Blockbuster might file bankruptcy

[Guest greatness]

It is very likely that Blockbuster will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy unless it can find a way to remain solvent. I only go to Blockbuster once or twice a year and I don't use Netflix. I tried Redbox once but they charged one dollar more because I returned my DVD around 10 pm not 9 pm the next day. I don't like Redbox in that sense, I think it is a disingenuous tactic. Just charge one dollar more and extend the rental to midnight or something instead. I hope Blockbuster can get out this mess. I don't know why I feel sad. Maybe because I used to rent movies from Blockbuster to make me feel better I guess.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2010-03-17-blockbuster-warns-bankruptcy_N.htm?csp=34

[EXPAT]

I know Jim Keyes who is the current CEO of Blockbuster and he is a moron! He does not understand the move to digital retrieval. He's not with the times and the business performance reflects that.

 

Even their kiosks which are just starting to roll out with NCR are too late to market.

[+ deej]

I know Jim Keyes who is the current CEO of Blockbuster and he is a moron! He does not understand the move to digital retrieval. He's not with the times and the business performance reflects that.

 

Even their kiosks which are just starting to roll out with NCR are too late to market.

 

They're doing something right. The Samsung BluRay player I bought about six months ago has Blockbuster on-demand (via broadband) built in. I've never tried it because the machine also has Netflix on-demand and I already had a Netflix account.

 

Of course, now I'll be stuck with this hardware that has an obsolete service built in (that I never used anyway). :o

[Guest greatness]

well

 

I think BB's problem started way before he became the CEO. The funniest marketing tactic they used was "NO LATE FEE".. What a disingenuous ad.. It cost them a lot of money in the end and also its public image.

 

I know Jim Keyes who is the current CEO of Blockbuster and he is a moron! He does not understand the move to digital retrieval. He's not with the times and the business performance reflects that.

 

Even their kiosks which are just starting to roll out with NCR are too late to market.

[Toulouse]

Satisfied Netflix Customer

 

BB's business model seems antiquated. I've had a Netflix Account for four years and couldn't be more pleased with their excellent customer service and efficiency. I've never used the ubiquitous Redbox, but would do so before returning to a Blockbuster store.

[justaguy]

I second Toulouse's response. Eons ago BB blew it when they didn't recognize Netflix as a threat. Once they caught on, it was too late. Based on store closings in my area, BB is bound to close; but IMHO they did it to themselves.

[+ azdr0710]

just adding that I'm also a very happy Netflix customer and I haven't even played with their "instant to your TV" features and all that....website is easy and even fun to use...quick service: I mail the movie back before the 9pm pickup at my local PO and an email is in my inbox about 5am saying they've got it back!! (must have an arrangement with the PO)

 

haven't darkened the doorstep of a Blockbuster for years...they were white hot years ago, of course, but aggressive business by others has left them behind...

 

it's a fast-changing world out there....

[EXPAT]

Jim Keyes (current CEO) stated in an interview yesterday "that he just didn't get this need to download movies thing". What an out of touch leader of a digital media company!

[CowboyUp]

Slow, Painful Death

 

Maybe Blockbuster can ask the newspaper industry how pleading with the public about an "unsustainable" competitor is going? Does it help get them to reach into their wallets and help you out?

 

I didn't think so...

 

Blockbuster should have seen these threats coming. It seems the Execs were either incompetent or too concerned with maintaining a temporary stock to innovate and maintain a viable dominate force in the market. And now they want artificial price supports? The only bright side to this is enjoying watching this dinosaur die a slow painful death.

[josephga]

I think the future will be all digital downloads, no blockbuster, no dvds no blu rays, tv's will have built in hard drives

[AdamSmith]

How a halfway competent company does it...

 

Barnes & Noble Shakes Up Management

The Wall Street Journal

 

Barnes & Noble Inc. tapped the president of its Web site, William Lynch, as its new chief executive. He succeeds Steve Riggio, who held the post since 2002.

 

The company will move further into selling books online and through digital downloads, but retain its stores as key elements as it begins the next chapter of its growth, its new CEO said.

 

"Electronic sales and digital books will be the key to our future," Mr. Lynch said.

 

Mr. Lynch, 39 years old, joined the bookseller in February 2009 and has worked to develop the company's e-commerce business and launched its digital commerce platform, including the big-selling Nook e-reader. Before that, he had worked at home-shopping company HSN Inc., running HSN.com...

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704207504575129313539265910.html?mod=WSJ_Small+Business_sections_management

[Guest mvan1]

The potential (and probable) demise of Blockbuster merely reminds us that nothing lasts forever. Sometimes change is a good thing.

[CowboyUp]

Blockbuster

 

I live in North Texas where the Blockbuster corporate HQ is located. Blockbuster has terminated hundreds of Texans who worked at the corporate office and outsourced their jobs--hiring people in India to replace them.

Perhaps BB's new employees in Mumbai will be around to turn out the lights when the company finally goes under.

[samhexum]

NORTH POLE, Alaska — Time has run out for one of the last remaining Blockbuster Video stores in the country.

 

Kevin Daymude, general manager of the Blockbuster in North Pole, said the store will close in April.

 

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that the store had a loyal following but too few customers to keep the doors open. About 40 people waited outside the doors on Tuesday for the store’s liquidation sale. Customers bought stacks of movies, which were marked $5 to $15.

 

Daymude says the Fairbanks Blockbuster Video store, which will be one of four remaining in Alaska after the North Pole closure, is safe for now.

 

Blockbuster’s website lists three open locations outside of Alaska. Two of those are in Oregon and one in Texas.

[+ deej]

You seem to be on a crusade ro reactivate as many old threads as possible. You might want to curb the urge.

[+ Avalon]

I didn't know Blockbuster was still around. Both stores in my town closed several years ago.

 

The Barnes & Noble store closed years ago. There is no "new" bookstore anywhere in my county.

[samhexum]

Alaska’s last two Blockbuster video stores are calling it quits, leaving just one store open in the U.S.

 

The stores in Anchorage and Fairbanks will close for rentals after Sunday night and reopen Tuesday for video liquidation sales through the end of August, said Kevin Daymude, general manager of Blockbuster Alaska.

 

“It’s going to be crazy,” Daymude said of the temporary reopening. He said residents were sad when they heard the news and many people have been reminiscing about their Blockbuster memories.

 

The news was announced to Alaskans on Blockbuster Alaska’s Facebook page.

 

The closures come just two months after the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” sent a jockstrap worn by Russell Crowe in the 2005 movie “Cinderella Man” and other items to the Anchorage store, which displayed it in an effort to ramp up business.

 

Daymude says the buzz from the Oliver connection brought more people to the store.

 

“You would not believe how much business we got just from that memorabilia alone,” he said. “I can’t thank John Oliver or his show enough.”

 

But it wasn’t enough to counter a planned lease increase at both Alaska locations.

 

The jockstrap will probably go to the franchise owner, Alan Payne, who lives outside Austin, Texas.

 

A request for comment from HBO was not immediately returned.

 

In its heyday, Blockbuster had 15 stores in Alaska, Daymude said. Some stores in more remote, less populated parts of the state began closing in the early 2000s.

 

In recent years, Blockbuster stores have vanished in most of the U.S.

 

But their survival lasted longer in Alaska, with some crediting expensive internet as a factor in keeping many people renting videos rather than streaming.

 

The closures will leave the Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon, as the sole holdout.

 

“How exciting,” said the Bend store’s general manager Sandi Harding. “It might end up being a little chaotic for a couple of weeks.”

 

As for the fate of that store, the future looks good.

 

“We have no plans on closing anytime soon,” Harding said.