Blockbuster voices "substantial doubt" about ability to survive

As depressing as it is to see an American icon come this close to collapse, is it really any surprise? While the world kept turning, Netflix kept reinventing itself and movies found their way onto the internets (legally), Blockbuster sat still... and that's putting things nicely. Sure, it tried the whole movie set-top-box thing, but no on will argue that it went about things the wrong way. In a recent SEC filing, the company made perfectly clear that there was serious risk that it wouldn't be able to refinance its crushing debt load in order to stay afloat for a wee bit longer; in fact, it noted that said quandary raised "substantial doubt" about its "ability to continue." 'Course, hampering its Total Access rental plan and promising less stock in-store doesn't exactly sound like a brilliant plan to be successful, but maybe yesterday would be the best time to completely revolutionize its business and go online only. Just an idea, is all.

[Rob @ Apr 7th 2009 11:07AM]

Ray Charles could see that coming!

[Kris @ Apr 7th 2009 12:48PM]

IT'S TOO SOON

[haX0r @ Apr 8th 2009 12:22AM]

lol Rob!

[Cassini @ Apr 8th 2009 9:15AM]

Blockbuster possibly going out of business?

Bye.


Joking aside, I actually wish they'd just get their act together and go virtual. Competition is good for the industry.

[beautiful gorgeous @ Apr 7th 2009 11:12AM]

poor blockbust.
i was wid blockbuster
but then we got streaming to sexbox- xbox!!!
and we stuck with netflix

[joe23521 @ Apr 7th 2009 11:24AM]

I can't figure out if that's supposed to be verse or prose...

[THizzle7XU @ Apr 7th 2009 12:08PM]

I think it's called terrible English.

[oZone @ Apr 7th 2009 12:13PM]

Cool iambic pentameter, Shakespeare.

[thatrotierkid @ Apr 7th 2009 12:56PM]

you have no idea what iambic pentameter is do you?

[joe23521 @ Apr 7th 2009 2:06PM]

@thatrotierkid:

*No, I'm afraid he doesn't have a clue.*

How did I do there?

[Kris S. @ Apr 7th 2009 11:07AM]

W00T!

[chrisaroz @ Apr 7th 2009 11:08AM]

I hate to see ANYONE lose their job, but as a corporation and business, good riddance.

[ZeroCorpse @ Apr 7th 2009 11:23AM]

Seconded.

I see no loss to the world at large. Blockbuster failed because they have terrible customer service, change their prices on a whim, and refuse to offer the movies as they were screened in the theaters-- The actually edit and censor movies that they make available for rental.

As a former BB manager (many years ago), I'm sorry to see people lose their jobs, but frankly, if they didn't see this coming and find another job already then they made their own bed and must lie in it. Anyone who sticks with them now is an out-and-out idiot.

[Jonyah @ Apr 7th 2009 12:02PM]

ditto. they've been due to go for ages. sucks for the employees, though they never were too helpful anyway.

[Jon @ Apr 7th 2009 12:18PM]

So is netflix

[bandigolo @ Apr 7th 2009 1:29PM]

meh.

I can think of a lot of other corporations I'd like to see shut down before Blockbuster.

[Samboini @ Apr 7th 2009 2:59PM]

All the happiness they provided me with over the years is greatly marred by the realisation that sunk in when I started earning a salary. Adios, BB!

[TruthBringer @ Apr 7th 2009 4:50PM]

As a business that refuses to adapt to what users want, then yes, good riddance. As a business that employs thousands of people, maybe they should stay. Ever since Netflix started, I wondered how long Blockbuster could hold out. Seems we are now nearing the end. No one wants to go to a store just to rent a movie anymore. Rent it on Netflix or Amazon VOD. Users are starting to embrace digital media when it comes to games, movies and music. So good bye Blockbuster, your reign can now cease to be. Netflix, you reign can now commence.

