Blockbuster’s Retail Woes Continue In The United States - 300 Stores To Close

Around 300 Blockbuster stores are set close in the United States, according to a report from Los Angeles Times. The closure will leave just 500 remaining stores – a huge dent in its ‘bricks and mortar’ trading business. Around 3,000 jobs will be lost as a result of the closure, according to John Hall, a spokesperson for Blockbuster’s parent company Dish Network Corp.

This follows on from the recent news that Blockbuster’s British arm has gone into administration (a version of bankruptcy). Control of the UK business has been taken over by the accounting firm Deloitte. In 2011, Dish acquired Blockbuster, along with around 1,700 stores, with the aim of capitalizing on the trading name to rival online streaming services such as Netflix and Redbox. According to Hall, some of the stores are approaching the end of their lease and others are being closed due to poor performance.

Dish is also not experiencing a good time, financially. The company lost 19,000 subscribers for the third quarter and is a reported $158 million in arrears, too. “We continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand and we will continue to analyze store level profitability and — as we have in the past — close unprofitable stores,” said Hall, in the statement. They have not yet revealed which stores will be closed.