Draven

Like 5 or 6 years ago, I had Blockbusters' online service and they offered games. Which I thought was great - far faster and better than Gamefly ever was. But then they got rid of it for some reason, so I changed to Netflix. Haven't looked back.

Blockbuster has simply screwed up beyond hope of redemption. The only way that company can continue to exist is by going online-only and hitting Netflix hard on pricing and streaming options. Otherwise, they should just throw in the towel.

Brian T

These mentions of niche markets remind me of an excellent book called The Long Tail--particularly the updated edition--which documents how Amazon and other web-based companies, by making as much stuff possible to everyone (something no brick 'n mortar chain will ever be able to do via limited shelf space), making it easy to locate and purchase, and encouraging user feedback to drive sales, have signaled the death knell for the old way of doing things, especially as it pertains to entertainment. Basically, pushing people, based on their tastes, purchase habits, etc., further down the long tail to discover those niches that were previously unknown or unobtainable to them under the old system, especially those who live away from urban centers. What's most interesting was the percentage of Amazon's business that actually comes from far, far out the long tail. It was actually quite high, cumulatively speaking (something along the lines of 20% of Amazon's sales being from books that sell less than 10 copies each). Stuff that would never be carried in stores, and might never sell even if it was (thus taking up valuable real estate on shelves), DOES sell on Amazon, even if you or I can't imagine it would. (I also love what this represents for self-published authors, indie singer-songwriters and film/video production companies that can reach their expectedly small audiences so much easier and more affordably than in the pre-internet / pre-long-tail era, but that's another topic altogether).

Not in the book, but equally interesting, is the number of name-brand retailers whose online web stores are actually fronts for Amazon, via what I assume are mutually-beneficial deals involving the use of Amazon's fulfillment services. Many of these sites carry no overt reference to the fact, either, and appear as independently designed and administered stores. A company like Blockbuster might need a lifeline like that at some point, although everything they could possibly sell or stream--and then some--is probably already available through Amazon itself.

It is weird to be into this hobby, among many others, right now, especially if you're still prefer browsing DVDs in stores (something I admittedly rarely do anymore for these very reasons). The promised world of tomorrow ain't fully here yet--it's still quite messy out there--but it's coming, and the existing way (renting, buying in stores) is riding out the last of its death throes. I agree that there are many movie buffs who prefer to visit stores and caress the actual product, but their choices are severely limited, and will only grow moreso in the next few years.

calhoun07

Yeah, you're right and I was confused.

chuckd21

Netflix with streaming and Redbox should be all anyone needs at this point. Blockbuster failed to keep up with the times.

rw2516

Something has happened with Comcast. Got a message on my cable box about a new dvd by mail rental service from Comcast/Blockbuster.

calhoun07

Blockbuster entered into a deal with Comcast before this bankruptcy thing happened. Which led to rumors Comcast would buy them out.

I am not a fan of Blockbuster's by mail service. They are too slow to send out DVDs that show available. I am lucky if I get to see two movies a week on their monthly plan. It's a pain in the ass and not worth the price they ask for it. Not to mention they aren't getting in a lot of the newer Blu-Rays and smaller titles either.

calhoun07

The clock ticks closer to midnight...

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/mark...tent=D9I7B55O0

Blockbuster CFO steps down with possible bankruptcy looming; company pays him $100,000

Alan Smithee

Wish I could get paid $100000 for ruining a company.

MBoyd

Seems a little low for a typical golden parachute!

Quatermass

Hell, I would have ruined it for $85,000

rich-y

Gamefly definitely has rental kiosks. I have rented from the Gamefly box on Georgia Tech's campus a number of times.

Here's a pic of their kiosk from their site:

http://www.gamefly.com/features/gbox

fujishig

How much money could they possibly have left to pay this guy, though? Maybe they just gave him a clean million stock options...

whotony

Store wide con call Thursday 8 am eastern.

hanshotfirst1138

Huh. Well, maybe I'm just cynical, but since I associate Blockbuster with a squeaky clean corporate vision of big mainstream movies with anything niche clustered into a small little section with very little selection. In any case, it's just a different world now. Brick and mortar stores just don't have the same place that they used to have. I'm not losing any sleep over it. My local library has far better selection anyway.

Alan Smithee

Does that mean Blockbuster employees on the West coast will have to be up at 5AM? I'll have to keep an eye out Thursday morning!

Oooh- they've already officially declared bankruptcy today:

http://www.businessinsider.com/block...le+Feedfetcher

calhoun07

And the next fifteen companies likely to file are pretty obscure or as outdated as the 'Buster.

whotony

They actually filed this morning not yesterday. Chap 11

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Now people just need to realize that all the stores are not closing just because of this.

Peep

Are they still taking giftcards?

dugnarug

Its their own fault they are bankrupt. They have things that make them unique over Redbox like their Rental Exclusives but they NEVER promote them. I can go into my Blockbuster and ask about a Exclusive title they show on their website but don't have in store and they look at me like I've just asked a really complex question. Its bad when a customer knows more about a store and what they offer than an employee.

Its sad though because I still enjoy these B&M video stores just to stop in and browse every now and then.

jpb07

Adios! If anyone wants to piss on their grave just go find one of their soon to be shuttered stores... If it's like the Circuit City here, plenty of signage will still be up for years.

Josh-da-man

It's always seemed strange to me how every Blockbuster I've ever been in has been this HUGE building that contains very little product. It's like 2000 square feet of floorspace housing inventory that would comfortably fit in something a fifth of that size.

I can remember this one independent video rental store in a little strip mall; probably a third the size of a typical Blockbuster, and they had tons of VHS movies packed into what little space they had. The place was a maze of tightly-packed shelves of videocassettes stored spine-out, and you could find just any movie that was ever released to video, it seemed. This was back when I was in college, and we were always renting things like Gates of Hell or Zombie for $1.50 a night.

But I go into Blockbuster, and all of sudden it's like all of their movies are face-out and a foot apart on the shelves. And there's this big hole in the middle of the store where it's just empty.

Just seems like a lousy business model.

Alan Smithee

Yeah- one concept of rental stores that I seem to be the only person that supports, is that once a store acquires a title (especially in the early 80s, not every video store got in every title that came out) it should ALWAYS be available for rent. When the trend of getting multiple copies of new movies started, it made sense to sell off the extra copies of those if there wasn't as much demand for them anymore, but many stores sold off tapes they had only one copy of just because nobody rented it (and as the last posted pointed out, getting rid of it wasn't from lack of space to keep it.) When Blockbuster started out one of their features was having a large selection of both old and new titles (even though those didn't include anything rated X) but after phasing out VHS they seem to only concentrate on the latest stuff (and I think they SHOULD have kept all the VHS tapes for rent that weren't issued on DVD.)

It's too late for Blockbuster now anyways; I invited them to contact me for ideas on how to save themselves but I never heard from them, so they deserve everything that's coming to them at this point. I'll be hitting the going-out-of-business sales picking up whatever gems I can find.

Rob V

What do you know, you're just the customer They have execs that make millions more than you who will TELL you what works for you.

My BB is actualy laid out pretty well but what's confusing is they'll have 4-5 spots on a shelf containing the same movie. Wouldn't it have made more sense to show the display case of a movie and then let a person rent the movie in a slipcase that is kept behind the counter (like Netflix ships)?

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

They should since the company is still in business.