Blockbuster Is Shutting Down Their Last Few Remaining Stores

Just nine years ago there were over 9000 Blockbuster video store’s in the US. And now Dish Network, the owner of Blockbuster has announced the shutdown of the last few hundred Blockbusters that remain. Needless to say, online streaming of video content has won over traditional methods.

Dish, which acquired Blockbuster through a bankruptcy auction in 2011, after the retailer had already been crushed by digital video distributors like Netflix, said it still saw value in the brand name and would use it in limited ways. But it will close all Blockbuster locations — it says there are about 300 left — and the distribution centers that support its DVD-by-mail service, which is also being dismantled.

“This is not an easy decision,” Joseph P. Clayton, the chief executive of Dish, said in a statement, “yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment.”

Mr. Clayton added, “Despite our closing of the physical distribution elements of the business, we continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand, and we expect to leverage that brand as we continue to expand our digital offerings.”

And since somebody has to say, I’m going to; Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if certain companies had focused on easier and more convenient ways to purchase films online, instead of pushing things like SOPA & CISPA. We can clearly tell how well that worked out.