Indifferent About Blockbuster Going Bankrupt in September 2010?

While getting my nightly dose of WGN News at Nine, a report was made tonight about Blockbuster filing for bankruptcy due to $900 million in debt. According to the report, Blockbuster has gone from 9,100 stores to 5,800. Meanwhile Netflix's website boasts over 15 million members. After finally joining Netflix last month, I can understand why Netflix is so successful.

After I finish typing this entry, I'm going to lay down and watch the entire first and second season of "Blossom." Remember that show? It was one of my favorite television shows as a kid, and Netflix has plenty more where that came from. This is what really caught my attention about Netflix, in addition to next-day delivery, $8.99 per month for unlimited videos, dropping movies into a mailbox instead of going to a post office where I originally thought they had to be shipped from, no need to speed to a store before it closes and immediate online access to billing and shipping rates. Even the $4.99 two-per-month rental account was better than Blockbuster's and other rental stores.

I've always been more Hollywood Video than Blockbuster mainly because Hollywood Video used to give $1 early return credits if you returned the new movies before the due dates. But like Blockbuster, Hollywood Video had a limited selection. It was also sometimes a hassle to sort through the movies if/when they were out of order or scratched up and had to be returned to be buffed. So far, Netflix movies have been in pristine condition.

When movies are online, the options are endless. Where else can I reserve all the comedy specials from Bill Maher, the entire season of "My So-Called Life" and make sure I see "Iron Man 2" and "Stomp the Yard: Homecoming" in the same month?

Blockbuster capitalized on putting Mom and Pop shops out of business by sticking their chain stores on major streets. In Chicago, Blockbuster was as popular as Walgreen's, but the business has slowed down. Even when Blockbuster took away late fees, the rental fee was still too much. I've avoided movie rental stores for price alone. Returning the movie isn't a big deal to me. Paying $5 for a single movie is.

The biggest perk that Blockbuster had on its side was offering people jobs. Wherever there was a Blockbuster, there needed to be clerks who would re-shelve movies, cashiers, a cleaning crew and managers. With Netflix, the job postings right now are focused on jobs in Tempe, AZ; Los Gatos, Beverly Hills and Santa Ana CA; Hartford, CT; Post Falls, ID; Gaithersburg, MD; Portland, ME; Lansing, MI; Minneapolis, MN; Asheville and Greensboro, NC; Melville, NY: Grove City, OH; Hillsboro, OR; Columbia, Nashville, TN; SC; Irving, TX; Seattle, WA; Madison, WI; and only one job in the Chicagoland area in Carol Stream, IL. Most of those jobs are for Web Engineering and Operations.

But on the same note, how many people could make a career out of Blockbuster jobs? Is it really that much of a loss for the ones who will have to leave or are movie rental stores just a stepping stone to another position? With bootlegging and movie piracy being so common, I wonder if that was already affecting job loss.

I avoid bootleg movies as much as possible, but there are some movies that I just don't think are worth paying movie theater prices for even if I can pay $5 at The New 400 Theater or get $8 movie passes from D'PUC Credit Union. So that's when online streaming movies comes into play, and Netflix even has that covered. Although most of the Netflix movies that are available online aren't ones I want to see, does it really matter when you can have access to those movies in 24 hours?

The only way I see Blockbuster actually getting back into the swing of business is to copy off of what Netflix is doing and throw in some kind of point system for rewards. Until then, I'll happily lay in the privacy of my own home with my red envelopes and a smile.