R.I.P. Blockbuster...

[Nike Jordan]

USA Today
[h1]  [/h1]

[h1]Blockbuster to close U.S. retail stores, mail DVD operation[/h1]
It's the last picture show for Blockbuster.

The retail company that introduced millions of Americans to stay-home movie nights said Wednesday it will close its 300 remaining U.S. stores by early January next year. Its DVD-by-mail business, introduced as a competitor to Netflix, also will be shut down by mid-December.

"This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment," said Joseph Clayton, CEO of Dish Network, Blockbuster's parent company. "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 Network, which offers satellite pay-TV service, said it will retain licensing rights to the Blockbuster brand and, for now, its vast video library.

"Blockbuster has no brand," said Dan Rayburn, an analyst at StreamingMedia.com. "Consumers stopped thinking about the brand a long time ago. Why did they take so long to close?"

Dish plans to focus on its Blockbuster @Home business, a streaming service available to Dish pay-TV customers for an extra fee.

Blockbuster On Demand, its streaming service for the general public, also will continue to operate. "The quantity of movies (for Blockbuster On Demand) is so limited," Rayburn said. "Some of them are not even on (high-definition). It's not even a real service. You can't put it up there with Vudu or Netflix or Hulu."

Dish Network bought Blockbuster in April, 2011 in an auction for $320 million as Blockbuster was emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Dish's plan at the time was to leverage its more than 1,700 store locations to offer in-store rentals that would complement Dish's other video offerings. "Cross-marketing and service-extension opportunities" were mentioned by Dish.

But competitive pressures and adapting to the rapidly changing streaming technology proved to be too daunting for Blockbuster's management, as video lovers continue to flock to Netflix, YouTube and other start-up streaming sites. Cheaper kiosk rental locations, such as Redbox, undercut its prices.

Dish continued to close stores throughout the country. Its rental library was cut in half in the last year, down to 41.5 million units of DVDs and games as of June from 81.9 million a year earlier.

Blockbuster's revenue fell to $120 million in the second quarter, less than half the $253.3 million it generated in the year-ago period.

"It's an interesting footnote to business history. (Dish) thought (Blockbuster) had a longer tail than it did. But digital distribution happened faster than people may have thought," said Matthew Harrigan, a media analyst at Wunderlich Securities.

 

 

[T Lo Sweater]

Renting games back in the day. Sometimes 2 at a time and then switching discs. Good times

Sad to see the stores go

 

[hybridsoldier23]

View media item 645320

 

[romedadude]

RIP to a part of my child

I use to love going there to get games and movies. The Blockbuster I used to frequent is a beauty supply store now.

I'll never forget rollin up there, because without fail damn near every time we rented something we would have a late fee on the account and my dad would scream on the clerk
Had me lowkey embarrassed to go in there with him.

 

[ecruteakcityboy]

Saw an article where they posted the training video from 1990.



Blockbuster was cool tho.
My mom used to take me every three weeks.
I guess I miss that more than the store itself.

 

[Meangene45]

RIP

 

[coldcity]

Renting games back in the day. Sometimes 2 at a time and then switching discs. Good times

Sad to see the stores go

popping labels off & regluing childhood

 

[lil black jean jacket]

rip

 

[gllahone84]

I thought it was already dead 

 

[drones]

RIP Renting games and trying to beat them in a few days.

 

[black migo]

So can we blame netflix + internet for this?

 

[coldcity]

So can we blame netflix + internet for this?

thats exactly who they are blaming

 

[JCMojica24]

If you got one near you they'll be selling all of the movies for cheap if you're looking to get some DVDs/Blus

 

[Arthur Shelby]

Last time i went to Blockbuster was in 1999 RIP tho lot of great history

 

[buggz05]

RIP Renting games and trying to beat them in a few days.

:\



Will def miss. Was definitely a staple of the childhood and young adulthood. RIP.

 

[coldcity]

If you got one near you they'll be selling all of the movies for cheap if you're looking to get some DVDs/Blus

i wish all the one's around me are long gone & just empty bulidings witht he letters falling off

 

[jordanxi45]

I thought they had closed down a couple years ago but just the other day I was driving and saw a Blockbuster a few miles from where I live.

I remember renting Grand Theft Auto 1 for the Playstation 1 just because the description on the back of the box looked cool, got home and played it.....mind = blown.......The original GTA

 

[Bert.]

good riddance

they closed the one a minute away from my house earlier this year, not missed

 

[ravagebx]

They were way too slow to adapt. The writing's been on the wall for years. Sort of how Blackberry refused to adapt.

 

[servechilled81]

 my younger brother is a manager at one

R.I.P  that monthly game rental pass kept my ps2 with the HD copier putin' back in the day

 

[Humbled]

RIP... Used to hit Blockbuster and Hollywood Video ALL the time as a kid.

Feel like everything I loved as a child is gone

 

[shannonscrooks]

Where is Lamar Odom going to rent his movies now?

 

[deuce king]

There's always a flipside of new technology and this is an example of one of them. 

 

[301216baller]

Im glad they are done 

..nobody will never understand the pain I felt when they gave me a damaged version of wcw thunder for the og playstation

 

[da shoefreak]

Sort of poetic justice considering how much money they made charging people those ridic late fees.