Are all Blockbuster stores closing?

[Mikey]

One time back in the 80's I was screwing around with my VHS player and played a VHS tape with the top of the player off.

It played it fine but I could not believe what that player was doing with my $30.00+ VHS tape.

It pulls the tape out and winds it up in the players guts to play it.

From that point on I never bought another expensive VHS tape because there's just too much room for breakage

[Brazoo]

I agree. Vinyls records around here are more for the young and old hipsters. Funny seeing the type of people on Record Store Day, the same type in High Fidelity. It has become boutique and hip. Even VHS and cassettes are becoming that.
Tangibility, love buying a limited edition colored vinyl of my favorite album but can't say the same for a movie, be it disc or tape.
Cassette? Unless it's an original print of Daniel Jonhston's first album.

Oh man - I actually wish I had some of those! I have a huge pile of tapes sitting in a box. I wish I could unload them - and for some reason I can't bare to throw them away.

I've always hated video tapes - especially late 80s/90s video tapes that are super breakable and feel lighter than air. But I did get pretty excited about building up my DVD library for a while - especially because of special edition and Criterion releases with all those extra features. I'm a bit of a movie nerd.

Discs suck because of their large playing surface though, I'm super careful with mine, but I think it's a huge flaw in the format. The packaging is getting uglier and cheaper looking too - I know it seems like a silly point, but I'm a sucker for really nice packaging (partially 'cuz I'm a designer). Blu-rays aren't an improvement on either of those things - and some of the digital cleanliness actually bothers me. I watched an old favorite, "The Thing" recently - but without the grain it just looks really silly for some reason.

Blu-ray also seems built for obsolescence, so there's no way I'm going to upgrade my collection any time soon.

[SeattleEd]

ealdrett - yeah, you're right of course.

Still - vinyl records are still around - who knows what will happen for sure. Convenience probably wins, but for a certain amount of people there's just something about buying something tangible...

I agree. Vinyls records around here are more for the young and old hipsters. Funny seeing the type of people on Record Store Day, the same type in High Fidelity. It has become boutique and hip. Even VHS and cassettes are becoming that.
Tangibility, love buying a limited edition colored vinyl of my favorite album but can't say the same for a movie, be it disc or tape.
Cassette? Unless it's an original print of Daniel Jonhston's first album.

[Brazoo]

ealdrett - yeah, you're right of course.

Still - vinyl records are still around - who knows what will happen for sure. Convenience probably wins, but for a certain amount of people there's just something about buying something tangible...

[SeattleEd]

The only rental stores left in my area are the really great indie stores with INCREDIBLE catalogs of movies and AMAZINGLY knowledgeable staff. Yay to those guys, who were too awesome for Blockbuster to kill.

Yup, indies are the best. We have one of the best places to here in Seattle: Scarecrow Video

They are staving the new tech way and refuse to go online. Total old school but I can't foresee these places staying around for longer in decades to come.
Relegated to boutique status for those into retro lifestyle.

I'm at a point in my life that I need convenience.
I do miss walking into shops and seeing posters, hearing and seeing music/movies and seeing cool toys.

[Brazoo]

The Blockbusters near me are all gone now too - good riddance. Blockbuster was responsible for gutting the rental market with their mass gentrification scheme and contributed to the lowering of standards for Hollywood movies today.

Viacom pulled out of Blockbuster a few years ago because they knew what they did to the market. When they owned it they ran it at a loss, buying into new markets, cutting out their competition and filling the shelves with THEIR movies. Blockbuster without Viacom is flailing around for longer than it should be. They tried to build back a customer friendly atmosphere by altering their return policies and selling used DVDs and games. It was nonsense - they're trying to be more like the mom and pop shops they ran out of business years ago - what kind of plan is that?

The only rental stores left in my area are the really great indie stores with INCREDIBLE catalogs of movies and AMAZINGLY knowledgeable staff. Yay to those guys, who were too awesome for Blockbuster to kill.

[generic]

...The focus is to phase out hard copies and make every digital...

I have mixed feelings about that...all of the bad!

[SeattleEd]

Are all Blockbuster stores closing?

That is the plan.
As everyone stated, other sources are taking over now and competing for your business.
Netflix, Redbox, iTunes and VOD from your local cable company are taking over as portals for media content delivery to consumers.
Pretty soon the major studios will be doing it themselves directly since it's less expensive and better control.
The focus is to phase out hard copies and make every digital. It will happen but it will take time. Right now target hard copies on the older consumers that have the money to spend. While at the same time grooming the younger generation for new technology.
Parents maybe still be incorporating the hard copies into kids lives but when they get older and focus on the new tech, hard copies would be needed.
I'm around this industry everyday and it's cool to see the transitions and making life for minimalistic.

[CaptainTrenchcoat]

I had a small Blockbuster close near me, but the large one is still open. A Mammoth Video also just closed. The weird thing is that Family Video took over the spot where Mammoth was. I haven't seen a video store open in a long time. Not that it makes a difference to me, I also use Netflix.

[BlackKnight]

I haven't rented from an actual video Store for over 5 yrs or more, I believe.
I used to rent from Safeway, off and on ... but with Redbox ..., and Comcast on demand ..., there's no need for anything else.

[HardyGirl]

The one near my house is still open, but I haven't rented a movie since total DVD conversion, so whatever.

[Mikey]

Blockbuster (online) stinks

Poor service and a lot less choices

One time they tried charging me a huge amount of money for one lost in the mail disc.

I fought it and finally prevailed after many calls.

Totally turned me off to them and i'll never use their service again.

[megojim]

Blockbuster is in dire straits . . . . netflix, redbox and itunes are the route most people are going. I don't see a need to ever by another dvd, just download it and enjoy

[generic]

I know this is the way things are headed and most people like it, but I'm going to miss the video stores. I'm actually still pretty bitter that Blockbuster put the local stores out of business, so I don't feel bad for Blockbuster specifically, but I am going to miss the brick and mortar video stores. I've never done NetFlix or watched a movie online, but I'm sure it'll happen eventually.

[MIB41]

Most stores should be gone by next year if not by the end of this year. Their beginning to convert over to a Redbox style where you see those vending machines at various stores, eateries, and grocery chains.