Is Blockbuster going out of business?

[Data Holmes]

We had a Wendy's in my town of 20,000 people, it's now a Taco Bell. There were 86 people working there!

So I'm sure there are more than 10 people working at the BB in my town, there have to be at least 25, or the people quit from them a lot.

The average staff at a BB is between 5 and 10.

5 is inpossible almost every state has labor laws and 5 people can not man a store open 7 days a week. A shift might be 5 to 10 but that quickly adds up to the 86 employees previously mentioned about a Taco Bell.

No. Most days all you need is one manager and one csr per shift (open till 5 is one shift, 5 till close is the other). Busy nights like fri or sat will see two or three csr's with one mod.

So for mon, tues, wed, thu, and sun you need a max of two csr's and two mod's per day. Fri and sat you need two mod's and anywhere from three to four csr's.

A typical BB store will see 1 manager, two to four "shift leads" who serve as MOD or manager on duty, and three to five CSR's. A very busy store could see the addition of an assistant manager and two or three more CSR's. Very slow stores can see smaller numbers, one manager, two shift leads, and three csr's.

 

[RoJoHen]

The average staff at a BB is between 5 and 10.

5 is inpossible almost every state has labor laws and 5 people can not man a store open 7 days a week. A shift might be 5 to 10 but that quickly adds up to the 86 employees previously mentioned about a Taco Bell.

No. Most days all you need is one manager and one csr per shift (open till 5 is one shift, 5 till close is the other). Busy nights like fri or sat will see two or three csr's with one mod.

So for mon, tues, wed, thu, and sun you need a max of two csr's and two mod's per day. Fri and sat you need two mod's and anywhere from three to four csr's.

A typical BB store will see 1 manager, two to four "shift leads" who serve as MOD or manager on duty, and three to five CSR's. A very busy store could see the addition of an assistant manager and two or three more CSR's. Very slow stores can see smaller numbers, one manager, two shift leads, and three csr's.

Exactly. You really don't need many people working there at one time. A 5-person staff would be annoying in case someone needs to take time off, but it's certainly doable.

 

[bigdaddy]

Sure, it's doable to have it open with one person running the store 7 days a week, it doesn't mean it's happening.

I walk in BB to see if they have any used movies on sale, there are always three different people there, and that's during the week. So the blockbusters around here have at least 30 different people, or there are only 5 people there and they quit every 2 weeks.

 

[RoJoHen]

Sure, it's doable to have it open with one person running the store 7 days a week, it doesn't mean it's happening.

I walk in BB to see if they have any used movies on sale, there are always three different people there, and that's during the week. So the blockbusters around here have at least 30 different people, or there are only 5 people there and they quit every 2 weeks.

Well, I'm sure they have more than 5 people. I mean, in my experience, most video stores are staffed by teenagers who only work about 20-25 hours a week because they're in school. I could see an average staff of about 15-20.

But I doubt many stores would need more than that.

 

[Snaploud]

Sure it sucks millions will be out of work, but that's life.

Millions?

You're exaggerating there a little, tiger.

There are around 5,000 Blockbusters in the US, each one could staff as many as many as 50 people -I would think- plus you have people in corporate offices, distribution centers and the like and it's concievable the Blockbuster employs at least 1m people.

5,000 x 50 = 250,000

So, you're saying that corporate and distribution centers account for the other 750,000+...? Seriously...?

 

[IndyJones]

Millions?

You're exaggerating there a little, tiger.

There are around 5,000 Blockbusters in the US, each one could staff as many as many as 50 people -I would think- plus you have people in corporate offices, distribution centers and the like and it's concievable the Blockbuster employs at least 1m people.

5,000 x 50 = 250,000

Maybe each store has 200 employees. Maybe two thousand.

 

[Data Holmes]

5 is inpossible almost every state has labor laws and 5 people can not man a store open 7 days a week. A shift might be 5 to 10 but that quickly adds up to the 86 employees previously mentioned about a Taco Bell.

No. Most days all you need is one manager and one csr per shift (open till 5 is one shift, 5 till close is the other). Busy nights like fri or sat will see two or three csr's with one mod.

So for mon, tues, wed, thu, and sun you need a max of two csr's and two mod's per day. Fri and sat you need two mod's and anywhere from three to four csr's.

A typical BB store will see 1 manager, two to four "shift leads" who serve as MOD or manager on duty, and three to five CSR's. A very busy store could see the addition of an assistant manager and two or three more CSR's. Very slow stores can see smaller numbers, one manager, two shift leads, and three csr's.

Exactly. You really don't need many people working there at one time. A 5-person staff would be annoying in case someone needs to take time off, but it's certainly doable.

Tell me about it. Ideally you'd like to see a Manager, and Ass. Manager, two shift leads, and five to seven CSR's per store.

Sad thing is though, is that for most of the year the stores aren't allotted the hours for such a staff unless each CSR only works 12 to 15 hrs per week... or less.

