pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD |  Broadband Not The Threat
Redbox poses the gravest threat to Blockbuster at this point.
--
Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! |
|
IT Guy
Ow, My Balls
Premium
join:2004-07-29
Las Cruces, NM
clubs: | No surprise
They shut down all the Blockbuster stores but one in my town. I never go to brick and mortar stores to rent anything anymore.
--
My time is a piece of wax, falling on a termite, that's choking on a splinter. --Beck |
|
S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL
 ·Comcast
| I have one....
a 1/2 a block away. The Blu-Ray section is dismal, and how do you expect to stay in business when you have a section devoted to "Twilight"?
Theres no classic section anymore, and they only seem to carry blockbuster movies for their given time. I don't know how they've lasted this long!
--
BF69~~~Please stop suffocating gerbils! |
|
Dread
Proud member of Scott's tots
Premium
join:2005-02-28
Bronx, NY | Blockbuster is still relevant?
I stopped caring years ago, any company that refuses to compete these days is worthless. |
|
S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL
·Comcast
| reply to pnh102
Re: Broadband Not The Threat
I agree, but people in my neck of the woods still bring their families to pick out a flick. Theres still a certain stigma about shopping at a phonebooth. I could just as easily watch HD VOD from Comcast, but that would render a portion of my theater system useless, so I'll do both for awhile.
--
BF69~~~Please stop suffocating gerbils! |
|
fonzbear2000
Premium
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN | For me....
The only thing their good for is online rentals and being able to trade those in for free rentals at the store.
--
»Check this out! |
|
PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs:  | reply to S_engineer
Re: I have one....
A few years ago my local blockbuster moved into a smaller store. I go for the new releases but if I want anything else I have to get it from blockbuster online or netflix or something.
--
~ Insert a Funny Sig Here ~ |
|
bgraham
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY
 ·Verizon FIOS
| We are probably typical customers
We used to get a movie or two a couple of times a month ($5.00+ each here in NY)
We got FIOS TV just before the digital switch we have not been in the store since then. For the same price we can get movies from VZ and we don't have to drive to pick up and drop them off.
Blockbuster have already closed one of their 2 local stores in our town. |
|
pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to S_engineer
Re: Broadband Not The Threat
said by S_engineer  :I could just as easily watch HD VOD from Comcast, but that would render a portion of my theater system useless, so I'll do both for awhile. I'd love to watch On-Demand with Comcast, but the UI is so slow that it is useless. It shouldn't take more than a few seconds for it to load. I have to make sure I never press the "On Demand" button on the remote lest I wait a few minutes before I can change the channel. Ugh.
When I did feel like waiting for On-Demand, I found that Comcast never reset out box and we are still asked for a PIN in order to watch anything. 2 calls to Comcast didn't resolve the issue, so I pretty much let it slide since On-Demand is too slow to be useful anyway.
--
Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! |
|
digitalfreak
join:2005-12-09
49533
| Switched
I had BBO for a few years and got fed up with them when they couldn't get movies out on time. Tried out Netflix and haven't looked back since. Didn't think I would care about the Netflix online viewing, but I've found myself using it more and more (for older titles, anyway). Using the official plugin for Windows Media Center, the quality is ~85% of DVD. |
|
digitalfreak
join:2005-12-09
49533
| reply to pnh102
Re: Broadband Not The Threat
said by pnh102 :Redbox poses the gravest threat to Blockbuster at this point. I actually saw a Rebox unit outside of a gas station today. Didn't know they were weatherproof. |
|
mod_wastrel
join:2008-03-28
 ·magicjack.com
| Soon, maybe... but not yet.
Until a significant portion of their customer base can download/stream movies/shows to watch on their [big-screen] TV, all Blockbuster has to do, still, is plan for the future. (I expect many if not most BBR members already can/do, being "ahead of the curve" so to speak... but that ain't the typical situation for non-BBR members, which is most people.) The couple Blockbusters I pass by on a semi-regular basis are always busy, on the weekends especially; and I live in an area that's had multiple, competing sources of broadband for a decade or more. Blockbuster still has time... but not a lot of it. |
|
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL | reply to pnh102
Re: Broadband Not The Threat
cable / sat is a even bigger one. No need to go out to get a movie. |
|
kerriskandie
join:2001-10-09
Coram, NY
·Optimum Online
1 edit | Internet
WILL kill everything....eventually.....
tried for about 3 days to find a certain automotive/motorcycle (Hella..or equivalent) relay..Autobarn......gone in our neck of t'woods, Pep Boys said no way, Hose, as did Aid Auto, and Tandy ( Radioshack).....had one on backorder with Bikebandit.....so ordered another from......Amazon dot com.............
oh well...............tried to keep the 'Brick n Mortar stores going! 
