Blockbuster files for chapter 11 bankruptcy

[pwnst*r]

Good riddance (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68M10320100923)...



(Reuters) - Video rental chain Blockbuster Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday after years of struggling to compete with online and mail-order movie services.

The company filed for its long-awaited Chapter 11 petition with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan. It said a majority of senior noteholders agreed to support its recapitalization, cutting debt to about $100 million from nearly $1 billion.

[BabakSM]

lol does anyone still use blockbuster? Unless you are renting a video game I don't see any point in going to a store to rent a disc.

[gnomeuser]

They really have failed to adapt well to change, though I have in the past enjoy many good rentals from their stores.

[Frogs Hair]

We have a locally owned chain that is much cheaper , Hollywood and Blockbuster closed years ago.

[Tristam Green]

I'll miss them, for sure. They were awesome back in the day, but in the past five years they really started to lack in the promises they made, and the increasing series of gimmicks they employed were just failure in the making.

RIP Blockbuster, may your predecessors learn from your grave errors.

[samalex]

Hollywood video has already closed shop in our area, so I assumed it wouldn't be log before Blockbuster followed suit. We have one other locally owned video store in our community that's been there for years, but it's for sale now since the family is moving out of state. I doubt anyone will buy it, so I anticipate it'll be closed by years end as well.

I'm torn though... I do like the convenience of Red Box, Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Video, Hulu, etc, but I still like walking up and down the video store isles to find a movie. I think the bummer now'days though is most video stores, even larger ones, can physically carry only a small sliver of movies that are out there. In the 80's and 90's it wasn't hard for Blockbuster or Hollywood Video to carry pretty much every movie you could imagine, but now you just don't have as wide of a selection in a big box video rental store as you do with digital or online services.

[cprofitt]

I will miss them -- it is how I rented movies. Their selection of older movies is outstanding. When you have kids -- that matters.

[sydbat]

I'll miss them, for sure. They were awesome back in the day, but in the past five years they really started to lack in the promises they made, and the increasing series of gimmicks they employed were just failure in the making.

RIP Blockbuster, may your successors learn from your grave errors.Fixed it for you...unless their predecessors had time machines...

[samalex]

I will miss them -- it is how I rented movies. Their selection of older movies is outstanding. When you have kids -- that matters.

My kids aren't old enough to peruse the video store isles, but honestly streaming Netflix is one of the best options we use. That or stockpiling shows on the DVR for them to choose. I guess it's ingraining instant gratification into their psyche, but that's the way the world's going anyway I guess.

[Giant Speck]

Family Video forced both Mr. Movies and Blockbuster out of business when it first opened in my hometown. From what I've seen, Family Video still seems to be doing well.

[JDShu]

Matter of time, really. Hopefully they will pull through.

[Tristam Green]

Fixed it for you...unless their predecessors had time machines...

Hey, you....thanks. :s

[Windows Nerd]

I'm completely not surprised - they have been going broke for the last 5 years. I still go to rent movies sometimes at Blockbuster, but that is one deserted store these days compared to when I was a little kid an could barely see the movies in the aisle.

[percyhahn]

itl be a shame if they go. its pretty popular in our smallish ish town.
if they did go under, would they knock out all those dvds, and xbox 360 games at a discount :p

[whiskeylover]

Meh. The local blockbuster store once tried to rip me off by charging me $40 in late fees. Judging by their shady practices, and the fact that there is Netflix, it was only a matter of time.

[NCLI]

Meh, the Internet made them obsolete years ago.

[Sslaxx]

First Midway and now Blockbuster... how many other (former) National Amusements companies to go?