A story from ABC News in Idaho Falls this week details the immediate closure of the local Blockbuster in Idaho Falls, ID.
The employees showed up at work on Monday and saw the “Store closing” signs. The store has been there since 1993.
For bargain hunters in the area, Blockbuster will be selling all of its inventory for $5. Act fast!
Watch the full video segment after the break…
this is no shocker at all. at least locally blockbuster has NO option to rent a dvd for a day for a buck (new releases). it’s either $4 (or maybe even close to 5 bucks… can’t remember exactly) for 5 days. it’s quite silly and almost deserving of going out of business given the options available today. jmho.
I think it goes both ways. Some would like the luxury of not having to make sure they finish a movie in one night to not be charged more. Don’t get me wrong I love REDBOX (usually when it’s free) but they need more inventory or something. Blockbuster has many options and ways to get rentals for .99 of course not new release but by the time redbox has what you want it’s a week later after release. I even use the online rental option….Speaking of that it would be really great if we could reserve a movie online for pick up using a promo code. Now that’s a plus!
if you want to keep a movie more then one night it will only charge you an extra dollar each night, if you kept it for 4 nights then you would end up paying the same amount you would at blockbuster, if you are to busy to watch a movie in 4 days then you should probably give up trying until you have more time. i do have to agree about the selection though. i use netflix for that though, i get as many movies as i want for $13 a month, i was spending more than that at the redbox even with the free movie codes. now i only go to redbox when i have a code, otherwise i just use netflix.
How do you get as many movies as you want for $13 a month???
Blockbuster should have know it was coming. They should adjust their business strategy or start offering more of what Redbox isn’t offering Blu-Ray disc. They need to compete or get shutdown. You can’t beat $1 a night or free.
I love getting free rentals at Redbox but Blockbuster is a better deal overall. For $20 a month I get 3 movies at a time and five in store rentals + every now and then they email you a coupon to redeem for a FREE previously viewed movie!
They have most new releases in Blu-Ray which I just upgraded to. The problem with Redbox other than a slim selection is WAITING IN LINE behind somebody who has NO IDEA what the hell they’re doing or what they want…..AAAARGH! Tell me you don’t get nervous on your way to a Redbox machine HOPING to God nobody else is in front of the machine. At Blockbuster today I walked right up to Nick & Nora on Blu-Ray grabbed it and headed up to the counter to swap out a mail-away movie for it. I was in & out in 2-3 minutes. The in store exchange program also gives Blockbuster the nod over Netflix although they combat that with the online instant download for the computer savvy movie viewers. I’m on a computer so much there’s no way in hell I’m going to watch movies on it (the same with reading comics/graphic novels online). No thanks.
Also, for me Blockbuster is 2 blocks from our house and attached to the grocery store so it’s more convenient than RedBox.
The one + on Redbox’s favor is the outdoor kiosk open 24 hours but blockbuster gets so many copies of the new releases that they hardly run out anyways.
I’ll take a few free Monday rentals here and there but that’s about it. I used to wonder how Redbox made money but I now know that stores pay them to have the Redbox in/outside of their store to draw in more customers. If you go to Walgreens to get a movie there’s a BIG possibility your going to walk away with a snack ESPECIALLY if you feel you can spend money after getting a free movie no? And that’s not a bad thing, in fact, you should tell the cashier you are buying your Hostess fruit pie etc. BECAUSE they have the Redbox machine :-)
Noah
Redbox may not last either.
Downloading over higher speed networks will happen, there’s no stopping it.
People will do whatever is the easiest and most convenient. Which would be sit at home and press a few buttons.
Pay Per View or Video On Demand is already doing something like that now, and with the DVR it will download to your local box.
The problem right now is the price. 50 cent PPV and Redbox is over.