The one in Cameron Village in Raleigh NC was a victim of the first round of closings, as was the one on Six Forks Rd in Raleigh.

The one near me always seems like a ghost town. I might stop in after work today.

If somebody does find a master list of closing stores, please share with the group. I didn't notice any of the three stores I regularly pass with big signage, but I'll be looking more closely today.

We have one Hollywood Video in the area that built on a prime corner. I never see more than one or two cars in the parking lot and I figure those are employees.

There are several around me. The one I usually went to subdivided the building with a Starbucks. (Like there weren't enough of those around either). I've stopped going to the locations. My online membership allowed free in store exchanges but I went so seldom I decided to save the money and just wait for the mail. Being unemployed I had to save money wherever I could.

My online membership is the greatest. I have never had any major problems and the few times I called to correct something they took care of it right away. Netflix on the other hand screwed me so I will never deal with them again.

When one of the stores in my old district closed I was told by the store manager months after it closed that they told all the customers they had to return them to a nearby store, but in reality they had no inventory of the items checked out and the customers could have kept the movies. Don't quote me on that, they may have changed that but that's what I was told a few months ago.

Hopefully you lose your job, too.


Seriously, what is with the vultures in this thread?

I'm not even going to directly address the comments by people who have been much more vicious. I used to work for Blockbuster as a part-time employee. The people I worked with were all competent and reasonable people that worked hard and did their best to help the customers find what they wanted. I don't give a damn if you had a bad experience in some Blockbuster (or a dozen or a hundred bad experiences). Obviously you took your business elsewhere, but this "I'm glad..." attitude is disgusting and offensive. How about showing some compassion for some fellow human beings instead of dancing on the graves of their jobs?

Like the jobs BBV danced on? Im just saying.

Like many, I have a Blockbuster experience from several years ago that soured me to the franchise. I used to be a very loyal and frequent movie renter. I rented one DVD from Blockbuster and returned it about 30 minutes after the due date. I figured I could just pay the late fee when I went to rent a movie again. Wrong! I actually started receiving multiple letters/warnings in the mail saying that if I didn't go the store and pay my $3.50 fee or whatever it was that my account would be forwarded to creditors and further steps would have to be taken to get their money. Really? For a customer who actually returned the movie, only just slightly late, and had never had any past issues with fines? And over a one-day fee?

I thought it was pretty ridiculous. I went to the nearest location, paid my fine and vowed never to go there again. And I haven't. The fact that I never encountered anyone at any of the locations I used (multiple cities) that actually knew anything about movies made the decision even easier to make.

I feel sorry for the people who are losing their jobs, but nearly everyone I know has had some type of bad Blockbuster experience. Like I said, it has been a really, really long time since I've used a Blockbuster (there probably were still some VHS tapes!) so things might have really changed for the better. But the incident from above was my last draw; you can only push around your customers for so long before they decide that they just don't want to ever go back.

No one cried fowl when Blockbuster drove all the mom and pop stores out of business. What about those jobs lost?

And I'm not talking about BBV. I'm talking about the people who work(ed) there.

You can be glad that a (in your opinion) poorly run company is (potentially) going to go out of business, as hopefully it will be replaced by a better one. That's capitalism, and I applaud it. It doesn't always work out the absolute best way, but I believe in it, and I think things generally improve over time as a result of it.

However, I am not going to dance around about it and immediately start looking for some way to profit off of it. Many hardworking people who are just trying to earn money to pay for school or support their families or buy DVDs are losing their jobs. So I ask again: where's the compassion?

foul, not fowl


Really? No one cried foul? No one?

And I'm sure you and everybody else who did would still be using those mom and pop stores to handle your movie needs right now.

Maybe you actually would. But again, I don't actually care. You vote with your wallet, I vote with mine, and on and on. The world moves on. Everything's temporary. I don't live in the U.S.. I buy all my DVDs from online retailers. Blockbuster being there or not being there has no immediate effect on my life.

