Blockbuster closings - 30-50% off items

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Garrison01

CAGiversary!
I was informed that at least one to several dozen Blockbuster stores is closing in September. Sale items are to be sold at a discount of 30 to 50% off marked prices. The discounts will change depending on amount of merchandise still left in stores. Not all Blockbusters are closing at this time. The information given to me on Sept 07,2010 was that Dvd, Blu ray, Video games, etc. was going to be on sale as well as fixtures such as wall mounts, demo items, furnishings. So get ready to stock up on anything you want if the price is right. I saw alot of Bayonetta, COD MW2, Wii, and EA sports on the shelves that should go for $15 to 25 dollars initially but may drop lower if they don't sell. Alot of Blu rays may go below $8 dollars a unit and some are already below $7 even before the closings. Note - BOGO at $14.99 or less sale ended Sept 06, 2010. Most merchandise will not be transferred to other stores due to low liquidity of cash flow of the corporate entity. They are reducing their marketing budget because cash is tight. A store in the Las Vegas, NV area emphasized that due to its closing, it can only rent merchandise up to Sunday September 12, 2010. Contact Blockbuster stores in your area to see if a store is closing to see if this will affect you.

Good hunting
 
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I can't specify which stores are closing and what dates because the closings at this point will be staggered and not closed at the same time scale. I am not in contact with corporate and only have individual contact with employees at the individual stores. The employees I have spoken to are hoping they will be transferred to a remaining store.
I was told merchandise would start to be marked down around Sept 13, 2010.
 
[quote name='nixmahn']"one to several dozen"

ah, can you be more specific? BBV has like 2000-3000 nationwide.[/QUOTE]
It's going to be a few more than a dozen. just pulled this out of google
"The country's largest freestanding movie rental retailer, Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI), announced a major store closing initiative that could result in the elimination of 22% of its current freestanding store base -- part of a longer term effort to become a multi-channel provider of media entertainment. "

So there's a good chance a couple stores near you will be closing down this year.
 
these shitty closing sales are always awful until the last week when things finally start getting discounted.

Those $15 copies of bayonetta that are on shelves now will be $25 with 25% off when the closing starts. They always do this stupid shit. And stupid people fall for it.
 
The hand writing has been on the wall for BBV since late 2008. Too bad I guess, I can remember when they were at the top of their game about 20 years ago. Netflix and ppv just crushed them, they should have seen the shift in consumer viewing habits coming, but they didn't. Back when you rented a vhs tape to watch a movie, BBV crushed the mom & pop rental stores, fortunes change. I'm sure BBV will be an interesting case study in business schools (along with Circuit City) in the coming years....
 
The one closest to my house closed down a few months back I think there's still another 1 not too far I might go check out maybe tomorrow, hopefully I can post some deals I took advantage of.
 
I assume this sale will be the same one they had when all the stores closed during the spring time. For that sale they raise all the prices of everything up to MSRP then take off the discount, for games I believe the discount starts at 15% and goes up by like 5% until it gets to 50% the week of the closing, and by then there is nothing good left. The good thing about the sale is they put all games that were for rental up for sale as used, and there can be some good deals in there if you go right when the sale starts.
 
While this deal sounds good the hunting for stores in your area can be annoying.
This would be much easier if we had access to a master list.
 
[quote name='Shimrra']Interesting, there is a BlockBuster just a couple blocks from my job in Manhattan.[/QUOTE]

Of the 6 remaining BBVs in Manhattan below 100th St, only the one on 20th and 8th is closing.
 
Their supposed to be closing like 600 stores this year. It all depends on how their bankruptcy protection plays out in court when they file it this month.
 
I hate that Blockbuster don't give you a FREE Blu-ray when you rent one only get a DVD Free, with reward card.
 
I was keen for stores to close to get in on bargains - this was Hollywood Video here. Turns out the deals were crap, tons of stupid people bought at 30% and what was left was a disaster. There was a bunch of PS3, 360 and Wii titles at one store which dropped to 98c - the day after I did my final sweep.