January and Feb get so slow that sometimes they will cut back payroll hours so much CSR's can only get 8 hrs a week with that many staff. It's why so many of the teens who get hired do so as "seasonal employees". We plan on them either quitting after a few months, after the holidays, or replacing a part timer who is now out of college and has moved on to another job.

 

[John Picard]

On a drive through town last night, I noticed one of the Blockbuster stores has closed, signs are down and the inside is a ghost town of empty shelves. I'll have to see if the other location is still open. I bet it is since it's in a high traffic area; however, it is catty-cornered from the local Hollywood Video, and Hollywood always has an outdoor display selling pre-viewed DVDs. I bet both stores are closed by Summer, 2010.

 

[Warp Coil]

One of the Blockbuster stores in my old neighborhood closed recently. Same for the Hollywood Video stores. Brick and mortar video rental businesses like those simply cannot compete with the price and convenience of Netflix, and to a lesser extent, RedBox. Why drive to a store, pay nearly $5 to rent a video, and then have to drive back and return it? With Netflix, you can rent 1 disc at-a-time unlimited, plus have unlimited streaming, for around $9 a month. No late fees. No return dates. And you don't have to leave your house.

The Netflix business model is cheaper and more efficient to operate, and it's cheaper and more convenient for consumers. Blockbuster tried to steal some Netflix's thunder by offering their own similar service, but it never caught on. Blockbuster also doesn't have the option to stream content from your computer, gaming console or TV. If someone is looking for "instant gratification", RedBox has become a convenient way to rent movies. If it's a dreary Saturday night and you want to sit home and watch a movie, it's still cheaper to pick up something from a RedBox for $1.00 than to drive to Blockbuster. Plus, I typically never watch a rental DVD more than once anyway, so it's not like I need to keep it for 5 or even 7 days. Rent it, watch it, return it.

The brick and mortar video retailer won't be around for much longer. Eventually, Netflix (and any other competitor that rises up) will be the status quo for renting DVDs. However, the push for online content will change the game once again. The good news for Netflix is that they're already streaming content online. They're looking ahead to the future and getting ready for an ever-shifting market.

 

[Data Holmes]

Blockbuster does offer streaming to computer over it's website, as well as a set top box for tv's , direct streaming on select new tv's and through new tivo unit's.

It also is looking to offer video game rentals by mail through it's online program by the end of next year.

 

[Amaris]

Blockbuster does offer streaming to computer over it's website, as well as a set top box for tv's , direct streaming on select new tv's and through new tivo unit's.

It also is looking to offer video game rentals by mail through it's online program by the end of next year.

Ah, but too little, too late. Netflix has the same setup and has the lead over Blockbuster by leaps and bounds, the quality is better, the price is cheaper and customer service is generally higher.


J.

 

[Data Holmes]

Blockbuster does offer streaming to computer over it's website, as well as a set top box for tv's , direct streaming on select new tv's and through new tivo unit's.

It also is looking to offer video game rentals by mail through it's online program by the end of next year.

Ah, but too little, too late. Netflix has the same setup and has the lead over Blockbuster by leaps and bounds, the quality is better, the price is cheaper and customer service is generally higher.


J.

Sometimes the hair looses to the tortoise.

 

[bigdaddy]

Blockbuster actually started to do something right when they had it that you can bring your mail in rental to the store and get a free rental, everyone started switchign over to BB. That made Netflix lower the price by a dollar. Within two months BB wrecked that and put limits in place at which time everyone switched back to Netflix.

BB is a shit company run by idiots. They drove themselves into the ground.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Sometimes the hair looses to the tortoise.

I really hate loose hair.

 

[RoJoHen]

Sometimes the hair looses to the tortoise.

I really hate loose hair.

I'm impressed that tortoise was spelled correctly, while the other words were not.

 

[Holdfast]

Sometimes the hair looses to the tortoise.

I really hate loose hair.

I'm impressed that tortoise was spelled correctly, while the other words were not.

It was probably done on porpoise.

 

[Trekker4747]

I really hate loose hair.

I'm impressed that tortoise was spelled correctly, while the other words were not.

It was probably done on porpoise.

Quiet you.

 

[Michael Chris]

Blockbuster is good for the impulsive "I want to see that old movie that's not on Netflix Instant Watch RIGHT NOW!" For everything else though Netflix and Redbox are far better alternatives.

Netflix is just amazing! I have far too much stuff waiting to be seen, though! Ninety on my instant queue (many of which are entire seasons of TV) and 193 DVDs and Blu-rays to ship!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I really hate loose hair.

I'm impressed that tortoise was spelled correctly, while the other words were not.

It was probably done on porpoise.

I can't fin a reason why it wouldn't.

 

[StarshipDefiant]

My problems with Blockbuster, was usually the return times, being in the middle of the day, or whatever time it is, or you get a late fee. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried to arrange it, I would either still be late or have to go out of my way to return it on time.