Blockbuster may disappear along with its late fees

[SG15Z]

A business that wont adapt fast enough to a changing market is likely to go the way of the dinosaur. Pay attention to your company practices, do they seem smart to you? If not jump ship!

Crap, looks like I need to jump ship then...

[Eric the Grey]

As sorry as I feel for those who will loose their jobs due to this, I have to be amongst those who say good riddance.

Ugg, are you serious? I literally JUST signed up for their DVD-by-mail service and JUST received my first DVD today!

Lame...

The good news is, you can use up your free month, and switch over to NetFlix. Seriously, NetFlix has a much larger selection than Blockbuster does. I've tried BB twice now, and stuck with NF throughout it. I get my disks from NF faster, although that may just be the location of their distribution center compared to me, and don't even consider the in-store trade-in. There's usually very little in the stores that I'm interested in...

I hate to say it, and apologize to the members who work for blockbuster... but good riddance.

At least in Salt Lake they were a joke. The by the mail service isn't as fast as netflix, the stores have very little variety, even when compared to the netflix watch instantly, they were overpriced, and they kept charging me for lost movies that I know were turned in because the store only had one copy of the movie and I could see it on the shelf. They couldn't change with the times, they need to die to let someone new have a chance.

Ditto, all of that. Blockbuster failed a long time ago, and hasn't been able to figure out how to change in order to compete. Perhaps the little shops will return again.

As to the returning of movies that are counted lost, I had that happen as well. Went back in and pulled the only copy off the shelf in front of the manager, who confirmed it was the same copy.


Eric the Grey

[tropicsgoddess]

Wow, this looks like Blockbuster is gonna be another business biting the dust- hard like Bennigans did.

[draggar]

The problem is that once they got dominance, they didn't keep an eye on what was going on, from what I can see.

The issue is that many companies get huge and then forget the most important part - their customers. I see it with so many companies. Ma&Pa stores were always about good service. I miss those.

Our local block buster charges $7 for a DVD (its usually very dead, I have never seen more than one person working there at a time)

the corner store charges $1.50 (these are popping up in all of the corner stores in my city)

Wow, they only charge $4 for new releases here ( maybe its $4.50?). Online - $17 a month and I can exchange them for $1.50 at the store. I can also pay $35 a month for unlimited in-store exchanges.

If Ma&Pa stores are starting to make a comeback, I can't wait. We had one just before BB moved into my hometown. They had a 5-5-5 deal - 5 non-new releases for 5 days for $5 (sure, they were all VHS).

[Rapscallion]

I see it with so many companies. Ma&Pa stores were always about good service. I miss those.

The problem is that people as a group buy with their wallets and mourn with their memories. I was in the position of small village fruit and veg shop. Great catchment area. Not enough people came to buy enough to keep us in business.

I was there on Monday last week to get my teeth checked at the dentist along the road. People who rarely came in were saying it was a shame we'd gone.

Rapscallion

[videodrone]

Unfortunately, not all Blockbusters can be as awesome as mine.
Sounds like terrible staff. Naturally we're going to have the occasional movie that slips by and doesn't get checked in, but it literally takes only a few seconds to grab it off the shelf and check it in as being missed by us. And we're supposed to regularly go through the shelves and try to find movies that might have been missed. Friggin' lazy employees.

[Rapscallion]

Can we calm it down a bit folks? We've got BB employees on this board, and I don't want them chased off because of policies not of their own choosing.

They've not kicked your dog or slept with your significant others. That was the board of directors.

Rapscallion

[Jack T. Chance]

I kinda saw this coming a few years ago. Back in 2005, they pulled out of my hometown, leaving Video Warehouse and Movie Gallery to take up the slack. The remaining Blockbusters in the surrounding towns started looking shabbier and shabbier as well.

In my neck of the woods, Video Warehouse closed the only 2 locations I knew of 2-3 years ago, and that was after only being open for maybe 2-3 years in those locations... certainly no more than 5. They weren't in my area for very long before they bugged out, that's for sure.