Now they are gone for good - no more $5 games sales and I miss the nice people who worked there. It is a real shame these stores are closing..... There are so few options now for CAG hunting. Sears has tightened up, K-Mart has come over to the CAG side, all the video stores are gone and Gamestop goes from strength to strength (thus keeping its prices way up there). No trade fodder, no good TIVs and not even Best Buy freebies.

Oh well - it was a good run for a couple of years - but that time is truly over now.

Just sad - for us and the people who will be losing their jobs (only the nice ones - not the Jr. Detectives or a$$holes).
 
Video stores themselves aren't dieing, its just the horrible decisions that were made by both blockbuster and hollywood video. Look at Family Video they are expanding another 300 or so stores this year and they have some good deals on games but don't always have enough to go around.
 
I went in ours that started closing on September 3rd on the 5th and newer games titles had been marked down from 59.99 to 54.99. Yes, the discount really was an entire 10%. I also saw some 19.99 games for 39.99.

The only bright side was all Blu-rays were 9.99 and came with their original packaging. Still, with the prices bottoming out on those lately, I still could find little to spring for when they are used.
 
[quote name='LordSMVS']Of the 6 remaining BBVs in Manhattan below 100th St, only the one on 20th and 8th is closing.[/QUOTE]

8th is the one I was referring too, I'll check it out when I leave today and if I see anything I'll post it up tonight.
 
[quote name='jer7583']these shitty closing sales are always awful until the last week when things finally start getting discounted.

Those $15 copies of bayonetta that are on shelves now will be $25 with 25% off when the closing starts. They always do this stupid shit. And stupid people fall for it.[/QUOTE]

Yep, not to mention if you followed the BBV thread you would have been able to get Bayonetta from regular, non-closing stores for just $7.50 on Monday (price drop to $14.99 plus the B1G1 free). The stores that are closing never particpate in these sales so they are often charging more for the games than the non-closing stores. Yet I guess that works...

[quote name='gripper']I was keen for stores to close to get in on bargains - this was Hollywood Video here. Turns out the deals were crap, tons of stupid people bought at 30% and what was left was a disaster.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I pretty much skipped out on the entire HWV liquidation even though I was surrounded by them. It was depressing to see how much people bought at 20-30% (things that for the most part they could have gotten cheaper during various Gamecrazy sales and deals earlier not to mention the $5 sales) so I didn't even bother with the later drops.
 
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[quote name='io']


Yeah, I pretty much skipped out on the entire HWV liquidation even though I was surrounded by them. It was depressing to see how much people bought at 20-30% (things that for the most part they could have gotten cheaper during various Gamecrazy sales and deals earlier not to mention the $5 sales) so I didn't even bother with the later drops.[/QUOTE]



what do you expect though there not cags :lol: they think 49.99 is a great deal for a game
 
Something tells me the Blockbuster near me is going to close. It just aint normal to have a half off sale for 2 months straight. "Just going on until we get rid of extra stock", my ass.
 
The problem is that even when they mark up prices to trick people with the closing "sale" prices, the vultures still descend on the place the day the clearance starts, and by the time the 50-75% sales start going up, all the good stuff is gone.
 
There aren't many Blockbusters left in my area so I'm hoping there are no closings. If the one closest to me closes down (West and Blanco), I'm afraid my days of Blockbuster online may come to an end. The only reason I'm keeping them now is because of their in-store exchange program. Lately they've been incredibly slow with shipping movies by mail and the selection of movies available now has gotten slim.
 
I hate that Blockbuster don't give you a FREE Blu-ray when you rent one only get a DVD Free, with reward card.
Click to expand...

you can get a free blu ray with the rewards r1g1 program. they changed it a few months ago. it rings up automatically in the system so unless the blu ray is coded wrong in the system it will give you the old one free.
 
