A video store icon fades as Netflix's stock price soars. Retail giant hopes to reorganize as a digital business Video
By Christopher Hickey



marvistamom.com


Nowthere really are no more late fees. Blockbuster Video, the venerablegiant of video retailers, announced this morning that it's in the finalstages of declaring bankruptcy. Some may ask why Blockbuster didn't dosomething sooner -- say, five years ago, when online rental serviceslike Netflix took off. But no matter. While some '90s trends revive, others vanish into the ether with Chumbawamba and the Public Reform Party. AlthoughBlockbuster was slow to react to online rentals, the retailer attemptedto compete by abolishing late fees and launching its Total Accessonline rental program. But Dorothy Pomerantz at Forbes observes TotalAccess bled the stores of inventory. Blockbuster also brought back late fees last year, when nobody was looking.

Blockbuster'snew plan is to emerge from Chapter 11 with a renewed focus on digitaldistribution, while keeping a select few retailers open for business.The tech website NewTeeVee wonders whether Blockbuster can competewith the already-crowded digital field. One might also ask the samequestion the Next Web proposes: Is Blockbuster's announcement another nail in the coffin for physical media? Heck, when's the last time you bought a DVD, let alone rented one?

Meanwhile, Netflix's stock rose 4.8 percent this morningfollowing Blockbuster's announcement, hitting a new high of 154.22.Adding a dollop of whipped cream to the chocolate milkshake of a weekit's having so far, Netflix launched its much talked-about streaming-only service in Canada today. Yowza, talk about rubbing it in.

The Onion probably "gets" Blockbuster Video better than anyone else:

No skin off my nose, we never had a Blockbuster.

They should've stopped charging 5 and a half damn dollars to rent a freaking movie. The Blockbuster right down the street from me closed months ago. It was just a matter of time. I can't imagine anyone not seeing this coming a mile away. Hollywood Video.....you're next.

The video place here charges $4-something for a new release, and $2.50 for old ones, and even we haven't rented anything from there for so long because a. they don't have anything we want usually and b. when they do we can't afford to rent more than one or two at a time. It was easier when video stores still had VHS tapes you could rent for a dollar and have it for five days, we'd have our weekends set with a whole pack of movies without blowing a lot of money.

I can't believe they made it a year after Red Boxes were out.

There are almost no video stores here anymore. Movie Gallery, Hollywood...all gone. Think there's one Blockbuster left all the way across town. Redbox was setting up all over the place & they kept insisting on charging 5 bucks no matter what. They should have focused on the movies at a competitive price, gotten rid of the posters & that stupid mini concession stand. They really should have seen it coming.

CeCe wrote:

There are almost no video stores here anymore. Movie Gallery, Hollywood...all gone. Think there's one Blockbuster left all the way across town. Redbox was setting up all over the place & they kept insisting on charging 5 bucks no matter what. They should have focused on the movies at a competitive price, gotten rid of the posters & that stupid mini concession stand. They really should have seen it coming.

Hollywood was seized by a hostile takeover by Blockbuster and then shut down. The Internet is killing media retail. No more video stores, no more record stores.

RobbieFTW wrote:

Hollywood was seized by a hostile takeover by Blockbuster and then shut down. The Internet is killing media retail. No more video stores, no more record stores.

It is & I really hate that. The music sections of stores keep shrinking. Record stores are a thing of the past. This may not make sense but I always loved the atmosphere of a record store. I miss it.

CeCe wrote:

It is & I really hate that. The music sections of stores keep shrinking. Record stores are a thing of the past. This may not make sense but I always loved the atmosphere of a record store. I miss it.

Record stores used to be as fun as toy stores when I was a kid. I adored scavenging through the sections; reading back covers and credits. Then coming home and popping the disc in the player and reading the liner notes. Video stores as well. I can remember being about eight or nine, and my mom occasionally treating me to a trip to the video store after school. Netflix, iTunes and Amazon.com don't have 1/10 the same excitement factor. These days it's all about 'on demand,' but that convenience comes at the price of entertainment just not being as fun as it used to.

The depleting music retailer is depressing I agree, but honestly I don't miss video stores all that much. Five year old late fees following you, having to get the tape/DVD/VG back by a certain time or it's considered "late", rewinding, fucked up tapes that don't play or get stuck in the VCR, never having certain movies in stock, standing in line. I haven't rented a video in close to a decade.

JM, I agree. It is a much different demographic, hunting and finding treasures in music stores than renting a video from the video place.

JM130ELM wrote:

The depleting music retailer is depressing I agree, but honestly I don't miss video stores all that much. Five year old late fees following you, having to get the tape/DVD/VG back by a certain time or it's considered "late", rewinding, fucked up tapes that don't play or get stuck in the VCR, never having certain movies in stock, standing in line. I haven't rented a video in close to a decade.

Neither do I. The way I see it, I have cable so why do I need to go to the video store? It will come on HBO or Showtime eventually, I can wait.