Just a quick post today and not even ebay or internet marketing related. I went to Blockbuster film rentals today to pick up the popular film 10,000bc (bearing in mind it came out in the uk on general release yesterday) and guess what? They didn’t have any. Not a problem I thought, “I’ll check back later to see if you’ve had any returned”. The lady behind the counter replied:
“Erm, no, we should be getting some more in on Friday, we’ve had to recall those that have been rented since we got sent the wrong batch last week”
Now is it me, or does that sound a bit fishy to you? I mean this is surely unheard of in blockbuster history, since you know the phrase “most money is made within the 1st 7 days of launch”.
I must admit, this has got to ring alarm bells somewhere and with Blockbuster losing out on getting this great film out and distributed in the first 7 days!
They announced today that they’re gonna pull out of the Circuit City Deal in which my nine year old neice could have told them that would have been the dumbest move in history. Not only are Circuit City struggling with the outmoded and outdated technology high street model, they wanted to pay over a billion for it.
With the emergence for Apple TV and Netflix (now offering down-loadable films) stealing a competitive march on Blockbuster by a country mile, is this the beginning of the end for blockbuster stores. My appologies Blockbuster employees but “jump like rats of a sinking ship” springs to mind.
At the E3 convention in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced that this fall 10,000 Netflix movie and television titles will be available to stream via the Xbox 360. Hmm, forward thinking or simple common sense joint venturing?
As usual, your comments are always welcome.
DesDrec.
P.s. I like Blockbuster and would love to continue renting films, but with the withdrawal of one of the main blockbusters (excuse the pun), this is really worrying times for this mammoth conglomerate.
July 31st, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Hello,
I think you’re right. Our closest video store, Hollywood Video, closed down a few months ago. And the last few times I’ve driven by Blockbuster, there were only a few cars in the parking lot.
I use Netflix now myself.
Peggy