Retail Operations
At the beginning of 2010, Blockbuster had over 4,000 US stores and 2,500 international stores. In the United States, it planned to close between 810 and 960 retail stores and instead launch as many as 10,000 "Blockbuster Express" video rental kiosks by the middle of 2010. It had been claimed that there are more than 43 million U.S. households with Blockbuster memberships.
In December 2004, Blockbuster announced it wanted to pursue a hostile takeover of Hollywood Video, its major U.S. competitor. In response, Hollywood Video agreed to a buyout in January 2005 by a smaller competitor, the Dothan, Alabama-based Movie Gallery. Since then, Movie Gallery has filed for bankruptcy twice and the entire chain of stores was liquidated.
In March 2010, Blockbuster paired up with Time Warner Inc. to have Warner Bros. movies be available in Blockbuster stores on the DVD release date and not be subject to a four-week delay in availability. Similar agreements were also made with Universal and 20th Century Fox. Also in 2010, Blockbuster shuttered 545 operated stores in the 2010 fiscal year.
Read more about this topic: Blockbuster LLC
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