Blockbuster Planning to Close Nearly 1,000 Stores

By Geoff Duncan Published September 16, 2009

Blockbuster Planning to Close Nearly 1,000 Stores — Image used with permission by copyright holder

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. video rental firm Blockbuster has outlined plans to close nearly 1,000 "unprofitable" store locations by the end of 2010. The closures include 380 to 425 "normal" store closures slated for 2009 and 2010, along with an additional 430 to 535 "accelerated" store closures over the same period—with the bulk of the accelerated closers slated for 2009. In addition, Blockbuster is eyeing converting some full-fledged stores into outlets; all told, as nearly 1,600 Blockbuster locations may close or change their status by the end of 2010.

Blockbuster currently operates over 4,300 retail locations around the United States. According to the regulatory filings, some 18 percent of those stores are unprofitable and another 47 percent are somewhat profitable, while the core of the company’s retail profits are coming from just 35 percent of the company’s "core" locations.

Recommended Videos

While Blockbuster eyes closing retail locations, it is also attempting to ramp up its rental operations outside retail stores, including rent-by-mail operations, retail kiosks, and Blockbuster On-Demand online rental operations. Blockbuster has faced serious competition from Netflix, and is also going up against kiosk-based video rental operation Redbox.

Former Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Emerging Tech

Remember Samsung’s Ballie home robot? It may finally be inching closer to reality

Leaked app wireframes give the strongest hint yet that Samsung's Ballie home robot, first shown at CES 2020, might still be headed toward an actual release.

Samsung Ballie robot in a room next to a dog feeder.

Samsung's rolling home robot has been the industry's longest-running "will it ever actually ship" joke, and I'll admit I'd mostly given up on it. Now, there's finally a glimmer of hope.

Samsung first unveiled Ballie as a concept at CES 2020. Then, it showed it as a significantly upgraded version four years later. However, the company never confirmed a release date or committed to releasing it at all.

Smart Home

The US foreign-made robot crackdown is coming for future Roombas too

Future Roombas face new US sales hurdles, but existing models are unaffected

Roomba 980

The FCC has already made it much harder for foreign drone makers such as DJI to bring new products into the US. Now, the same crackdown is reaching a machine far more likely to be moving around your living room.

The US government recently added foreign-made advanced robotic devices to the FCC’s Covered List. The announcement appeared focused on humanoids, robot dogs, and industrial machines, but an FCC spokesperson has confirmed to The Verge that robot vacuum cleaners are covered too.

Branded Content

The GOKO M6 Robotic Lawn Mower Brings Industrial Robotics to Modern Lawn Care

7 reasons this AI-driven powerhouse makes hands-free yard work smarter than ever

Grass, Lawn, Plant

Robotic lawn mowers can save homeowners hours of manual yard work, but not every model is designed for challenging properties. While many perform well on flat lawns, larger yards with uneven terrain, steep slopes, and multiple mowing zones require a mower built for more demanding conditions.

Developed by GOKO, the consumer robotics brand of Robot++, the GOKO M6 is an industrial-grade 4WD AI-powered robotic lawn mower that brings more than a decade of industrial robotics expertise to residential lawn care. It combines AI-powered four-wheel drive, advanced navigation technologies, and AI QuadVision obstacle detection to tackle complex landscapes with less manual intervention.