Blockbuster Starts Bankruptcy Sell-off Process

[admin]

In what is undoubtedly a living example of the end of an era in our time, Blockbuster Inc, which once dominated the home movie rental industry but filed for bankruptcy last year, announced this week that it started the sell-off process and has entered into an agreement with Cobalt Video Holdco. The amount? $290 million dollars. According to the news report, Cobalt is simply an LLC formed by a conglomerate of funds managed by various corporate partners. The bid by Cobalt is more or less a dare to other companies to match or exceed it and gauges the interest of other parties while establishing a defined starting point of interest for the bidder. The purchase bid will include acquiring nearly all of the assets of Blockbuster and its U.S. and international subsidiaries and the company has filed a motion seeking bankruptcy court approval so that they can conduct an auction designed to get the best price for the assets. If approved, we can expect binding bids to roll in within 30 days.

Discuss "Blockbuster Starts Bankruptcy Sell-off Process" here. Read the article.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The Blockbuster store close to my house will be shut down by the end of March officially.

Kind of sad. I've been to this store for about 10 yrs.

 

[its phillip]

I've never rented from blockbuster, so this doesn't bother me in the slightest

 

[rexracer]

I also have never given Blockbuster a dime. I vowed never to go there due to their business policies. I used to go to a local mom and pop video store located in a strip mall. They had a lease contract stating that no other video stores would be brought in. Blockbuster came in and put them out of business, and they couldn't afford to go up against Blockbuster and the owner in court.
Good riddance.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I also have never given Blockbuster a dime. I vowed never to go there due to their business policies. I used to go to a local mom and pop video store located in a strip mall. They had a lease contract stating that no other video stores would be brought in. Blockbuster came in and put them out of business, and they couldn't afford to go up against Blockbuster and the owner in court.
Good riddance.

Just like politics, money talks

 

[j_garcia]

They closed a few in my area here in SJ some time ago. There was only ONE in my other town and it was closing last weekend. I checked out their "store closing sale" and the prices weren't really that great yet.

 

[darien87]

Well I'm bummed about it. We just recently moved to a small town and BB was the only option. One of the things that made the move seem not so bad was that there was a BB just down the street. That one closed last month. Now I've got nothing. I REFUSE to do Netflix as I tried them twice and got throttled both times!

There is a BB kiosk in the Safeway I go to but that's lame.

 

[skizzerflake]

I used to have one a block from my house and was a constant customer due to their great selection of foreign films and indie flix, but it was the first to go down after their bankruptcy. Now I see that other ones are up for sale. Sad. Red Box stinks, Netflix is OK, but just OK selection-wise, but it maxes out my 250GB web limit and Comcast-on-demand is way too expensive ($5 per movie). Grump, grump, grump. I thought all this digital sh*t was supposed to increase our options, but mine are shrinking.

 

[Nakattk]

Blockbuster was overpriced and greedy. Even the movie companies are starting to release movies for purchase before releasing to movie rental stores.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Operations in Canada are apparently unaffected by the US situation. Blockbuster has been its own worst enemy with its business practices. However, we have a store nearby and they have the largest selection in town. Plus, $10/month for unlimited rental of older titles is a good deal. New release pricing? Not so much.

I'm glad they're staying in business up here, as I'm a little underwhelmed by Netflix's offerings so far...

 

[BMXTRIX]

I've always been a fan of Blockbuster. Smaller stores always seemed to have no selection and never had new release movies in stock. Netflix is a great option, but BB had their stores and the ability to get it by mail and return to a store and then IMMEDIATELY get a new rental in exchange.

It's not like I loved late fees, but cripes, it's not like they hid that from me. "Here's a movie, it's due back by Sunday at midnight" - Thanks, I know exactly what I'm getting.

A trip to the movie theater is $10 a ticket + concessions. $5 for a new release movie has never seemed like a rip off to me, and still doesn't. Redbox is great if all you want are new movies and you are watching it right away for sure.

But, for selection it's always been Blockbuster, and the instant gratification of a wide variety of films nearby has always been key for me being a BB fan.

Sure, I've had my issues with them over the years, but I can get over that. It really didn't cost me anything, just a few minor headaches.

I'm wondering if we will see a resurgance of the mom & pop stores now that BB is going away?

 

[en sabur nur]

I've always been a fan of Blockbuster. Smaller stores always seemed to have no selection and never had new release movies in stock. Netflix is a great option, but BB had their stores and the ability to get it by mail and return to a store and then IMMEDIATELY get a new rental in exchange.

It's not like I loved late fees, but cripes, it's not like they hid that from me. "Here's a movie, it's due back by Sunday at midnight" - Thanks, I know exactly what I'm getting.

A trip to the movie theater is $10 a ticket + concessions. $5 for a new release movie has never seemed like a rip off to me, and still doesn't. Redbox is great if all you want are new movies and you are watching it right away for sure.

But, for selection it's always been Blockbuster, and the instant gratification of a wide variety of films nearby has always been key for me being a BB fan.

Sure, I've had my issues with them over the years, but I can get over that. It really didn't cost me anything, just a few minor headaches.

I'm wondering if we will see a resurgance of the mom & pop stores now that BB is going away?

I hope so. However, with video on demand from cable tv and the internet. The brick and mortar rental model seems headed towards obscurity, at best.

 

[j_garcia]

Every service is going to have minor issues, so it doesn't matter what replaces it, nothing will be perfect.

I'm wondering if we will see a resurgance of the mom & pop stores now that BB is going away?

Highly doubtful. They couldn't survive then, so they won't be likely to have a situation in which they could justify themselves profitably now either because of streaming as mentioned.