[--Ed @ Apr 7th 2009 11:08AM]

Adapt or go out of business. Brick and mortar media distributors will go the way of the dodo bird if they don't move online. Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Hulu and so on are the future.

[bjsguess @ Apr 7th 2009 11:51AM]

I disagree.

There is a still a market for brick and mortar stores. They just need to be ran better. Blockbuster did itself in with crappy management and policies.

[Steve @ Apr 7th 2009 11:56AM]

theres space for brick and motar stores and will be most likely for rest of our lifes but brick and motar media stores... maybe... rental stores...... no chance

[THizzle7XU @ Apr 7th 2009 12:07PM]

Ya, I remember I returned a game back on the due date, not realizing the stupid noon policy that was supposed to "extend" your rental times to the next morning. I think it was less than two hours after 12pm, and I had to pay a late fee of the same price of the rental price (like $7 for two days!!) because their theory is that another person could have rented the game in the two hours I was late and they need to recoup that loss. Really? They couldn't rent the 10 other copies?

I believe that was the last time I rented anything in a store like Blockbuster before I joined Netflix/GameFly.

[Kris @ Apr 7th 2009 12:50PM]

THizzle7XU, they gave you an extra 12 hours that isn't counted in the amount of time allowed to rent a movie. It's event on your receipt the exact time it has to be back by.

Don't blame them for your stupidness and lazyness. You should have been considered a _day_ late.

[MTC73 @ Apr 11th 2009 8:27PM]

There is a space for brick and mortar operations. A niche space. Not a ful blown industry.

[cmdr_k33n @ Apr 7th 2009 2:36PM]

Yes, online stores are taking off like wildfire, but there will always be a niche for brick and mortar media distributors. People need to feed their impulse to say, "I feel like a movie", and go rent one. There will always be those holdouts who don't know how or don't feel comfortable streaming a purchased movie online. You need that physical DVD in hand, however, what it costs at Blockbuster is something that should change.

[Josh @ Apr 7th 2009 2:39PM]

hey hey hey...it's blockbuster MEDIA now...see, they adopted

[Quikboy @ Apr 7th 2009 7:27PM]

"Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Hulu and so on are the future."

Don't forget Microsoft! *points to Xbox Live Marketplace and Zune Marketplace*

[THizzle7XU @ Apr 8th 2009 2:43PM]

@Kris

Actually, they DIDN'T put the time on the receipt, just the date. And if they say it's due at noon, then it's not an extra amount of time then jackass. Sorry that they weren't open before I went to school and dropped it off on my way home.

I barely ever went there anyways, and that just justified why. Netflix owned them with no late fees. Period.That's what happens when you nickel and dime the consumer.

[CAHLITO @ Apr 7th 2009 11:12AM]

So does this mean they're going to have a huge liquidation?

[Jomolungma @ Apr 7th 2009 11:17AM]

One can only hope... for me, I'd like a crack at some heavily marked-down used video games,but I'll take DVDs and Blu-Rays too

[joe23521 @ Apr 7th 2009 11:25AM]

Let's just hope they don't hire the liquidator Circuit City used.

[Hiattech @ Apr 7th 2009 11:46AM]

They already liquidated the one in my city about 2 months ago. And yes, I do believe it's the same company that did Circuit Cities that will be doing Blockbusters.

[Alejandro @ Apr 7th 2009 7:02PM]

Why would anyone want to buy their heavily censored movies anyway?? That's the reason I stopped renting from BB... I hate their ultra conservative idiotic policies and distinct movie versions. Good riddance, I say.

[MBS @ Apr 7th 2009 11:15AM]

Actually I think the start of Blockbusters downfall was trying to beat Netfix at it's game while completely cannibalizing it's reasonably stable retail business doing it.

[Ray-- @ Apr 7th 2009 12:04PM]

the start of their downfall was when they tried to run a business on rewind fees, late fees, and overpriced rentals.

