

Blockbuster to close as many as 960 stores - edw519
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32861720/ns/business-local_business/

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mbowcock
This has been a long time coming - actually the majority of blockbuster stores
in my area have been closed for a couple of years - but Redbox keeps popping
up. I think blockbuster will struggle with the kiosks since Redbox is already
entrenched just as they've struggled competing with Netflix. I recently read
an article (might have found it on HN) where the CEO of Redbox thinks the
market for rental kiosks is limited to the next few years. He see's
competition from the Internet and on-demand devices eventually taking over.
But he said he was making a killing in the mean time.

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ams6110
I don't know how quickly they will die. A lot of folks will justify $1.00 for
a RedBox rental and not the $40 or more/month for broadband internet.

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mdasen
Well, I know that I consider internet to be a necessity (granted, it's part of
my job) and so I have to be spending that $40 no matter what. The $1 RedBox I
don't have to be spending. Now, I'm sure there are people for whom broadband
isn't a given expense, but I know that most of my friends wouldn't cut it out
because they need it for everything from communication (skype, IM, email) to
information (Wikipedia, news) to fun (hulu, youtube). And so the broadband
connection becomes a given for things other than entertainment.

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fatboy71
mdasen, I want your opinion on something. Can you drop me a line?

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jackmoore
Oh they will eventually cut much more than that.

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TomOfTTB
I agree. What stands out most to me is they're closing 960 stores IN A
RECESSION. Recessions are when movie rental places shine. Everyone stops
buying and starts renting.

If you can't succeed even when the scales are tipped in your favor then you
probably can't succeed at all.

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zck
This will hurt them more than one might think at first. One of the selling
points of their Blockbuster Total Access plan (the Netflix competitor) is that
you can return movies to a store and pick up new ones. Unless their new kiosks
will let you do this, it's another reason for many people not to pay for Total
Access.

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speby
Standard natural evolution and an example of a business unwilling to transform
or reinvent itself remain competitive and to out-innovate new entrants (i.e.
Netflix and Redbox).

It's sad, on one hand, since I personally remember enjoying my adventures as a
kid perusing the many aisles of Blockbuster's New Releases (and the oldies,
too) but I've moved on to more innovative things as a consumer (having been a
customer of Netflix and having rented movies from Redbox kiosks).

Blockbuster's example is no different than what we are starting to see happen
to Microsoft (though that process is still early stage, there are the typical
warning signs).

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ryanwaggoner
Is it an option to just shut a company down and give the money back to your
investors _before_ the courts force you to? Is there anyone left who doesn't
see the handwriting on the wall for Blockbuster? I hate watching companies
blow through billions over a decade or more and eventually end up disappearing
with nothing to show for it. Seems like they'd be better off facing reality
and folding on their own.

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speby
I see your point but technically that also means going down without a fight.
As I commented above, even though we don't see any business model and product
innovation from Blockbuster (aside from trying to copy/steal from Netflix's
model), it's still possible that perhaps with the right
minds/leadership/people/talent, Blockbuster _could_ change and become a leader
again (look at what happened to Apple, Inc.).

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ryanwaggoner
But at some point, when your liabilities far outweigh your assets and your
brand is horribly tarnished, why not just start a new company?

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benatkin
Last night as I was about to drive past a Blockbuster near my office that I
hadn't looked at in a while, I wondered if they would still be open. They
were. I'm guessing this one will be one of the 960.