PS Netflix for me too, I'm afraid................!!!!  |
|
Mactron
el camino Real
Premium
join:2001-12-16
CM94sv
| Who cares..
Our two Blockbusters closed a year ago. They were poorly run by virtue of no Adult supervision by management. The kids working there were out of control. Painfully loud music constantly. You had to wait for some time to check you out and they were openly rude while doing it. "What you expect me to earn my $6.50 an hour?"
"the company seems more worried about protecting dying business models than exploring new ones."
Doesn't appear to me that their doing a very good job of protecting that old business model. Lack of customers in both models will cause this Dinosaur to soon be gone. I really haven't missed them since they closed.
--
If only the Verizon CSRs worked this well.  |
|
pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to digitalfreak
Re: Broadband Not The Threat
said by digitalfreak :I actually saw a Rebox unit outside of a gas station today. Didn't know they were weatherproof. Most of the ones I've seen are outside of McDonalds'.
--
Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! |
|
DrModem
Premium
join:2006-10-19
USA | I've seen them everywhere: gas stations, restuarants, safeways... |
|
rebus9
join:2002-03-26
Tampa Bay
·Verizon FIOS
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Mactron
Re: Who cares..
said by Mactron :Our two Blockbusters closed a year ago. They were poorly run by virtue of no Adult supervision by management. The kids working there were out of control. Painfully loud music constantly. You had to wait for some time to check you out and they were openly rude while doing it. "What you expect me to earn my $6.50 an hour?" Yeah, amen to that. I was at the local Radio Shack recently, and right in the middle of ringing up my purchase the cellphone of the kid behind the counter dinged with a new text msg. (He couldn't have been more than 19 or 20 yrs old.) He stopped what he was doing, whipped the phone from its holster, and texted back. As if that wasn't bad enough, he did several back-and-forths, chuckling out loud, obviously forgetting that he was in the middle of taking care of a customer.
I got disgusted and said something to him, which snapped him back into reality.
My point is, today's kids have this sense of "entitlement" but no sense of responsibility or worth ethic. |
|
jhrollins
join:2008-01-18
Midlothian, VA | reply to pnh102
Re: Broadband Not The Threat
Feel your pain. Luckily, Fios cured me of it. |
|
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL
| Not just Blockbuster
Video stores around here have been dropping like flies. Movie Gallery dominated the market here, and then, as if overnight, they closed most of their stores. I knew things must be getting bad for them when the one closest to me started offering most if not all of its titles at $1.00. I think we have a Blockbuster left, but I'm not entirely sure where it is.
As for me, I signed up with Netflix a few weeks ago and couldn't be happier. I have a Samsung Blu-ray player that can stream Netflix, so I use streaming to fill in the gaps between by-mail titles, and I have so much in my instant queue, I don't know when I'll finish it. Some friends of mine who are in their 60s also just joined, and I snagged them some cheap Ethernet over powerline adapters so they can get a Roku box connected to their TV.
I don't know if streaming is the future (I suspect it is), but I do know that Blockbuster has made some huge mistakes. First, they have never capitalized on the fact that they have local stores. Sure, they have BBO, and they've tried to integrate that with their local stores, but it's no use when the title you want is out or they don't ship by-mail titles in a timely manner. Next, they've concentrated their operations in a few large, free-standing buildings in high-traffic and therefore high-rent areas when more smaller locations in strip malls would work better. After all, who wants to drive half-way across town to rent a movie, especially when you have to go back to return it? Finally, they need a trained and disciplined work force, not just a bunch of unmotivated kids. If you're going to allow your competition to have the edge on price (Netflix has that edge), then you have to compete on convenience and/or customer service, and Blockbuster isn't doing that.
There's a reason Redbox works. They locate in places where people go instead of making people make a special trip to reach them. Remember when you could rent movies in grocery stores, drug stores, convenience stores, etc.? That model worked, and that's how you make a brick-and-mortar (or at least kiosk) operation work. |
|
