Blockbuster to file for bankruptcy

Blockbuster's likely bankruptcy filing will mean lots of their stores will close. That's sad! The loss of Blockbuster stores is a loss for everybody.

Of course, filing for bankruptcy doesn't mean that Blockbuster will close all its stores and go away entirely. It just mean that they're going to consolidate their into more profitable markets, and close down somewhere around 50% or 70% of their lower-performing stores. That sucks.

I pay $20 a month for three in-the-mail rentals, like with Netflix. Unlike Netflix, I'm able to exchange each one of these rentals in-store, immediately, with a physical movie, which satisfies my watch-it-right-now urge I get once in a while. Plus, all of these are Blu-ray.

And Blockbuster has games! Because I signed up for my plan years ago, I got grandfathered in to have two free video game or movie rental coupons a month, bringing the value up that much higher. And, thanks to the recent addition of game rentals through the mail, Blockbuster eliminates the need for me to sign up for a separate plan for Gamefly, which is quite expensive on its own. All this for just a Jackson every month.

That's not to say Blockbuster's doing everything right. The lack of internet streaming option is a big mistake, even though I prefer 1080p Blu-rays to Netflix's HD streams. (Seriously, if you have a decent TV and a good audio setup, you can definitely tell the difference between a 1080p Blu-ray and an internet-streamed video.) And, late fees have always been and will always be a pain. But in a few years, when I have kids and want to show them that obscure movie from the '80s starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara and unicorns, what options do I have? Redbox surely won't have it, so my only hope is that by then, every movie will be streamable. That's not something I'd bet on. And without Blockbuster, I'll probably have to send them to torrents or ebay or buy every movie I want to watch, outright.

 

stores close out = more people without a job. Obama really needs to do something about economy, something better then his "healthcare plan"...

 

obama stinks..

 

Man that sucks about Blockbuster.
My local Movie Gallery shut down a few months ago. I got about 15 dvds and blu-ray's for about $40

Obama-care is just as bad as his presidency. I sure hope that the Republicans get in there and knock that out. What gets me is all the stuff we want done, they're doing the opposite (immigration). Then the stuff we dont want, they continue to force it down our throats (obamacare)

Atleast Arizona has the testicular fortitude to take a stand on an issue. Obama's not even enforcing the law. What a joke. I sure hope to see him in the future securing releases for American's held abroad (ie Jimmy Carter).

 

Thank you. Blockbuster failed by its own devices. It may sound bad, but when these companies fail and we refuse to bail them out, it helps in the long run. Companies can simply not exist and thrive if they know that if they fail, they won't have to learn from it, they'll just get bailed out. No bailouts=stronger businesses=transition to higher technology=$=stronger country. Henry Ford would have rolled over in his grave if they took a bailout, and now look at Ford.

 

I only feel bad for the workers who will lose their job. At least Blockbuster is not bending us (the taxpayers) over and taking a bailout. Personally, I miss the good ol days of the mom and pop video stores. I remember when those used to rule and you could rent a movie for $1.99 and then came Blockbuster with their $5 rentals.

 

I'm for one glad there going under. They jammed me for a movie they said I didn't return 15 years ago, and charged me like $60 to replace, so there is no love loss here :hmph:

As for renting a nostalgic 80's movie in the future? Someone will provide that service. If there is a demand, it will be met :leghumper:

Good ridience BlockBuster Video. You shouldn't have stole money from my wallett 15 years ago ye:

 

Ditto, but sadly Netflix and Hulu are just too cheap to avoid these days. And with their libraries growing more daily, its a crazy value.

 

Blockbuster was a rip-off. We have Red Box and it's a dollar per movie. Easy choice maen.

 

I received a letter about this last week, those clowns owe me money.

 

One the one hand I think any time competition goes away we tend to lose.

But I do have to agree, the big chains crushed the mom and pop stores now something new has come along to crush the chains. Back when they were wanting to build a mega-wal-mart here the local supermarkets went to the meetings and objected saying it would put some of them out of business. I wish I had gone to the meeting so I could have stood up and asked them if they felt bad for putting the small grocery stores out of business years ago when they came to town.

