Blockbuster Posts Huge Loss

Company lost $450 million in 2009, that's 15% worse than what they lost in 2008. Sales plunged 16%, and the company has some serious debt problems. They shut 250+ stores last month, with another 150+ to be shut in April.

Netflix, in comparison, is making 30-40 million a quarter.

They're going all-in on the kiosk model, but overhead costs are significant compared to Redbox.

The video store business model died years ago, too bad they didn't try to compete with Netflix when they had the chance. Their internet rental option was a joke.

If Blockbuster shutters all their stores there will be no love lost from me I'm sad to say.

The founder of Netflix said he came up with the idea for Netflix after he got tired of getting screwed by Blockbuster charges after returning a movie.

I love blockbuster's online service, and the in store exhcanges are the icing on the cake for me, it's probably about the only thing that really keeps me from going to netflix. Although I've not been particularly impressed with Netflix in the times I've used it in the past. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they go under unless they do some major changing.

GlocksRock said:

I love blockbuster's online service, and the in store exhcanges are the icing on the cake for me, it's probably about the only thing that really keeps me from going to netflix. Although I've not been particularly impressed with Netflix in the times I've used it in the past. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they go under unless they do some major changing.

Click to expand...

They love touting the store exchange, but since they are closing so many stores I'm curious to see how much business they end up losing because of it.

Imo Hollywood studios, like WB ,will put the last nail in BB coffin.
It'll have to go same route as Netflix and RedBox already took.

Yeah, I switched to NetFlix years ago and never looked back. Sure, I still use Blockbuster from time if there's a movie I want to watch immediately but that's pretty rare. Plus Netflix has a better selection than my local Blockbuster. And I do like using the streaming, too.

mpompey said:

The video store business model died years ago, too bad they didn't try to compete with Netflix when they had the chance. Their internet rental option was a joke.

If Blockbuster shutters all their stores there will be no love lost from me I'm sad to say.

The founder of Netflix said he came up with the idea for Netflix after he got tired of getting screwed by Blockbuster charges after returning a movie.

Click to expand...

Sorry, but I HATE Netflix. I've singed up with them a couple of different times and every time after the introductory period they started throttling me. Screw 'em.

BB has always been great for me. But even they pissed me off when they changed the in-store exchange to being part of your queue. It used to be I would exchange a movie on the weekend and then return it the next weekend. But now that it's part of your queue, I have to return it right away if I want any more movies to get sent to me in the mail. So now I rarely exchange in-store.

It will be a sad day for me when BB goes under.

Who goes out to rent movies anymore anyways?

Dash said:

Who goes out to rent movies anymore anyways?

Click to expand...

Redbox is actually doing very well. Their target audience is generally not people on this board, but for the average who doesn't care about the quick availability of movies its working quite well.

darien87 said:

It will be a sad day for me when BB goes under.

Click to expand...

I think it is sad any time any business goes under.

My daughter sometimes asks me, "Dad, what would you do if you have a googolplex dollar?"

And my answer everytime is, "I would buy every company and hire everyone who needs a job."

AcuDefTechGuy said:

I think it is sad any time any business goes under.

My daughter sometimes asks me, "Dad, what would you do if you have a googolplex dollar?"

And my answer everytime is, "I would buy every company and hire everyone who needs a job."

Click to expand...

Yeah, but how much would you pay everyone?

I remember Blockbuster's original company name back in the day. Anybody else remember? No googling.

ball buster? lol.

I don't like BB at all and have no interest in their through mail service. I remember back in the day though, when you went into a rental place on the weekend, there were a TON of people there. Now there are only a few.

I like Hollywood's setup better, but their selection isn't much better. Hollywood Studios isn't going to be the nail in anyone's coffin - they just filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time.

Blockbuster's biggest problem, like many big companies, is they lost the ability to innovate. They got so big that they were unable to do more than shift a tiny rudder to move the juggernaut slowly. As a result, they constantly find themselves trying to copy others instead of leading their industry. You can't really chase success and expect to do anything other than come in second place - which in this economy where there may not be room for two contenders - often means folding.

Microsoft can get away with it (not innovating) as they have an almost infinite amount of money and a lock on the largest OS used on the planet... Other companies die off. This is the same story with Circuit City, and many others.

I've gotten screwed enough by Blockbuster to never go back there. IMO Netflix blows them out of the water. I hadn't been to a Blockbuster in about 4 years until the other day. The local store was closing down so they were having a clearance sale. I figured I would go in there and check out their selection. I found a video game for like $10 so I decided to buy that. Like usual, the disc is not in the box you grab it out in the store, they put the disc in from behind the counter after you buy it. They had a big sign that says "All Sales Final". Anyway, I get home, open the box and what do you know... the disc is scratched beyond belief. I had never seen a disc look like that before. I put it in my xbox, didn't work. Now, I understand when they say all sales final, but if I would have been allowed to look at the disc before paying, there is no way I would have bought it. I showed up the next day trying to return it. They guy working there was a huge a**hole to me. I tried explaining that I wasn't given the opportunity to even inspect the disc before buying. He whined and whined and eventually gave me a refund. His excuse was quite amusing when I suggested that they should inspect discs before selling them. "We sell THOUSANDS of these discs every day, there's no way we could check them all." It took everything in me not to crack up laughing at this statement.

I'd be happy if my local video store had more than one DVD copy of "The Hurt Locker" we are talking a movie that garnered as many award nominations as Avatar, and my local store has zero bluray copies and only one copy on DVD, so no I still havent seen it cause it's always checked out, yet they have 100 copies of Mr. Magoriums Wonderful Emporium. WTF!!!!!

MatthewB. said:

I'd be happy if my local video store had more than one DVD copy of "The Hurt Locker" we are talking a movie that garnered as many award nominations as Avatar, and my local store has zero bluray copies and only one copy on DVD, so no I still havent seen it cause it's always checked out, yet they have 100 copies of Mr. Magoriums Wonderful Emporium. WTF!!!!!

Click to expand...

To be honest, this one doesn't quite live up to the hype like No Country For Old Men. It was good, but it wasn't Best Picture material if you ask me. So I'd say it can wait. The dts-HD track was AWESOME though