18 replies to this topic

[Mr. Roboto]

Blockbuster to shutter as many as 960 stores DALLAS – Blockbuster is planning to close as many as 960 stores by the end of next year. That would shrink the video rental chain by more than 20 percent as it struggles against stiff competition from Netflix and Redbox. The store closures disclosed in documents filed Tuesday shows Blockbuster is having to cut much deeper than it anticipated to save money and keep its lenders happy. Blockbuster now expects to close between 810 and 960 of its U.S. stores through 2010, up from its the 380 to 425 stores that normally would be closed. If Blockbuster hits the high end of the new target for store closures, it will represent 22 percent of its 4,356 U.S. stores. The Dallas-based company has closed 276 stores so far this year.

[Timothy]

I'll call it now.They will not make it to 2011.

[Macker]

They've been gone from NY for awhile now. Most stores are closed.

[Mr. Roboto]

I paid so many late fees to those fuckers in the late 90's, hate 'em.

[Bandita]

Eh, I steal everything anyway. See ya!

[freedom78]

Eh, I steal everything anyway. See ya!

Gotta put those maternity clothes to use, eh?

[Bandita]

Oh man, I have those all packed up for Goodwill already. I do all my theft sitting right here.

[Mr. Roboto]

I have stuff I need to donate to Goodwill so the Missus can pull the car in the garage. Need the tax write off too.

[Gomer Pyle]

I paid so many late fees to those fuckers in the late 90's, hate 'em.

Same with me, and I stopped going there years ago. I could return movies on time and still get charged late fees. It was obvious they would wait to scan the returned movies so they could charge customers.

Homie don't play that.....


Netflix was the kick in the ass the industry needed. I'm glad it has been putting video stores out of business over the years. When you charge me 3 extra bucks for returning a movie I brought back four or five hours early, you don't deserve any business.


I guarantee that all the Blockbusters in my area go under this year. Each time I drive by them they are empty.

[Mr. Roboto]

I'm Netflix all the way, it's the best. If I get impatient (rare) I'll watch a "play now" on the laptop. I just saw an ad tonight, same concept, for video games-8 bucks a month to start.

[Gomer Pyle]

Their foreign films section is insane. Most of my queue has always consisted of films I never would have watched had I stuck with Blockbuster or a mom and pop store. The concept of a monthly fee for everything will eventually overtake all forms of entertainment. I'm not opposed to it either. Yeah, I have considered using that gaming service, but I don't play my 360 enough to warrant the extra bill. In fact, it collects dust.

[Gomer Pyle]

Oh, and I'll NEVER forget the time back in 1998 I accidentally placed a Blockbuster film in the drop box of another video chain store called Video King. It was like trying to negotiate a Reagan-Gorbachev summit to get that film back. If I had been just a tad bit more mentally unstable, I would have drove a truck through both stores.

[Gomer Pyle]

Scratch that. It was a PS game, not a film. I think it might have been Croc.

[Bandita]

Oh, and I'll NEVER forget the time back in 1998 I accidentally placed a Blockbuster film in the drop box of another video chain store called Video King. It was like trying to negotiate a Reagan-Gorbachev summit to get that film back. If I had been just a tad bit more mentally unstable, I would have drove a truck through both stores.

hahaha I used to work for a video store back in the early 90's and someone dropped our movie off at Dollar Video. eventually, I just went and got it myself.

btw, I hated that job so much I always erased everyone's late fees. I have been fighting "the man" since I was a teen. :-)

OK true story, I swear: (Mind you I did all my drinking and drugging when I was 18-19 when I worked there)

When a customer would bring a movie back and say it was broken, we would always put it on and check it out---because this qualified them for a free rental. You know how video stores have those TV's all playing the same movie? Ok, well, we never checked the porn films because we had so many and they were cheap as hell anyway. I had one customer who would come in and swear every porn he rented was broken in some way so he could get a free one. One day I got fed up with him and said "OK, let's see!" I popped it in the VCR that only played in the kiddie section on one TV and asked him to walk over with me. Low and behold, it played fine, hahaha. So there we are, standing in the kiddie rental section watching this porno together. BTW, he only rented the serious porn films with trannies and hemaphrodites (sp.?). Never saw that guy again after that. :-)

They could have filmed "Clerks" in that store, I swear! Especially with me there.

I used to have to call after the late movies, even the porn. One day I got some guy's Mom on the phone and asked her to bring back "Insert whatever disgusting porn name here" and she brought it back in like 15 minutes, hahahaha.

We also had a Ticketmaster machine and it was my job to herd all the people in line for sales. This was especially fun for me at 8am on Saturday when I was hungover as hell. The Dead fans were the worst! But I DID get 6th row tix for when Pink Floyd played at Giants Stadium and like 19th row floor when they played at Yankee Stadium and THAT ruled!

[Mr. Roboto]

Oh, and I'll NEVER forget the time back in 1998 I accidentally placed a Blockbuster film in the drop box of another video chain store called Video King. It was like trying to negotiate a Reagan-Gorbachev summit to get that film back. If I had been just a tad bit more mentally unstable, I would have drove a truck through both stores.

Around the same year, I dropped one of their movies off and they claimed they never got it. They sent me a bill for the movie but I told them I already dropped it off. They said they never got it and threatened to send ti to collections! So I had to go down there and pay them for the movie "I didn't return."