[THizzle7XU @ Apr 7th 2009 12:10PM]

Ya, a late fee, even returning it minutes after noon, was the same price of the rental because someone could have rented it in the time it was late, and you have to make up for that "lost business".

[whowhatme @ Apr 7th 2009 11:15AM]

not. that. surprised.

[plyx @ Apr 7th 2009 11:16AM]

I own a used video game store in a small town and the Blockbuster down the street has become my worst competition since they began undercutting my prices, selling hardware and taking pre-orders on games. I don't rent any of my stock so I simply cannot price games as low as they can their previously rented games. They know this and have been trying to run me out of business in a similar fashion to Walmart trying to kill the small businesses in their communities. I can't say I'll be sorry to see them go.

[John Giotta @ Apr 7th 2009 11:29AM]

"Enemy of my enemy is my friend" If you hate Blockbuster personally, but the remark about comparing it to walmart misses the target. Translation "I hate all Walmart-like establishments, except for the ones I like."

[THizzle7XU @ Apr 7th 2009 12:11PM]

Uhhh, welcome to capitalism?

[plyx @ Apr 7th 2009 12:35PM]

@THizzle7XU:
Yeah, their brand of capitalism really paid off for them didn't it?

[sachinag1 @ Apr 7th 2009 1:52PM]

Why not sell your games online? There's eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, Dawdle (disclosure: I work at Dawdle). Your local Blockbuster can't do that. You have inventory; there's probably someone out there who's looking for what you have.

[plyx @ Apr 7th 2009 3:09PM]

@sachinag1:
I would love to but after my experience with selling through ebay I need something to convince me that it can be done with greater ease.

[THizzle7XU @ Apr 8th 2009 2:39PM]

Well, Netflix just played the game better than they did.

Besides, you're the one bitching about them.

Remember, they started out just like you did. They were just a lot more successful than you apparently (for a while at least).

[tubasweb @ Apr 7th 2009 11:36AM]

Stop charging 3.99 per new release, drop it to .99...its that easy

[Michael Scrip @ Apr 7th 2009 12:34PM]

Exactly!

For me... RedBox for new releases for $1.... and Netflix for literally everything else.

I used to use the Blockbuster MoviePass, where you could rent unlimited movies at the store. I'd get 2 movies and swap them out every couple days or so.

But, after I had seen everything I'd ever want to see from the store... I switched to Netflix. The Blockbuster store had hardly any TV show DVDs... and Netflix had every DVD ever made. Tough choice, huh? I thought about getting Blockbuster Online to swap movies at the store... but again, there was nothing at the store I needed to see. What was I supposed to do? Get some hot new DVD from Blockbuster Online... and swap it in the store for Critters 2? No thanks...

Netflix has served me well.

[Frank @ Apr 7th 2009 11:21AM]

I won't be sad to see them go. When I was 16 they sent me a letter threatening to send me to collections over $20 in late fees. I paid it and that's the last of my money they ever got. Bye and good riddance.

[Eh @ Apr 7th 2009 12:00PM]

That was the last time I went to Blockbuster too, when I got a late fee for my late fee. I always paid late fees when I went back and rented something else, but after they started making you pay late fees immediately and then applied more late fees to your late fees I was completely finished with them and never went back. They had the worst customer retention strategy in the world, did they really think people would come back after getting raped by fees?

Companies need to learn that treating your customers like shit will come back to bite you once competition comes.

[John Giotta @ Apr 7th 2009 11:29AM]

Maybe I'm not part of the hipster crowd, but what is wrong with Blockbusters services? They offer mail, in-store, and downloadable services for one price. Plus, they rent out console games. So can anyone tell me straight forward their beef with Blockbuster?

[extramedium @ Apr 7th 2009 12:21PM]

I'd say the issue is that their operating costs are way too high to compete with places like netflix. I'm sure they are bloated with overpaid execs who have been with the company for years, not to mention the cost of all their brick and mortar operations. That plus additional competition for the entertainment dollar these days doesn't add up to good numbers for them.