DVD was so revolutionary and the releases seemed so slow at first that people got in the habit of being release day junkies. I can remember not being able to get them fast enough. REEL.com would have one of their sales and I'd go apeshit buying all sorts of crap that are probably still sitting on the shelf.

I'd take the preview discs if they had 'em.

I think I might have quit around the time that DVDs had been introduced on a few shelves, but VHS still accounted for 90% of the rentals. All of my observations & "traumatic" experiences involved the wait-until-Saturday VHS renters.

The main thing I remember about HV's DVD introduction was that they complicated the task of returning movies to the shelves. Some geniuses at upper management decided that the DVDs should be placed in a generic-looking security case behind the display covers. This caused no end of confusion, I can't count how many customers tried to rent the keep cases.

Possibly the single greatest accomplishment of DVD was that it enabled people to finally understand why widescreen is superior to pan-and-scan. I remember the days when the majority of people thought "the black bars are blocking the screen".

Btw, to get slightly back on topic, I stopped by Blockbuster tonight & they had a rack of 99-cent previously viewed DVDs. Most of the titles were crap. But in case anyone fantasizes about yelling "I'd buy THAT for a dollar!"...

They are tossed out, if not broken with uncontrollable glee, when the newest batch of preview discs arrive.

As someone who used to work at Blockbuster in the late 90's, those were still VHS preview tapes. Which, depending on who was working, were happily destroyed in favor of childrens movies, as they were G-PG rated. Of course, when asked about what happened to them, we would play dumb and in some cases replacement tapes arrived.

When they are brand new, they would last at least a little while. Seeing as they're new and usually filled with different stuff. However, when you have to hear the same tape about 3-4 times a day, with sometime the same material for several months, insanity kicks in.

For instance, not sure if they still do this, but Blockbuster would have several music videos interspliced. Which was a nice change of pace, despite most of them being terrible. However, one of those was "Smooth" by Santana. Which, I'm not kidding you, was on these trailer tapes for at least six months or more. I, for one, took personal glee is destroying that tape or, if I was in a good mood, fast-forwarding through that damn song.

My favorite memory though was on new release day. Where shipments of upcoming movies arrived and one just happened to be a VHS of some G.I. Joe and Transformers cartoons from the 80's. Both had to be placed out that day and someone ended up renting Transformers. Later on, I wound up putting G.I. Joe on for the hell of it and was checking out a customer, probably in his early-to-mid 20's. He looked at the screen, asked if this was G.I. Joe and asked me if we had it for rental. I said absolutely and asked if he wanted to rent it. He replied with "You're damn right I want to rent it".

The guy was so stoked that he didn't even want to wait for me to rewind it

Back in the stone age I got pissed whenever the only copy of something I wanted to rent was playing in the store, because I thought they'd hate me or say no if I asked them to take it out and rent it to me.

I can see the joy in destroying stuff that's played to death, but in the end all media must be preserved. The last few years I was a projectionist, I had to play "MovieTunes" CDs in between all shows which everyone hated- one of them in fact included "Smooth" which was the first place I heard that song. I saved one of each CD though, and am now glad to have them.

So I'd love to have any Blockbuster trailer tapes/discs out there- the closest thing to that I have is this one for Major Video, which was a chain Blockbuster ended up buying out. A thrift store had about 25 sealed copies of this- I posted the whole thing online but I cut out a few trailers that were repeated.

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That Christmas jingle probably would make me homicidal if I had to have it playing all day...

Yes, it's nice when opportunities arise to put your movie fandom to good use.

Years before I was even old enough to work, I had this extremely romanticized view of the "Employee Recommendation" shelves. (Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine ends up unknowingly flirting with an unknown employee by renting all his recommended titles... and driving him mad with jealousy when she rents another's recommendation.)

When I started working at HV, alas, the employee recommendations weren't in practice. It crushed my idealized scenario of finding someone who "understands me" & having customers tell me what great taste I had, haha. Eventually they did restart the Employee Recommendations, and I was delighted! However, no one ever rented any of my movies. Until the week before I was quitting. Some couple had rented Videodrome... and they didn't get around to watching it. It may have taken several years of employment, but during my last week, someone finally paid me a compliment, haha.

