Blockbuster finally gives up and files for bankrupcy

I once worked at the only Blockbuster in town. It was fun for the most part. The only thing I didn’t like was wearing those damn khaki pants and people’s excuses when you told them they had late fees. “I’m really sorry that your family got mauled by a bear, but I can’t do anything about it.”

Anywho, after trying a few different tricks to bring in some possible revenue, the rental giant is finally filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Obviously this isn’t much of a surprise as it was eventually coming anyway. Before I quit, they had just started the no late fees policy. I remember having staff meetings and hearing my boss talk about how there would be more cuts and so on.

Blockbuster will continue to run 3,300 of their stores in the U.S. It is expected that hundreds of stores will close down under new owners lead by billionaire investor Carl Icahn. The company which is based out of Dallas, Texas has 25,500 employees, including 7,500 full timers.

It’s hard to stand as a rental store when Netflix, RedBox, and torrenting are becoming the new mainstream for viewers. As I stated above, Blockbuster will stay alive, but the focus will be more kiosk and online driven. One day Blockbuster will be one of those things that we wax nostalgic about. “Remember when you stole that VHS of PULP FICTION?” I don’t think anyone really feels bad that the rental chain going into the can. There’s been too many stress filled moments due to late fees.

The bankruptcy put the company in a better place. They plan to reduce their debt by $1 billion to about $100 million. As part of the process they are also looking to access $45 million to pay studios so that the shelves still stay stocked with DVDs. In a statement on behalf of the company, CEO Jim Keyes stated, “After a careful and thorough analysis, we determined that the process announced today provides the optimal path for recapitalizing our balance sheet and positioning Blockbuster for the future as we continue to transform our business model.”