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This topic comprises 7 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Author
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Topic: Blockbuster's future in question
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 04-27-2011 02:13 AM
quote: Tom Petrov
Just imagine if Wal-Mart was still not selling groceries right now.
Oh, yeah, that would be terrible. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) Thousands of jobs that are gone today would still exist. Buildings that now sit empty would have tenants who would be paying taxes, and all the other businesses that profit from a going concern would be making money. The tax base of hundreds of communities, including my own, would be higher.
Our own local grocery store would still have some competition, and probably would have more of a selection due to having more business. The small-town grocery store would have a chance to grow, instead of looking at a long, slow death.
I won't be surprised if our remaining grocery store will be gone in 10 years or less, thanks to Wal-Mart, and we'll then have to drive 45 miles to shop, using $5 or more per-gallon gas.
Not ALL change is good, Tom.
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Michael Barry
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 584
From: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-29-2011 09:01 AM
The situation in Australia is quite unique.
We have nearly the same land mass as the USA, but with a population only 10% of its size. Therefore, the rental-by-mail business model doesn't enjoy sufficient economies of scale to survive.
Thus far, the remaining two (there used to be eight) rental-by-mail companies continue to post quarterly losses because the customer base simply cannot pay for the infrastructure required to service them. Each time the subscriber base grows, the operating costs balloon out of control and they run up even more red ink.
I keep wondering how many more millions they can afford to lose before they throw in the towel.
I think there's a place for video stores that other technologies can't currently supplant. Redboxes have a depressingly diminutive selection with pathetic copy depth - and they always will. They are cheap for a reason. Internet bandwidth cannot support Blu Ray levels of bandwidth for most households, and I don't know how long it will be before this can happen. Rental-by-mail can give you Blu Ray quality, but the mail doesn't deliver on weekends here when most people want movies. If there's a problem with your disc, you're screwed. With a store, just take it in for an instant swap. Netflix instant watch isn't Blu Ray quality. Once you're hooked on Blu Ray, it's pretty hard to go back. And why should you? Blu Ray is here, and the reality is simply that the internet cannot give you this today.
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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover
Posts: 1121
From: El Paso, TX
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 05-05-2011 08:51 PM
Blockbuster Canada Goes Under
More than six months after its U.S. parent filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Blockbuster Canada Co. has been placed into receivership, hammering what is perhaps the final nail into the coffin of the neighbourhood video store.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice appointed consulting and accounting firm Grant Thornton Ltd. as receiver, according to documents filed Tuesday. Empowering it to “take possession of and exercise control over” Blockbuster Canada’s assets, Grant Thornton has effectively been given control over the film and video game rental chain’s more than 400 locations across Canada.
It will also be tasked with repaying the company’s debt, listed in filings to be in excess of $67 million, to major Hollywood studios such as Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox and Sony Pictures.
Grant Thornton and Blockbuster Canada did not return requests for comment.
Blockbuster locations were open on Thursday and can be expected to continue normal operations at least for the immediate future. The court ordered all Blockbuster staff to remain employed with the company “until such time as the receiver, on the debtor’s behalf, may terminate the employment of such employees.”
By the time the U.S. chain officially went bankrupt last September, rising competition from Internet-based competitors such as Netflix Inc. had reduced the company to a hollow shell of the once-massive media company championed by billionaire entrepreneur Wayne Huizenga. Blockbuster Inc. had less than 3,000 locations, down from a peak of more than 9,000, by the time U.S. satellite operator Dish Network Corp. placed a winning $320-million US bid for the company a month ago.
In Canada, Blockbuster has followed a similar, though slightly slower, path of decline.
Last year, the company closed five per cent of its locations, which it attributed at the time to business as usual.
“It is part of the regular course of business that we close stores every year,” Barry Guest, vice-president and general manager of Blockbuster Canada, said in an interview with the Financial Post in September, one day after the U.S. chain filed for Chapter 11.
“The (past store closures) were historically offset with opening new stores,” he said. “This year, they are not.”
Blockbuster’s Canadian business model is slightly different than that of the U.S. chain. Unlike in the U.S., Blockbuster Canada never offered rent-by-mail services, helping to avoid a direct confrontation with upstart rivals such as Netflix, which started life more than a decade ago
However, those minor difference have not been enough to stave off what some observers believe was the company’s inevitable collapse.
“It was only a matter of time before the Canadian operations of Blockbuster followed their American operations to bankruptcy,” said Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst based in London, Ont. “We saw it coming and were simply counting the days.”
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Blockbuster+Canada+goes+under/4735598/story.html#ixzz1LX5Xbu4Z
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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover
Posts: 1121
From: El Paso, TX
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 08-27-2011 05:10 PM
New Video Store opens
View full size
Photos (3)
Categories of movies for rent include new releases; nearly new; classic; favorites; standup comedy; kids; family; educational, sports and fitness; and Blu-Ray.
