Video store era over---Blockbuster closes

[Capt Worley PE]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-06/blockbuster-video-rental-chain-will-shut-remaining-u-s-stores.html

I don't think I've been to one in almost ten years.

 

[roadwreck]

Kinda sad, but it's long overdue. I worked in a Blockbuster while in high school. To this day I can still remember my blockbuster card number by heart. It's an 11 digit number, but it really isn't that hard to remember if you know that the first six numbers were the store number where you signed up for the account (this number was also printed on all the movies that belonged to that store so I knew it by heart) and the last 5 digits was your account number at that store.

My favorite trick was going in to Blockbusters and when the employee asked for my card I'd just spout off the number instead. They always gave me a dumbfounded look and told me I needed a card. I replied that I didn't and just to punch in the number, which of course pulled up my account.

It's been years since I've been about to play that trick, since all of the Blockbusters around be closed years ago. I guess I'll never be able to pull it again now.

 

[Road Guy]

I really miss going in and searching through the older movies trying to find something to watch, I haven't seen one out here in CO, but in atlanta we liked to go to moviestop (like game stop- used movies pretty cheap) and look around, you could nomrmally buy 3-4 movies for less than 10 bucks...

Towards the end of blockbuster and Hollywood, they both raised theirs prices, I guess they were bleeding red but I always thought they should have advertised 1 rentals and increases their volume. The Hollywood that was close to use back home before it went out of business new releases were 6 bucks? Okay 5.99, but he'll I would just buy it for 13.00 and then sell it on eBay instead of paying 6 bucks...

And I really hate redbox, it's really the dumb people that don't know what they want to watch who take forever looking through the movies that's painful. I mean, plan ahead a little and pre order your movie online and just go pick it up already... I and god forbid trying to get one at a wal mart,, I think for your average wal mart shopper just looking through the rd box is their entertainment.....

 

[snickerd3]

we still have family video rental stores here. we have an account but haven't been there in awhile

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I think the family places went under with the advent of cheap/free internet pr0n. The locally owned video place I went to (closed in 2002, I think) said he wanted to close the 'back room,' but it generated 30% of the store profit. Take that 30% away and the local shops weren't a workable proposition.

 

[MA_PE]

There is a salvage company here in NE (MA reall) called Building 19 that just announced bankruptcy after 50 years. They used to buy damaged, outdated, irregular merchandise and sell it in retail stores. Their motto was "good stuff cheap" and they had grown to 10 stores. It prompted the local news to put together the attached link of MA companies that don't exist anymore. It's rather nostalgic for me to got through this as I grew up with most of these businesses being the primary stores we went to. Time marches on.

http://www.wcvb.com/news/money/-/9848680/17997806/-/feecfgz/-/index.html

 

[Sapper PE LS]

I miss going to blockbuster. I went to my local one until the last day it was open in Richmond. Of course, the only thing you could do there on that day was sift through the leftover videos that they were selling off at 50 cents just to rid their inventory, but alas, those days are gone.

And MA... I recognize a good number of those stores, we had Zayre and Ames and Tweeter too I think down in Florida.

 

[Exception Collection]

Internet killed the video store, we can't turn back we've gone too far.

In all seriousness, I loathed Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. My local store was fantastic. They closed back in 2002/2003, mostly due to pressure from Blockbuster (which had at least 10 locations in my city, three of which were within walking distance of the local store). The "adult" section was taken out a few years prior, and supposedly hadn't hurt rentals at that time (most of their money came from games, not movies).

 

[Capt Worley PE]

There is a salvage company here in NE (MA reall) called Building 19 that just announced bankruptcy after 50 years. They used to buy damaged, outdated, irregular merchandise and sell it in retail stores. Their motto was "good stuff cheap" and they had grown to 10 stores. It prompted the local news to put together the attached link of MA companies that don't exist anymore. It's rather nostalgic for me to got through this as I grew up with most of these businesses being the primary stores we went to. Time marches on.

http://www.wcvb.com/news/money/-/9848680/17997806/-/feecfgz/-/index.html

There's a lot of businesses I didn't know were MA based.