However, somehow you and others have allowed Blockbuster to put such a serious hurt on you that you're pleased to see some regular people heading to the unemployment line. Half of the people in this thread with a "Blockbuster story" have claimed to not been in one in years. So what the hell do you care if they're in business or not? Some kind of petty revenge? Some 20-year-old made a mistake or was malicious to you, and you hold a grudge for years and are pleased that a dozen people from your neighborhood are now out of jobs? Seems fair.

One poster even claimed that a regional manager tried to make up for the precious insult by offering a bunch of free rentals. But he really stuck it to that manager who was trying to make good by refusing to ever go there again. And now that store might be closing down! I hope they're all heading to the unemployment lines, and maybe I can get some cheap DVDs in the fire sale.

And how about the people here that are actually speculating about how to steal from Blockbuster. Rent DVDs right before they close down so that you won't have to return them? Simple and petty(*) theft.

(*) not the legal definition of "petty," more the one with the connotation of "pathetic"

There's one of you in EVERY SINGLE THREAD about stores going out of business. It gets old.

"Oh! How could you? These people are losing their jobs! Damn your icy cold hearts!"

Stores close. Sales begin. Consumers take advantage. It's that simple. There's nothing any of us can do to change the fact that these people are going to lose their jobs, but we may as well reap the benefits of the store closings.

I won't feel the least bit guilty about it. There wouldn't be fire sales at all if the point wasn't to sell the merchandise.

Sorry to rain on your parade. Carry on.

Hopefully, your job is the one discussed in the next thread like this. And I say that with all due compassion.

Oh dear... I'm considering taking advantage of a fire sale... A NORMAL PART OF ANY BUSINESS CLOSING... so I should therefore lose my job. The logic is irrefutable.

I bought a couch at a furniture store that was going out of business last week. I was excited about the price, too. And I say that with all due compassion.

My favorite mom & pop shop had a deal: 7 movies, 7 days, for $7 dollars. I think I rented half the store. Then BBV came to town with 4 stores. I wonder who stuck around? That was just one of several M&P places that went out.

But I will say I still go to BBV. But only to spend rape dollars when CAG or DVDTalk alert me to a bogo sale.

We did what we always do; jumped on those going out of business deals like a vulture going after road kill.

It sucks that so many people will lose their jobs, but Blockbuster has had it coming for quite some time. They were way too slow in adjusting to the times.

So, wait a minute ... you are allowed to not actually care, but we are required to show sympathy? That doesn't seem too fair. As you say, everything is temporary; I'm sure those people will find new jobs. And again, as you say, we did vote with our wallets, and obviously there were a lot of people who chose not to vote for Blockbuster. So by using all of your same logic, I see no reason why we should be required to show "sympathy" for this corporation.

I havent set foot in a Blockbuster since they tried to say I didnt return a couple of movies, that I had handed to an employee on time.
Good riddance, i say. Cant wait to see if there are any good sales around.

This. I have no sympathy, haven't rented there for years. Occasionally I buy something used.

does it mean, more SALE? yeeheey!

i'm sorry for those who lost the job though

This.

I can't understand how a company that had a name synonymous with renting movies failed to capitalize on what Netflix and Redbox do.

I suppose I can understand the Netflix part, that take some serious setup....but Redbox? When these things started popping up, why didn't Blockbuster try and put similar machines everywhere?

This thread keeps discussing Blockbuster stores vs. Netflix. Blockbuster's online rental system is far superior to netflix IMHO. They never throttled their customers and allowed in store exchanges. The only interaction with Netflix customer service ended poorly and a couple with BB ended very well.

I don't envy them trying to stock a store in a good location, then put in employees to rent a product that in 6 months will be in some bargain bin for $3. The whole DVD marketing startegy was a sell-through strategy making it very difficult for the rental market. Without the umpulse purchases of DVD's, soda, popcorn, or candy B&M is too expensive to maintain a profit.

While I respect your opinion, you are certainly in the minority.

Blockbuster just can't compete with Netflix. Netflix's library is amazing. I'm finding all kinds of documentaries to watch, and even OOP dvds like Return to Lonesome Dove.