Let me enlighten you of the genius thinking of blockbuster in my area. First off they begin charging 7 dollars to rent a dvd or game(a few years back). Next Family Video, Netflix and Redbox come out and start stealing all their "business". Well then they decided to drop the price of renting dvds down to 4 dollars (a year ago but still well above family video and redbox). Then, 6 months ago, to finally take the cake they set up a blockbuster express at a gas station RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from their store, where you can rent the same exact movies for a dollar. Holy shnikes what great business thinking!
 
I wonder if the tivo's will be discounted. I've been thinking of grabbing one even though I don't have much use for it right now.
 
[quote name='milmanias']I wonder if the tivo's will be discounted. I've been thinking of grabbing one even though I don't have much use for it right now.[/QUOTE]

My local store have a few left and they are at 50% off. But I think that's because Tivo has a whole new line of DVR's out.
 
[quote name='SuperJedi']I hate that Blockbuster don't give you a FREE Blu-ray when you rent one only get a DVD Free, with reward card.[/QUOTE]

Yeah same here! I mean seriously what is the difference?
 
One of my local BBV is going out of business. DVDs are 60% off, games (none left really) are 30% off, and blu-rays (a ton) are only 15% off. I am waiting to pull the trigger on a few BDs but only if they get down to at least 30% off.
 
[quote name='mrright4you4now']Video stores themselves aren't dieing, its just the horrible decisions that were made by both blockbuster and hollywood video. Look at Family Video they are expanding another 300 or so stores this year and they have some good deals on games but don't always have enough to go around.[/QUOTE]

BBV and MG/HWV have/had so much debt that can't/couldn't be serviced because there wasn't enough money coming in. Most of that money has been diverted to Netflix and Redbox. So yes, the rental store model is in decline. But there still is money to be made, if you don't have any crushing debt to service. Family Video looks like they are doing things right, so far. I do see people that shun mail-order and rental boxes who were abandoned by BBV and MG/HWV going to Family Video to get their fix. For their sake though, the money for expansion is coming out of profits and not from a credit-line. With the exception of going to areas without much competion, I don't see much growth in the b&m model.
 
Keep in mind that even if a Blockbuster in your location closes, it may not go into a liquidation sale immediately or at all.

Ours closed last December. It was in June I believe that they actually had the liquidation sale and the only reason I knew was word of mouth. They had a sign at the store, but after six months, no one would have expected such a thing.

Also, as they get closer to the date of closure, expect the prices to drop more. Be careful though, they had things like Gamecube and GBA games for 3 bucks or 3 games for 5 bucks but it seems to be the clerk's discretion on that (or rather they just don't want to take the time to review the sign they put up front).
 
[quote name='RySenkari']The problem is that even when they mark up prices to trick people with the closing "sale" prices, the vultures still descend on the place the day the clearance starts, and by the time the 50-75% sales start going up, all the good stuff is gone.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I have monitored 4 BBV in my area every single week up until the day they closed. I noticed prices were increased, sale price stickers removed to show a higher price and some games they had next to the register having only a 30% off sticker (the 30% off sticker was on the last day they were open, while all other games in the store were 50-75% off). Most games are gone by 30%, so if you see something at that %, u might as well get it (or some soccer mom or reseller) will. At a couple of locations, I was told "someone" came in and bought 70% of their games at 30% (all the new/good titles of course).

However, the last week they are open is always a goldmine for dvds ($1 a piece), Box sets and BRs!! Some local CAGs and I "rack up" during this time.
 
I think it's actually illegal for them to markup prices and then give a discount when going out of business, but they usually don't care.
 
[quote name='jer7583']I think it's actually illegal for them to markup prices and then give a discount when going out of business, but they usually don't care.[/QUOTE]

No, its not illegal, just assholish.
 
[quote name='RySenkari']The problem is that even when they mark up prices to trick people with the closing "sale" prices, the vultures still descend on the place the day the clearance starts, and by the time the 50-75% sales start going up, all the good stuff is gone.[/QUOTE]

I dont think it is the vultures that buy up the stuff at 30% off an inflated price, more like soccer moms that dont realize that if they would just wait a little longer it would probably go to 75% off
 
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