IamLegend

Blockbuster is planning Bankruptcy/Closing Stores:
Please post store locations/closing sales you might encounter
and bargains/discussions.


L.A. Times
After dominating the home video rental business for more than a decade and struggling to survive in recent years against upstarts Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy next month, according to people who have been briefed on the matter.

Executives from Blockbuster and its senior debt holders last week held meetings with the six major movie studios to discuss their intention to enter a “pre-planned” bankruptcy in mid-September, said several people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of ongoing talks.

Blockbuster is hoping to use its time in Chapter 11 to restructure a crippling debt load of nearly $1 billion and escape leases on 500 or more of it 3,425 stores in the U.S. Maintaining the support of Hollywood's film studios during the process will be critical so that Blockbuster can continue to rely upon an uninterrupted supply of new DVDs.

Blockbuster has lost a total of $1.1 billion since the beginning of 2008 and has been severely hamstrung in efforts to grow its business due to interest payments on $920 million in debt. Earlier this month the company announced that most of its debt holders had agreed to a forbearance on interest payments until Sept. 30, during which time it would attempt a recapitalization.

Last week Dallas-based Blockbuster's chief executive, Jim Keyes, came to Los Angeles to hold individual meetings with executives at studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. He was joined by a team of restructuring consultants hired to help turn around the struggling company, along with its senior debt holders who would likely end up owning a substantial portion of Blockbuster following bankruptcy.

Former Sony Pictures home entertainment president Ben Feingold, who is serving as an advisor to the debt holders, was present as well.

Though its plans are not yet set in stone, people knowledgeable about the discussions said the Blockbuster representatives presented a mid-September bankruptcy as the most likely scenario. It would enter what is known as a “pre-planned bankruptcy,” meaning most but not all creditors would be on board ahead of time, including senior debt holders and content suppliers.

One of the primary goals of the bankruptcy process, which the company said it hopes would last about five months, would be to escape costly leases for some of its worst-performing stores. Though Blockbuster hasn’t decided exactly how many locations it would seek to shutter as part of a bankruptcy, executives told the major studios it is looking at between 500 and 800.

Blockbuster closed nearly 1,000 stores in the last year alone, a reflection of consumers’ rapidly declining interest in renting DVDs from retail locations now that they can rent them from ubiquitous kiosks in grocery stores, in the mail, or via the Internet.

If it successfully exits bankruptcy, Blockbuster has told Hollywood studios, it hopes to grow through non-retail initiatives. Kiosk manufacturer NCR Corp., for instance, has already deployed about 6,000 Blockbuster-branded kiosks that, like Redbox, rent DVDs for $1 per night.

The company also hopes to expand its presence in the still nascent digital distribution space, through which a growing number of customers are downloading or streaming movies on computers, Internet-connected televisions, and mobile phones.

Most studios are believed to be supportive of Blockbuster’s efforts, as they want to see it remain in business as a viable competitor to Netflix and Redbox, particularly since the formerly second-largest DVD rental store, Hollywood Video parent firm Movie Gallery Inc., went out of business in April.

But there are still some issues to be resolved, including the company’s desire to continue offering movies from all the studios on the same day they go on sale. Fox, Universal and Warner have all instituted a 28-day window on rentals through Redbox and Netflix.

The studios would likely be protected from any significant losses on payments Blockbuster might owe them at the time it files for bankruptcy under the proposed plan. But they would lose revenue from any stores shut down.

The parties most impacted would be Blockbuster’s junior debt holders and the landlords of leases that would be canceled under the proposed bankruptcy. It remains to be seen whether they would attempt to challenge a plan that left them with a fraction of what they are owed.

If the company does not enter bankruptcy, it would need to find a new investor or convince its debt owners to significantly reduce its interest payments for the foreseeable future.

A Blockbuster spokeswoman declined to comment on the studio meetings. In a statement, she said, “The extension of our forbearance agreement is a strong sign of support from our senior secured noteholders as we work toward putting in place a more appropriate capital structure to support Blockbuster’s long-term growth. … Our discussions continue to be productive and we have every reason to believe we will come out of the recapitalization process financially stronger and more competitively positioned for the future.”

Blockbuster stock, which last month was delisted by the New York Stock Exchange because of its ongoing low price and moved to the over-the-counter market, closed Thursday at 11 cents. The company’s total market value is $24 million.

In 1994 it was acquired by former owner Viacom Inc. for $8.4 billion.

--Ben Fritz

rfduncan

I don't honestly see a viable exit strategy forthcoming.

efordvt

Yayyy!!! Bring on the rental exclusive blus!!!!

sumdeus

I have a bunch of empty BD Viva Elite cases that I bought for the Hollywood Video closing, so I am ready for some good deals too!

The Monkees

Good. Glad to see this soulless company finally getting what it deserves.

newginafets

there's some used blu rays on sale for $6.99, at least in my Blockbuster.

I shall look for another Blockbuster around my area for another titles.

sumdeus

My local BB in Dover, NH, had no deals at all but the Rochester, NH, store is closing and a friend reported some deals. My friend isn't a movie buff and couldn't recall the titles but if I make it over there I will check it out.

