For many years, Blockbuster has led the video rental world. We all know those days are waning. In a few months, those days will be officially over.
Announced Wed., November 6, Blockbuster announced it will shut down it’s remaining 300 US stores. In 2004, Blockbuster had 9,000 stores. Don’t look to it’s DVD mailing service either: By New Years Day 2014, that service will be gone too. The only thing that will exist of Blockbuster will be about 450 franchises, but most of those are overseas. In 2011, DISH Network bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy. Apparently, that couldn’t even matters.
Is this the end of the video rental industry? Let’s not go there yet. The video industry is estimated at $18 billion. In fact, 2013 could be the first year movie rentals do better, or at least as good as, movie sales since 2001. The new leading movie rental change in the US is Family Video. What are they doing right? They’re offering something other than videos. Some Family Videos stores have pizza parlors adjacent to these stores. Other video stores are adding yogurt shops and gyms. There’s one store in Brooklyn that’s located in a basement. This video store in a basement also has a video screen and bar; some of the employees are learning to mix cocktails.
So in order for a video store to even survive, they can’t follow Blockbuster’s light. They can’t just sell mainstream videos and offer candy bars and popcorn at the clerk stand. In the 2010s, you can’t do that. One local store specializes in videos that are extremely hard to find, like foreign films and silent movies and all out flops. They’re still thriving today. So offer an alternative. And I think they’ll have a shot. If a video store opened up in your neighborhood, would you support it?