Just for the record, I've developed a much more cynical & realistic view of video rental since my teenage years.

I was surprised to see that Blockbuster #1 closed. That was my Blockbuster back in the day (yes, the original... in Fort Lauderdale, FL). It was a really small store but man... that was where I really learned about cinema back in the day and remember renting a lot of SNES and Genesis games back in the good ol' days.

Here in Austin... the stores will not. die. I can't understand how the Jollyville/Braker location is still open... I never see anyone in there.

Also a former HV employee. Man that place sucked to work at, lol. I was actually the manager of a GameCrazy store for a time as well before liquidation. I actually got a call from Blockbuster a few months back that were looking for store managers... I told them PASS. Don't want to pilot a sinking ship, no thankee.

Looks like another round of store closing has started.
I hate BBV forum says it will be around 400 stores,

From what I understand most of the stores closing are ones that have their lease up or are not making a profit.but it just looks like a slow death for BBV,the age of walk in video stores might be a thing of the pass sooner rather then latter.

Kind of sad,the last walk in video store in Auburn,Ca is closing.

I know these ones are closing for sure

1-Auburn,Ca
2-Medford,Or
3-Cottage Grove,OR
4-BREMERTON,Wa on Kitsap Way
5-Erie,Maine
6-Saline,Michigan
7- Ann Arbor,Michigan

The nearest Blockbuster to me (in Costa Mesa, CA) will be closing January 4th.

There used to be a blockbuster 1/4 mile from my house...it closed.

The next closest was 2 miles from my home and I passed it on my way to and from work...it closed.

The Costa Mesa one is 4 miles from my house...it's closing.

The next nearest one is too far away. Since I can no longer do in-store trade-ins I'm canceling my online account.

Blockbuster fucking sucks. They drove out all the mom & pop and indie video stores, consolidated the industry, outlasted all the major competitors (Wherehouse, Tower Records, Hollywood Video) and now they close down leaving us with nothing but poorly operated "through the mail" rental and shit looking streaming.

I take great pride in renting from one of the first Blockbuster stores AND becoming one of the first people to HATE Blockbuster. In 1988 they moved in to where a local chain called Video Library had been situated. Their stores were always over organized to the point of frustration. I can remember trying to find Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: It wasn't in "Comedy", it wasn't in "Drama", it wasn't in "The Steve Martin Section"...it turned out it was in the "Holiday" section. Fucking unbelievable.

And the sub-retarded mentality of their employees became world famous. It seemed like the only prerequisite they had for employment was that you had to know absolutely nothing about movies.

Blockbuster turned the all-around enjoyable process of browsing a video store into an unbearable experience of badly categorized inventory, ignorant employees, and ugly decor. When I consider how long I've been a customer (over 24 years) I really am disappointed in myself.

Anyway, fuck them. When the last B&M Blockbuster shuts down I'll piss on the ashes and get on with my life.

After this round of closings there will be 1 BBV in the area with about 800,000 population. Fortunately for renters out there we still have a mom and pop chain of about 8 stores. I went to the closest one and there were not any real deals to be found.

Redbox just bought NCR ENT.

This includes all the Blockbuster kiosks.
Another part of BBV is gone.

"Coinstar and NCR Corp. Feb. 6 said they have entered into agreement whereby Coinstar-owned Redbox will assume control of NCR’s entertainment division, including its 10,000 Blockbuster Express franchise.

Redbox will pay up to $100 million for the assets, which include a five-year manufacturing and services agreement with Duluth, Ga.-based NCR valued at $25 million annually.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Redbox assumes the Blockbuster Express brand, which NCR owns and operates under an agreement with Blockbuster LLC.

"We are very pleased to enter into this agreement with NCR," said Scott Di Valerio, CFO of Coinstar and interim president of Redbox. "As the global self-service solutions leader, NCR has strong technology, manufacturing and servicing capabilities, and we look forward to leveraging their expertise as Coinstar continues to grow its core automated retail businesses and expands its offerings."

