# Blockbuster shutting down **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295 "2013-11-07T01:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295/81 "2018-07-21T22:10:21Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > . . . The age of monolithic superstores like Blockbuster and Barnes & Noble was ultimately brought down not because of the internet, but because they deliberately squashed innovation and did not serve the public. Why in the world would anyone miss these abominations? We still have a Barnes and Noble that appears to be going strong, in Leominster, Mass. Breaking with my custom of only using the public library, I bought a book there the other day (but only because I had a gift card). But, while there, I noted how paltry their selection is, compared to the library. They had maybe 10-20% of the fiction that you could find at the library. Not to mention that the library will order, from any library in the network, any book or CD or DVD they don’t have at hand. Makes you wonder how there were ever bookstores at all. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295/82 "2018-07-21T23:39:51Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Family video is still doing great. There are a lot of them here in the midwest. > > Renting a DVD in person isn’t dead. Family video and Redbox are going strong. Are you sure about this? I’ve seen several Family Videos closed down this year. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295/83 "2018-07-22T12:51:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I get why Blockbuster stores in Alaska stayed open but why Bend, Oregon? Isn’t that more densely populated? It is kind of odd. Bend and environs has grown quite a bit in recent decades. Lots of traffic congestion. It might seem that the store serves those people living in remote areas of Central Oregon well outside of town who don’t have high speed Internet. But a lot of them have sat tv. There are a _lot_ of weekend people and such who have 2nd homes or timeshares in the region. Do they come into town to rent movies? If stores in more remote areas can’t make it, how can this one? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295/84 "2018-07-22T13:10:53Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Not to mention that the library will order, from any library in the network, any book or CD or DVD they don’t have at hand. Makes you wonder how there were ever bookstores at all. Back when I purchased physical books, any good bookstore could do this for you. Since I was always wanting some obscure book, a good percentage of my purchases were made by having the bookstore order it for me, and then waiting for the call that it had come in and could be picked up. Then as now, I wanted to own my books, so I preferred the bookstore to the library. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295/85 "2018-07-22T20:50:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Are you sure about this? I’ve seen several Family Videos closed down this year. According to this they are doing pretty well as of 2017. > **[The Last Video Chain: The Inside Story Of Family Video And Its $400 Million...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2017/02/21/the-last-video-chain-the-inside-story-of-family-video-and-its-400-million-owner/#76cbdd49da60)** > > Five years after Blockbuster failed, Keith Hoogland still has 750 Family Video outlets. His scrappy model has made him an estimated $400 million fortune. > [@](#): > > Yes, the year is 2017—and the Granite City store is defying odds, humming along in an industry most people assume has ceased to exist. In fact, the business is “doing gangbusters,” says its owner, Keith Hoogland, who has grown Family Video into a sprawling chain of 759 locations spread across 19 states and Canada, with a concentration in the Midwest and rural America and with more grand openings on the way. “I’m 57 years old,” says Hoogland, “and this is the most exciting time I’ve ever had in my life.” ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295/86 "2018-07-29T13:44:18Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Even [the CEO isn’t sure](http://www.theonion.com/articles/even-ceo-cant-figure-out-how-radioshack-still-in-b,2190/) Great line about RadioShack from that, umm, “article”: “It’s like walking into your grandpa’s basement. You always expect to see something cool, but it never delivers.” ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295/87 "2018-07-29T13:57:17Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > We still have a Barnes and Noble that appears to be going strong, in Leominster, Mass. Breaking with my custom of only using the public library, I bought a book there the other day (but only because I had a gift card). But, while there, I noted how paltry their selection is, compared to the library. They had maybe 10-20% of the fiction that you could find at the library. Not to mention that the library will order, from any library in the network, any book or CD or DVD they don’t have at hand. Makes you wonder how there were ever bookstores at all. As far as I’m concerned, libraries rule. But some people don’t like to touch books which have been God-knows-where. People take them into the bathroom ya know!.. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blockbuster-shutting-down/673295.md?page=4)