I also had a run-in with blockbuster over a movie they said we didn't return, funny though a couple days later it just appeared on their shelf. Had a netflix movie that didn't show up back at netflix and I just clicked the button telling them I had sent it back several days ago and they sent me my next one and moved on. Blockbuster accused both my wife and I of lying to them and got quite rude and nasty.

For the 80's movies get Netflix, you can stream a ton of them, heck we even watch old TV shows on it, from the Dick Van Dyke Show to Dragnet to Buck Rogers in the 25th century.

I thought redbox was the greatest thing ever till I got stuck in line waiting to return a movie a few times behind several people that had to look through every movie in the machine before deciding. After reserving one online and getting to the store to find 3 people waiting in line I gave up and just left, they could keep my $1 for the rental. My time is worth more than that. Amazon VOD is a lot more but much more convenient for times we want something beyond Netflix.

I just wish I'd bought stock in Netflix back in 2002 when we started using it.

I see a lot of references all over the net to Ford being great for not taking a bailout (loan) but from what I've read they mostly just got lucky. They borrowed a huge chunk of money before the big meltdown. And that chunk of money carried them through the worst of the meltdown. They lost billions during the downturn just like GM. The only difference is when GM needed to borrow money the banks wouldn't loan it to anyone anymore (they wouldn't have loaned it to Ford either). It wasn't fantastic planning on Fords part, just luck. Both Ford and GM have much better cars coming out right now than they did 5-10 years ago.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing for government intervention in the private industry. That is a far deeper discussion than I want to get into here. I just don't understand all the anger and hatred towards GM now. They will pay us back. Unlike the other $600,000,000,000 or so we will never see again from the bailout money we will get repaid by GM. We will never get repaid by all the idiots that bought houses they couldn't afford with money they didn't have. Those are bailouts, GM got a loan. The people that we now have to say "You bought a $800,000 house that was really only worth $400,000 and you could only afford to make the payment on a $300,000 house" "Well, that's okay as long as you thought you'd be able to refinance it for 1 million in a year and live like a king. We'll reduce your payment to something you can afford." That is thrown away money.

 

I really feel bad for the employees of BB, having said that it was inevitable... there business plan went up in flames with the advent of itunes , cable and the internet.... blame the ceo and his crew but don't blame it on the economy or Obama... either you stay in the game or your left out ... just my .02$ but that what i feel..

 

I agree. Technology is rapidly changing and those businesses that do not keep up with the times simply end up falling behind and eventually have to shut down. Nothing wrong with a little adaptation and ingenuity. opcorn:

 

I have not been to a Block Buster in years but I am not into watching a lot of recent movies. The beyond belief CGI gets boring. Time Warner does have on demand so I may watch some movie but you never see me being one of the first to see most any movie. I liked how quickly this turned into another political discussion.

 

when we order movies we do it on demand from our tv cable. its easyer and they have allthe new releases and you dont have to go out..you can be a lazy slob and just hit a button from the couch :giggle:

 

This was my same expierence ^ BlockBuster got very nasty and made uncalled for accusations. I remember the manager saying that I had probally just thought I had returned the movie. What really happened IMO is that the employee who retrieved the vhs tape decided he/she wanted it and didn't care about the consequences I would suffer. So in turn, I am happy to see there suffering now


Regards,

You reap what you sew :knit:

 

Brick and mortar America is crumbling because of he internet.. such a shame!

 

True that, we need to stop building socialism! Otherwise that health care plan will be stamped with hammer and sickle...we DON'T need "the change"...

the problem with BB is they are charging way too much...that's what stopped me from going there...

so you hated them all these 15 years?

It's called "fair price"...

true that. At the price BB was charging, you should be getting free bj with every 10 movies rented...

GM has improved its quality, but now they really need to work on styling...because, I'd rather push my Ford then drive a Chevy...

Obama needs to create more jobs..."going green" does NOT create jobs, it makes more people jobless...

Their high prices is what really let them down...people were renting elsewhere...

We like political discussions...I think many members are the same way. Freedom of speach...with full respect to everyone...

 

sad but true..

 

I thought you guys were for capitalism.