A local guy made a web page for stuff that isn't in Columbia, SC any more (with linkies to each closed business). Interesting and kinda sad at the same time.

http://columbiaclosings.com/wordpress/?page_id=8111

 

[blybrook PE]

Reading the article, theres ~50 franchise stores that won't be closing spread around the US.

I found another article in the local paper that reported that the 13 stores in Alaska won't be affected by the shutdown! I can still get movies!

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Netflix FTW. We spend so little time watching TV/Movies anymore that it will take me 6 months to get through Breaking Bad alone, then I still have yet to see Walking Dead...

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Kinda related...does anyone still use their VCR? All our standalones are gone, and we have't used the VCR on the combo unit since the last time we watched Clerks (which, now that I think about it, might make a good gift for the wife, a Clerks DVD), which was probably over a year ago.

I still have 500 tapes...just don't watch them any more.

 

[blybrook PE]

I had netflix mailing before I moved. Was worth it, but the new addy doesn't permit the continuation of mailing and their online selection is kinda lacking in most areas. Makes the local blockbuster somewhat enticing for certain new releases or older shows.

When we get relocated into the new house, we'll probably reinstate the mailing option and streaming to get the best possible selection.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

We used to also include the 1-2 DVDs in the mail, but they ended up sitting on top of the entertainment center for a month at a time. Once we realized we still had it and hadn't watched it yet, we would just send it back and let the next one sit for a month...

 

[Exception Collection]

Kinda related...does anyone still use their VCR? All our standalones are gone, and we have't used the VCR on the combo unit since the last time we watched Clerks (which, now that I think about it, might make a good gift for the wife, a Clerks DVD), which was probably over a year ago.

I still have 500 tapes...just don't watch them any more.

I got rid of my tape collection close to a decade ago, but my wife uses a VCR in her work (for timecoding).

I used to have the Netflix maximum plan, but eliminated DVD mailing entirely about 6 months ago. At one point I had Hulu, Netflix *and* Amazon Prime. I order a lot from Amazon, so Prime's always worth it anyway. Netflix has a different selection, and I love shows like Orange Is The New Black. Hulu had nothing specific to recommend it, so I ended up cutting that. All of this said, I still have cable (with a DVR) as well - I like to keep up on shows.

I have no kids and no life, so watching TV is one of my major hobbies. It's not uncommon for me to watch 2 hours a night.

 

[knight1fox3]

Netflix FTW. We spend so little time watching TV/Movies anymore that it will take me 6 months to get through Breaking Bad alone, then I still have yet to see Walking Dead...

+10

Kinda related...does anyone still use their VCR? All our standalones are gone, and we have't used the VCR on the combo unit since the last time we watched Clerks (which, now that I think about it, might make a good gift for the wife, a Clerks DVD), which was probably over a year ago.

You knew this was coming. :facepalm:

I had netflix mailing before I moved. Was worth it, but the new addy doesn't permit the continuation of mailing and their online selection is kinda lacking in most areas. Makes the local blockbuster somewhat enticing for certain new releases or older shows.

When we get relocated into the new house, we'll probably reinstate the mailing option and streaming to get the best possible selection.

What about Hulu+/Amazon Prime? And there are other websites to stream various movie titles from. Netflix streaming is on the chopping block IMO.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

You knew this was coming. :facepalm:

 

[blybrook PE]

What about Hulu+/Amazon Prime? And there are other websites to stream various movie titles from. Netflix streaming is on the chopping block IMO.

The G/F has a hulu account, but we don't use it that often due to connection issues (it'll drop mid movie and takes 10-20 min to reconnect).

Haven't looked into Amazon yet, might in the near future.

 

[snickerd3]

we still have stand alone vcrs. Haven't used them in awhile but we have them. I plan on hooking it up to the dvr and recording the more favorite vhs onto it then onto a dvd....one day i will accomplish this.

 

[knight1fox3]

What about Hulu+/Amazon Prime? And there are other websites to stream various movie titles from. Netflix streaming is on the chopping block IMO.

The G/F has a hulu account, but we don't use it that often due to connection issues (it'll drop mid movie and takes 10-20 min to reconnect).

Haven't looked into Amazon yet, might in the near future.

FWIW I had a similar experience with the standard Hulu. The paid version (go figure) doesn't seem to have any issues and I have it set on the highest HD quality setting.