the nice stream of easy income and the cushion of monopoly status that they could "afford" not to respond immediately to changes in the market... so by the time things got bad enough to start affecting them it was too late for them to change. What a shame. *cough*
FWIW, the current owners (who bought it after the January bankruptcy and closure of some stores) were a private equity firm. While I might wonder why they bought the company when the chain was already clearly doomed by that point, it's well known that many private equity firms come out of these bankruptcies still having made a profit by dubious means (i.e. leaching the value out of the company and leaving the debts behind) and that may well have been the intent here, regardless of whether Blockbuster UK had a future or not.
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I would call 24+ hours to get your movie a hell of a long buffer.
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"This is all your fault!" cried the CEO at the press conference, pointing his finger at the crowd. "We asked you, begged you to rewind, but you wouldn't, you just wouldn't, I... " His voice trailed off, then his eyes rolled back as he collapsed onto the podium, then into a heap on the stage, the toppled-over mics blasting everyone's ears with feedback, then falling silent.
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