Family Video opened about 1-1/2 weeks ago in the former Blockbuster Video location in La Grange Park, according to employee Mary Viktora on Aug. 24.
Customers must show a driver's license and provide two telephone numbers to check out videos and games for rental.
Add your photos & videos
Family Video says its newest store in La Grange Park will offer cheaper rental prices than Blockbuster, which formerly occupied its space at 333 N. LaGrange Rd., and closed its doors in April.
“We’ll do a lot better,” predicted employee Mary Viktora said about the new video store that opened in mid-August. “We keep our store nice and organized. Our prices are a lot more reasonable.”
Prices range from free in certain categories up to $2.80 for new releases and $6 for certain video games.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled at 10 a.m. today, Aug. 26, for Family Video and then for two other businesses—D’Dami Salon and Spa, and Village Potters—that previously opened in the Village Market shopping center.
“Our main goal is to make sure everybody leaves here happy,” Viktora said. If someone cannot find a video or game they are looking to rent, store employees are more than happy to call another Family Video to find it, she said. Nearby stores are in Westchester and two locations in Downers Grove, where Viktora previously worked.
That personal service, of finding particular videos and games and offering recommendations, is something that Redbox and Netflix cannot compete with, said Viktora. Plus, customers do not have to stand outside in a line to rent videos from Redbox machines, she said.
Family Video started renting videos in 1978 and has 735 stores, including 21 in the Chicago area, and in 19 states, according to its website, www.familyvideo.com.
No credit card is needed to rent videos and games, Viktora said. Just show a driver’s license and provide two telephone numbers.
For the first 30 days the store is open, customers can sign up to pay half the regular price for rentals, she said. Customers can renew their participation by paying $9.95 every 30 days.
Free rental always is offered for rental of educational, sports and fitness DVDs and films for younger children.
Films for older children and the family rent for $1 over five nights.
Other categories are “nearly new” movies that have been out for a while; television series; prequels, sequels and remakes to movies in current release or coming soon; classics; and standup comedy
And the “favorites” category includes movies such as “Grease” and “The Terminator.” About these particular rentals, she said, “If you don’t like it, we’ll exchange it for something else. We’re pretty sure you’ll like everything in this section.”
Certain videos are 2-for-one rentals. “We want to make sure people save as much as possible,” Viktora said.
BluRay movies also are for rent.
Some videos are for sale, but since the store is new, it probably will be a month or two before it starts selling movies currently on the rental shelves. Used videos are guaranteed for 30 days.
Games can be rented for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3 and Wii, with specials for another free game or movie rental.
Store hours are 10 a.m. to midnight every day of the year.
This has to be one of the worst ideas.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 08-29-2011 07:06 AM
quote: Tom Petrov
That personal service, of finding particular videos and games and offering recommendations, is something that Redbox and Netflix cannot compete with, said Viktora. Plus, customers do not have to stand outside in a line to rent videos from Redbox machines, she said.
That's really way off the mark, at least about Netflix; that's EXACTLY what Netflix does and with pretty sophistocated logarithms -- they find lots of matches for EVERY film you select all based on your previous selections and how you rate them. Not only will they bring up a dozen titles as suggestions for you, but they can pretty accurately predict how you will rated each of them after you watch them. Who is this FamilyVideo going to hire with that kind of movie knowledge for this so-called "personal service?"
And not for nuthin, I haven't ever seen a Redbox except in a mall or supermarket or at the very least, under a canopy outside and even then, I have never seen people lined up at them more than two or three at a time, so I don't know what she is trying to spin here. Throwing the word "family" at it doesn't necessarily guarantee it becoming a viable business model.
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Justin Hamaker
Film God
Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 08-29-2011 03:49 PM
I can sense the melancholy in the article and from some of the posts in this thread. However, the death if video stores is different from the demise of the mom-and-pop stores after a Wal-Mart came to town.
Sure, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video were responsible for the death of some hometown video stores a few years back. But the big boys are dying just like the little guys because the consumer is changing.
Part of the reason consumers have embraced Netflix and video on demand services is because they offer a better experience for the consumer. When Netflix started, the appeal was having the DVD delivered to your mailbox and having the flexibility to return it whenever you finished watching - whether it was tomorrow or next month. This was a bigger factor for me than the price, because I was always winding up with late fees from the video store.
Much has been written about losing the ability to browse the racks at the video store, but I have found browsing the "digital racks" often offers a much more fulfilling experience. Besides being well organized, the suggestions from Netflix were usually right on the money based on my history of rating movies. And digital racks provide the ability to immediately offer suggestions by actor, director, genre, and so forth. Methods of organization that just aren't possible in a physical environment.
Yes, there is something to be said for losing the interaction of talking to other movie lovers as you looked for something to watch. But this apparently wasn't a big enough factor for enough consumers to support the business model of the brick and mortar video store.
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