I saw a sign today for 6,500 square feet end cap for lease. That would be Blockbuster.
Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise me. They’ve closed the rest of their stores in the area. The business model has gone bust.
One might do well to sit and ponder the next big thing. I guess Netflix has picked up a market share and their streaming movie selections are doing well. I know we rely upon the option a lot around here. But to have the next big thing and ride that wave?
Sigh. That would be cool.
I remember before leaving last month there was a lot of discussion relating to the sign, as it has been up for a number of months. Strangely, nobody seems to know why it’s up – we certainly never heard anything directly from the landlord or from corporate. Our district manager was clueless. Certainly they wouldn’t close both Brookfield Blockbusters simply to keep the last one open for only 2 months after?
Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if corporate has known the entire time. Especially considering there is now a Blockbuster Express at the Brookfield/Capitol Open Pantry. I guess every store I leave has to shutter its doors
They are probably timing it as the leases expire.
Wow! I must really not pay attention when driving home if the sign has been up for a while. The other end is PickNSave. There are no new plans for another building (I have the votes to stop it if that’s what the owners want to do. Surely they remember that.)
Let me know if you hear anything!
They are all in trouble. Did you see this about more Hollywood Video Stores in the area closing?
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2010/02/01/daily41.html
I think Netflix has it right – streaming movies are the wave of the future. Instant access and no clutter in the house
Yeah, the Hollywood Video down on Capitol in Pewaukee is also closing – might make Blockbuster rethink a negotiation on that location’s lease if indeed they are willing to give it up.
http://www.hollywoodvideo.com/storelocator.aspx
If you search a store, it will tell you if that location is closing or not.
I don’t understand how Hollywood has gone so long without even trying to tap at LEAST the online rental market. At least Blockbuster has online renting, direct renting through Samsung/Tivo devices, and more recently vending machines. Perhaps they had no choice, but at least Blockbuster tried to get on the train…although very late.
Physical Video Stores are on the verge of closing down. Netflix will pretty soon be the largest video provider to Americans, and Blockbuster and stores like it will go out of business. The physical video stores can only be saved by a miracle from above.
There is the element of visually and physically experiencing a movie selection, as with books. Despite the problems book stores and video stores are having, it is hard to imagine it going completely away for another decade or so at the minimum. There are simply people who prefer to shop that way still, and more than we would think.
Because of the convenience to that location, our family is likely to cruise the aisles on a Friday night. We’ll miss it if it goes.
Blockbuster has struggled with the model for the past few years. Netflix definitely cannabilized a chunk of their market that wanted a more direct experience. That was an oversight on Blockbuster’s part. The store model doesn’t allow for the required margin in sales. That’s part of the reason you saw a great emphasis on the ‘point of purchase’ items (candy, soda, etc…), as those items became a large source of their profit. I expect them to adjust, but with Ichan just leaving the board, they’ve lost a key supporter.
What about Redbox? I would think that the introduction of this type of venue for renting DVDs must have had an impact on Blockbuster. A dollar per night? You can’t beat that.
Gosh it’s good to hear from you, Bdad.
KJ – it is tempting. I just saw a Redbox at Sendik’s as I was checking out. Didn’t really take time to look over the selection though.
Redbox is convenient, but I prefer Netflix. Greater selection. If Netflix allowed users to rent movies right out of kiosks like Redbox’s, it would be even better. I’m also waiting until next month, when Netflix comes out with its Wii disc. You can instantly watch movies on your Wii from the internet, and that’s nice.
I think Netflix is too savvy to get into kiosks and the like. Why would you go away from a successful model to one that is closer to the failed model? It may be nice for those who don’t plan ahead to be able to go to a physical site and get a movie, but we find Netflix to have an amazing selection and great service. We can average two BluRay movies a week if we can find time to watch them immediately. That’s about $1.25 per movie. Unbeatable!
Oh, I forgot to mention that if you have a laptop and an HDTV, you can watch more movies than you ever thought you want to! Tanfastic!
We use our blu-ray player. It is incredibly slick.