Blu-ray-collect

Blockbuster in Westminster, CO is closing, as well. The prices of their previewed blu's is $15.99. 15% off of that doesn't seem like a good price at all. I did manage to pick up "Get Smart" for $6 (after 15% discount), though. It was the only $6.99 blu left.

I'm wondering if the discount will go up as zero day for this location approaches.

Mao

Where is that BB?

And did they mention when they are closing?

Blu-ray-collect

It is off of 128th and Zuni, I believe. No mention of when it was closing. I was there maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago. It might be closed now, I do not know.

Blockbusterman7

The blockbuster near my house in Poughkeepsie is closing. Probably going to check it out, as I rented my first thing from there. Hopefully they actually have good deals. I'm hoping I can get a lot of movies cheap.

sumdeus

^ Let us know what you find. Is it wrong that I keep hoping mine will close so that I can pick up some cheap Blu-ray's?! The last thing I got from my Blockbuster is a set of 3 framed canvas Star Wars posters...I can't even remember the last time I bought or rented a movie there.

kenbenobi

Wow, that sounds cool! How long ago was that?

sumdeus

They are nice and are hanging on a wall in my house right now! I bought those over a year ago.

dsa_shea

71st and Peoria/Riverside in Tulsa is closing.

whotony

Pa 19014 BBV is closing.

deet

The Haddon Township, NJ store (my go-to for rentals during the 90's) and the Voorhees, NJ store are both closing for good this Sunday. All remaining rental DVDs are $3. Used Blu-rays are only 25% off, but for the $6.99 Blus, that's good enough for me.

$5.25 Blu-rays picked up:
Drag Me to Hell
Tropic Thunder
Defiance
Body of Lies
Walk Hard
Changeling
The Reader

Other $5.25 Blus spotted:
State of Play
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Duplicity
Revolutionary Road
Friday the 13th (remake)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Fugitive
I Love You, Man
Diary of the Dead
Quarantine
Persepolis
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Stranger Than Fiction
Hell Ride
Observe and Report
Land of the Lost
American Violet
The Water Horse
The Golden Compass
Things We Lost in the Fire
Michael Clayton
Sex and the City
Be Kind, Rewind
Vantage Point
Semi-Pro
10,000 BC
21
The Express
The Ruins
An American Carol
Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Speed Racer
You Don't Mess With the Zohan
Hancock
Hellboy II
The House Bunny
Lakeview Terrace
Nights in Rodanthe
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Milk
Frost/Nixon
Doubt
Seven Pounds
Yes Man
Last Chance Harvey
The Taking of Pelham 123 (remake)
Easy Virtue
The Brothers Bloom
Obsessed
The Soloist
Fast & Furious
The International
Push
Paul Blart: Mall Cop



$3 DVDs:
The Ghost Writer
Greenberg
The Secret in Their Eyes
Up in the Air
The Beastmaster
Wild Grass
Exotica

Also picked up a new $10-ish copy of The 10th Kingdom, which was apparently just sitting there for years with no takers.

dugnarug

The one in my town closed without me knowing so I missed out. I guess its good though because I still haven't recovered from the blackout of Summer 2010 when Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery closed and I was getting $2 blu-rays.

The posters they sell are awesome and I was able to get a lot of mine for under $10 on various holiday sales. They typically have a hard black frame and a gritty painted texture to them.

Here is a link to them http://www.fpe-online.com/

MrSmearkase

Anybody know of any closings in Massachusetts or Rhode Island?

Blockbusterman7

Went last monday. DVD deals were bad, but I bought 2 bobbleheads of star wars for 3 bucks each. I'll probably go back today or tomorrow. I also got iron man 2 for 360, but it was 15 dollars. Not a good deal for something I could get cheaper on amazon.

mountainhigh

The blockbusters in Beverly Mass,is closing,picked up ghost town(6.99)halloween 2(9.99)friday the 13th original(9.99)then a further 15% off those prices....

Manzana

And that was the main problem with Blockbuster... they were overpriced for their rentals (compared to what you could get via Redbox or Netflix) and their in store merchandise was overpriced. I almost never bought or traded in anything there because I couldn't find anything reasonably priced to buy in the store, and Netflix was faster at shipping for online rentals in my area. On rare occasion they had some B1G1F game sales with a few decent titles that worked out to about $6-$7 each. That's about the only business I did with Blockbuster after my brief online rental days there. I stopped using them when they jacked up the price on the $17.99 per month program where you could return in-store and get 1 free rental for each.

This just shows even in their last days at some stores, their prices continue to remain high.

MrSmearkase

The BBV in Framingham, MA is closing tomorrow. Blus were 15% off sticker, but there were good deals on DVDs for $3 a pop.

Blockbusterman7

I gotta admit, that game was pretty expensive. Problem is, that was their last 360 game. Going tomorrow, as I think they might have some good movies left. Gotta hurry on that account, as they have been selling their stuff fast.

Blockbusterman7

Went back. Got the star wars family guy parody and some candy for $2.19. DVD was free as I signed up for blockbuster online.