As for Movie Gallery, I've never even heard of them.

Digital distribution and online ordering of movies has certainly been a factor over the past couple of years, but I'm absolutely certain that the change in the way movies are shipped to retailers is also a factor. Back in the days of VHS, the video stores would get rental copies long before the mass market retailers. They'd purchase the tapes at $150 each, but make that back many times over in rental fees, then a few months later the retailers would have the videos for sale for $19.99 or so. Nowadays, a movie hits the retailers and the rental places at the same time, making many folks less inclined to go rent the titles when they can purchase it for just a few dollars more.

I think you hit on a big part of it right there. The old distribution model of Theatrical release --> Rental Only release --> Mass Market "Priced to Own" release ensured that the rental shops had a very important part to play in how people watched movies. Doing away with the Rental Only release before the "Priced to Own" release was only ever going to hurt the rental shops in the long run. I have no idea why the home video industry thought that was a good move.

Wow, this looks like Blockbuster is gonna be another business biting the dust- hard like Bennigans did.

To be fair, it was ONLY the corporate-owned Bennigan's locations that closed... about 150 out of roughly 300 locations. At least some of the franchisee-owned locations are still open. In the Baltimore area, the one in Glen Burnie, MD, is still open for business.

The problem is that people as a group buy with their wallets and mourn with their memories. I was in the position of small village fruit and veg shop. Great catchment area. Not enough people came to buy enough to keep us in business.

I was there on Monday last week to get my teeth checked at the dentist along the road. People who rarely came in were saying it was a shame we'd gone.

Rapscallion

And were I in your shoes, I would have snapped back with "Well, then, you should have actually SPENT YOUR MONEY IN OUR ESTABLISHMENT MORE OFTEN!" .

The company I worked for very suddenly closed down the mattress store I worked at this week. In fact, they closed all of the stores in this area, and even the warehouse. I'm waiting for the day that I run into a (potential) customer that recognizes me and complains about us being gone. I'm going to rip right into them with "Well, had you bought that mattress from US -- a store that would have treated you fairly, and given you good customer service -- rather than being a cheap-skate and driving around to 15 different places in an attempt to get a price that was unrealistic 5 years ago, WE WOULD STILL BE THERE! But no, you had to go and be a cheap asshole, so now you've reaped what you've sown! Have fun buying mattresses from Sleazy's, the Mattress Con Artists, and have a nice life! "

And the best part is, my job's already over, so I can speak my mind and the SC can't complain to anyone about it! Well, I suppose they could, but what's the company gonna do, FIRE ME? Guess what, they already did!

[draggar]

Unfortunately, not all Blockbusters can be as awesome as mine.

When BB online offered free in-store exchanges for rentals, I was my local BB 1-2 times a week (or more) swapping all of my movies (it was great since I passed it on my way to work).

It was to the point that I was on a first name basis with the manager and half of the crew and they always had a recommendation for me if there was nothing I really wanted - and their recommendations were usually great.

That was 2 years ago. Obviously the entire staff has changed but these people are still good - even though I don't go to that BB as much, they're still helpful but not as good with the recommendations.

I wonder what will happen to all of the movies if this happens?

[RootedPhoenix]

And were I in your shoes, I would have snapped back with "Well, then, you should have actually SPENT YOUR MONEY IN OUR ESTABLISHMENT MORE OFTEN!" .

If they're SCs, this is a deserved comeback. But I know I might say that myself, having been a supporter of their store. Sometimes you want to buy stuff, but you just can't.

However, I'm not an idiot and don't expect Ma&Pa stores to have the same prices as a big box chain either.

[blas]

Aww, this is really a shame. No more new releases for over $5......I might just cry.

[Kogarashi]

I wonder what will happen to all of the movies if this happens?

My guess would be Going Out of Business Sale.