NCR has said it wanted to sell the Blockbuster Express unit, which has operated as a distant second to No. 1 Redbox, in terms of market penetration and consumer awareness.

"Through this agreement with Redbox, NCR will be better positioned to focus on expanding our business in our targeted industries," said John Bruno, EVP and chief technology officer for NCR. "Additionally, this transaction affords us the opportunity to develop a long-term strategic relationship with Coinstar and partner on delivering new and innovative solutions to the market."

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012."

The Blockbuster in Beckley,WV closed abruptly in early Jan. 2012.Another business is already moving in the building, as renovations and remodeling is underway.
Also...the Blockbuster in Oak Hill,WV is closing soon. I was there this weekend and all the previously viewed and rental DVDs and BRs were $5.99 each. New unopened dvds/br were 40% off.No idea when they are closing as they had tons left.

holbrook,ny is closeing 2-19 the worker told me,3.99 dvds and blu rays used,5 for 7.50 dvd's and blu rays in the mail envelopes,i guess they are from the online rent portion...

The Seabrook NH is closing as well.

The only Blockbuster here in town in closing. The lady working said the last day they would be open is the 26th. Of course, the prices were higher then before the closing sale started. Used DVD and Blus were starting at $5.99. That didn't stop morons from buying anything today. I got lucky and picked up Season 2 of True Blood on Blu for about $25. I could wait until Christmas and get it for $25 brand new or get it used for the same price and watch it now.

There's 2 Blockbusters in Scottsdale, AZ I'm aware of with current closeout sales:
Frank Lloyd Wright/Via Linda
Hayden/Chaparral

The former one currently has new DVDs at 30% off, PV at 50%. Today I got Superfly, Terminator Salvation & the 2005 release of Godfather II for $3.50 each.

FYI, for anyone who likes Fangoria, Blockbuster's magazines were 10% off last I checked (they had both December & January issues of Fango). Yeah, I know 10% ain't an impressive bargain, but it's still 10% less than B&N.

What I've found pleasing is this time around, the amaray covers BB's selling (5 for $1) include a lot of older catalog titles. The closeouts I went to last year, the amarays were only for new releases. But this time around the amaray's I've found include: Evil Dead I & II, Monty Python's Life of Brian & The Meaning of Life, Caligula (R-rated version but still, never expected a Caligula amaray!), [REC], Existenz, Sean Connery James Bond titles, Let the Right One In, amongst others...

Stopped by the one on Freeport Blvd in Sacramento since it's near my school. Up high they had a "Store Closing" banner, but by the door was a sign that said "Store Moving!" Looking closer at the sign it said their new address would be: www.blockbuster.com- no, I'm not kidding! Looked around inside, prices nothing to get excited about yet. Hopefully nobody will buy anything til they go down to decent levels.

There's only one indie store in my city (way across town) but the bright side of BB (and in Canada Jumbo and Rogers Video) going under is as long as physical media is still for sale it'll create a vacuum for indie stores to rise again.

Ideally they'll also start sell the rich tradition of renting NC-17 titles unlike BB and hopefully X rated stuff for the local pervs.

Just discovered that both Blockbusters in my town (Marysville, WA) were closing. Stopped by one and they had nothing worth getting excited over. The one closest to my house had "Hot Rod" on BD which I picked up and "Casablanca" on BD which I didn't (They had it marked at 29.99!) I'll probably stop by that one as prices get more reasonable.

With the death of video stores, where will the next generation of Quentin Tarantinos come from?

/\ From YouTube, unfortunately.

Drove by one that had previously been open and it was gone. It had been a few months since my last visit there, so its not too surprising. I had thought the last one to close in my area was in February or so. Anybody out there with any new info.? If I see more closings I'll post'em.

Heard they posted a loss recently. I just wish they'd hurry up and die as they have no desire to re-invent themselves into a store I would actually buy stuff at.

7-11 stores

We still have a couple in my area. The last couple times I stopped in they had nothing new in the used bins, and I don't bother with in-store trades anymore. I might start up again in the winter when I start my movie watching earlier