Blockbuster has plans to close another 300 of its stores. Blockbuster which was going bankrupt nearly two years ago was bought over by Dish Network. ABC News reports that with the 300 store closures, that will leave 500 U.S. Blockbuster locations still in operation but approximately 3,000 employees will lose their jobs.
Unfortunately, for the once extremely popular video rental chain, Internet streaming competitors and video services such as Netflix came in and took away much of their business. The Los Angeles Times reported that when Dish acquired Blockbuster in 2011 they hoped to use Blockbuster's famous name to compete with the likes of Netflix and Redbox.
In order to compete with the likes of Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster evolved from just being a chain of video stores to offering "convenient access to media entertainment anywhere and any way consumers want it - whether in stores, by mail or digital download," says Blockbuster's website. However, this transformation hasn't done enough to keep stores running.
Blockbuster in Britain also announced that it would close 160 stores and entered into administration which is a version of bankruptcy, reported the LA Times.
"We continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand and we will continue to analyze store level profitability and - as we have in the past - close unprofitable stores," John Hall, a spokesman for Dish Network said to the LA Times.
Hall said to the Associated Press that the 3,000 employees who would be losing their jobs were informed about the closures on Friday but the store locations have not been formally announced.
Dish Network, which is based in Colorado purchased the bankrupt chain for $320 million. Blockbuster's headquarters were then based in Texas and Dish plans to move the headquarters to Douglas, County Colorado.
MSN Money reported that in 2004 the booming Blockbuster had some 8,900 stores around the world. Dish already shut down 500 Blockbuster locations last year.
Dish has also said in the past that they are considering turning Blockbuster stores into wireless and smartphone service outlets, reports MSN Money. "We're still evaluating that," chief executive Joe Clayton said at the Consumer Electronics Show to The Denver Post. "It's still in exploratory phase."
Dish founder Charlie Ergen said to Bloomberg that it's impossible to keep the stores running by just renting and selling DVDs. "When your lease runs out on the stores, you can't re-up because you can't make enough money from just selling DVDs," he said.
Blockbuster first opened its doors in October 1985 with its first store in Dallas, Texas. The stores had a lot of early success and founder David Cook built a $6 million warehouse in Garland, Texas after the first couple stores opened.
