I used to think Blockbuster Online was the greatest thing on the planet. At the time, I was living close enough to a physical store that I was getting as many movies as I wanted plus the bonus of being able to turn them in for free movies for something like $10. It was great. It wasn’t long, though, before the store closed and I started mailing my movies back.
That same thing is about to happen in 500 locations across the country. Blockbuster announced this week that it would close 500 stores over the course of the year. The news comes as the company continues to bleed money, to the tune of $435 million for its most recent quarter.
“While we believe the future is bright, the next 12 to 18 months will remain challenging as we balance the secular decline of a single channel with the ascension of emerging channels, such as vending and digital,” CEO Jim Keyes said on Wednesday. The company is also trying to restructure its nearly billion dollar debt to stay afloat.
Source: MSN
