BLOCKBUSTER BUSTING ITS LAST BLOCKS 
Did you realize there was still a Blockbuster Video store open near you? There are 13 of them in the Houston area, in fact — though only 2 of them (at Studewood and North Main and South Post Oak at Bellfort) are in Houston proper. (The rest are in Katy, Seabrook, Baytown, Kingwood, Spring, Humble, Sugar Land, Channelview, Pearland, and Pasadena.) Well, at least until January. The company announced today it will close all 300 remaining stores in the U.S. by early next year — and shutter its DVD-by-mail service by the middle of next month. When Dish Network bought the company out of bankruptcy more than 2 years ago, Blockbuster had 1,700 U.S. stores. [Bloomberg] Photo of Pasadena Blockbuster, 3950 Spencer Hwy.: Yelp
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“…while company will close all of “its approximately 300 remaining U.S.-based [and company-owned] retail stores,” franchised and licensed stores will remain open.”
I wonder which ones in Houston are franchised or licensed?
Perfect example of a business not paying attention to a changing market. It’s a travesty how patheticly run and managed this company became, it’s a classic example of resting on your laurels and complete incompetence by the powers that be that ran this company into the ground.
@CREOLE
You can actually blame Enron. How’s that? Blockbuster was one of the early investors in Enron broadband, they were trying to start streaming videos back then. Now I don’t disagree, they were terribly managed, and managed to make people HATE them. But I do also think it was that failure that was the beginning of the end for them.
Blockbuster charged to much for the nightly rentals, charged absurd late fees, hardly ever had the new releases in stock and had lousy customer service.
Even though I have a store a few miles from my house, I haven’t visited a Blockbuster store was since December 2004.
The last time I went to a Blockbuster (I think in 2005?), I was excited to return a movie late for the first time since they had announced “no late fees” in national television ads. Then the store clerk informed me that this particular store was not participating, and that I owed the fee.
I joined Netflix that same day, and never looked back.
Will they sell their shelf-stock? Auction?
77027- I went to a going out of business sale at one of their closed locations. Got some good movies, cheap. I suppose they’ll do the same with the remaining stores.
The Blockbuster on West Cavalcade appears to do well. Every time I drive by this place on a weekend evening (I live in Brooke Smith), the parking lot is always full.
If this one goes away, I can’t help but be a bit wistful since many residents in the area actually go there to rent movies with their children.