Make a sweetsale - Carolina Weekly Newspapers
Make a sweetsale - Carolina Weekly Newspapers
Make a sweetsale - Carolina Weekly Newspapers
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Community<br />
Blockbuster shutters south Charlotte locations<br />
by Sean O’Connell<br />
sean@thecharlotteweekly.com<br />
As promised, Blockbuster has begun<br />
closing several of its retail locations across<br />
south Charlotte.<br />
The Dallas-based movie-rental chain in<br />
September announced plans to close as<br />
many as 960 stores nationwide by the end<br />
of 2010. The cuts, according to company<br />
documents, would leave Blockbuster with<br />
about 20 percent fewer U.S. stores. Executives,<br />
however, refused to identify which<br />
locations would close. Employees at the<br />
individual locations directed all inquiries<br />
to Blockbuster’s media relations department,<br />
though calls to that office were not<br />
returned. Posters on movie-related Web<br />
forums have speculated that Blockbuster<br />
refuses to reveal which locations will close<br />
for fears that customers will rent movies<br />
and video games from the targeted outlets<br />
and never return them.<br />
Within the last month, however, three<br />
south Charlotte locations have been<br />
placed on the chopping block. The anchor<br />
store in the Quail Corners Shopping Center<br />
at the intersection of Park and Gleneagles<br />
roads is empty, having liquidated its<br />
inventory by mid-October. Two SouthPark<br />
locations on Fairview Road and Abbey<br />
Place (behind the Park Road Shopping<br />
Center) are in the process of selling off<br />
as much inventory as possible. Sandwichboard-toting<br />
employees advertise “Everything<br />
Must Go” sales at these doomed<br />
locations. As indicated, everything in the<br />
store is for sale, from Blu-ray movies and<br />
video games to wire racks, cash registers,<br />
shelves and countertops.<br />
Store closures are one of several<br />
changes on the horizon for Blockbuster<br />
as the company attempts to reverse its<br />
financial losses and struggles to compete<br />
with alternate rental opportunities such<br />
as Netflix and Redbox.<br />
A 2004 study conducted by the Entertainment<br />
Merchant Association found<br />
that brick-and-mortar stores represented<br />
92 percent of the video rental market,<br />
with subscription rentals such as Netflix<br />
at 8 percent. By 2013, however, stores are<br />
expected to represent about 48 percent<br />
of the market, with subscriptions at 36<br />
percent and kiosks, such as Redbox, at 17<br />
percent.<br />
With that in mind, Blockbuster spokesman<br />
Randy Hargrove said the company<br />
expects to have 10,000 DVD vending<br />
kiosks in stores by the middle of next<br />
year.<br />
“We could have fewer physical stores<br />
and still have more rental points for our<br />
customers,” Blockbuster CEO James<br />
Keyes said in a September interview with<br />
the Associated Press. q<br />
The Blockbuster at 7804 Fairview Road is in the process of selling its inventory.<br />
Join us at the<br />
Morrison Family YMCA<br />
for our<br />
New Cooking Classes!<br />
Whole Foods 101<br />
Holiday Entertaining<br />
Thanksgiving Holiday Pies<br />
Parent & Child Holiday Appetizers<br />
Healthy Eating for 2010<br />
and more!<br />
Sean O’Connell/SCW photos<br />
Morrison Family YMCA | (704) 716-4650<br />
MORRISON FAMILY YMCA<br />
ymcacharlotte.org<br />
YMCA Mission: To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build<br />
healthy spirit, mind and body for all. Financial assistance available<br />
www.thecharlotteweekly.com<br />
South Charlotte <strong>Weekly</strong> • Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2009 • Page 13
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