Blockbuster may close as many as 960 stores to cut costs amid fierce competition
 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Blockbuster Inc. may close as many as 960 stores by the end of next year, shedding more dead weight as the struggling video rental chain tries to reverse its losses and fend off rapidly growing rivals Netflix Inc. and Redbox.

The cuts outlined in documents filed Tuesday would leave Blockbuster with about 20 percent fewer U.S. stores. The previously confidential documents didn't identify the locations of the endangered stores.

Blockbuster hasn't made any final decisions on the possible store closures, Chief Executive James Keyes said in an interview Tuesday.

Keyes described the closures as something that Blockbuster is considering as it sets up more DVD-rental kiosks in the stores of other merchants. It's a concept that has been popularized by Coinstar Inc.'s Redbox.

By the middle of next year, Blockbuster hopes to have 10,000 kiosks scattered around the country. It had just 500 kiosks at the end of August.

"We could have fewer physical stores and still have more rental points for our customers," Keyes said.

Blockbuster's shift serves as another reminder of video stores' waning appeal as consumers buy and rent movies through the mail, on the Internet and through cable connections and standalone kiosks.

The shift has threatened to turn once-mighty Blockbuster into a dinosaur. The Dallas-based company has been trying to evolve by embracing kiosks and expanding into rentals delivered through the mail and the Internet.

But it hasn't been enough to justify keeping so many stores open, prompting management to consider cutting much deeper than it anticipated to save money and keep its lenders happy. About 18 percent of Blockbuster's stores aren't making money, according to the documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Blockbuster is thinking about closing between 810 and 960 of its U.S. stores before 2011, up from the 380 to 425 stores that normally would be closed during that time span, according to Tuesday's filing.

As of mid-August, Blockbuster had closed 276 stores so far this year.

Besides closing stores, Blockbuster indicated that it will convert at least 250 stores into smaller outlets.

If Blockbuster hits the high end of the new target for store closures, it will represent 22 percent of its 4,356 stores in the United States.

Netflix's DVD-by-mail service, launched a decade ago, has hit Blockbuster particularly hard as more households have embraced the concept of picking out their rental choices online before the DVDs are delivered through the mail for a monthly subscription fee that usually runs from $9 to $17. In the last two years, Netflix lured even more customers by building up its library of movies available for instant viewing over high-speed Internet connections.

Netflix now has 10.6 million subscribers and, unlike Blockbuster, is becoming more profitable. The Los Gatos-based company earned $55 million through the first half of this year while Blockbuster lost $15 million.

Redbox also has been hurting Blockbuster with its red kiosks that rent DVDs for just a $1 per night. That low price has proven particularly compelling during the recession as more people pinched pennies.

In a Tuesday research note, Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuth said Blockbuster's accelerated store closures should bolster Netflix. Investors seemed to agree as Netflix shares surged $1.69, or 3.9 percent, to close Tuesday at $44.97.

Blockbuster's cost-cutting plans also pleased Wall Street as its shares gained 7 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $1.40.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...,2191909.story

lol... who cares? let it die

/thread

Blockbuster is a fricken joke!!

Who still goes to blockbuster these days anyways?

block buster.... do they still have those?

video killed the radio star.

internet killed the video store.

serves them right for failing to re-invent itself after leading the industry since 1980's n VHS tapes

dumbasses

We need netflix streaming in Canada.

fuck blockbuster and their no late fee bullshit. restocking fee is a god damn late fee ffs

aren't rental prices at video stores outrageous now? like $10 for 1 day or something?

Yeah, they seriously need to reconsider their price. I was at BBV like 3 days ago to rent a game that my little cousin wanted to play on Wii (Wario something)... and it was 11 dollar?!?! I told the dude, no thks and I don't think I will ever go BBV again.

I could have bought that game on CL for 25.

actually Rogers video is even more gay


costs more to rent

$5.50 for ONE NIGHT
$6.50 for no late fee which is bs, 7 days rental, after that it is 1.50 per day or sth like that.


Blockbuster minimum two nights rental is like $3.70

proof that the time has past for video rental stores.... well, with the exception of XXX adult video shops. there are two in my area that are still going strong whereas a rogers outlet had long since closed and the blockbusters down the street is always empty. what's with that? downloading porn from online not an accepted method? :confused:

maybe the ppl renting porn are old farts that don't know how to use the interwebs or know how to buy anything online

fuck, i use blockbuster for renting video games, :(

do they still have the block buster award show these days?

Fuck, I use BBV for my Blu Ray trade-ins and pre-views BD purchases.

im gonna try renting movies at those vending machines in safeway for like $1.67 or something

ppl still rent movies ?

whenever i scratch one of my games, i usually hit up blockbuster and "rent" a game and send it back because the disk was scratched. :D

Those are killing Blockbuster and Rogers Video at the moment.

I still rent from Blockbuster...

I guess I'm in the minority.

For sure man!!!
Blockbuster should open up a netflix type in Canada...
Stream movies in Canada..

Netflix in the U.S. rules.

+ 1, it's only $5 bucks so I don't mind, I am a rewards member so it's cheaper for me, I usually watch it with the gf's or when people are over or have friends over playing the ps3.

I think it's also a social thing. The people I know that are more social and do get-togethers and parties and stuff tend to be blockbuster people. Where as my introverted, geekier friends all download.

I don't know, I don't like downloading and watching it on a laptop etc.

For sure. Give it a few more years and when they rely on our business to survive and they won't make it. But they do sell other things to keep them afloat.

Porn hub ftw lol