Business & Tech

Local Blockbuster Goes Bust

Blockbuster's Clayton location will close for good soon.

This is the last week Clayton residents will be able to rent a movie from a brick-and-mortar store.

The in the Clayton Station shopping center is closing. The last day to rent movies is Thursday and the store will lock its doors permanently after a short going-out-of-business sale that begins Friday, according to store employees.

Nationwide, the Dallas-based company is closing about 600 of its 3,400 stores this month, according to the Los Angeles Times. Blockbuster, which filed for bankruptcy in September, has declined steadily over the past decade as new ways to rent movies, such as Netflix, iTunes and Redbox, have become increasingly popular. Its stock was trading near $30 in 2002, but trading ended at 14 cents Tuesday.

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On Monday, the company put itself up for sale with a "stalking horse" bid from creditors of $290 million. The stalking-horse strategy establishes a floor price, but if no one steps forward to beat the $290 million threshold creditors will assume control of the company.

The bottom line for people in Clayton is that they will have to travel a longer distance to rent a movie from Blockbuster. on the 2400 block of Willow Pass Road, near downtown Concord, will remain open, store employees said.

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Sean Vines, 37, rented a couple movies weekly from the Clayton Blockbuster and wasn't happy to learn that the store was closing.

"This sucks," Vines said. "I hope there is still a demand for (brick-and-mortar rental stores) but it seems like they are all going away."

Merrilee Gelhaus has the same concern. She said she would visit the Clayton Blockbuster a couple times a month to rent movies, but now might have to rent online.

"I guess Netflix is our only option now," Gelhaus said. "It was nice to just come down here and browse. But, now it seems like you have to do it online. I haven't done Netflix but I hear it's easy and convenient."


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