Editor's Note: This article was updated with new information at 12:45 p.m. on Jan. 3.
As the nationwide trend continues, Blockbusters are beginning to close, and the local franchise on Main Street confirms they are following suit by ending their rental program.
Blockbuster, located at N65 W24838 Main Street, verified the closure but became upset and declined to comment further with any details on what is to come.
However, signs were recently posted advertising the entire store is on sale to liquidate its inventory. Employees at the store said the store will close in March, and they will lose their jobs.
The store is currently selling all of its DVDs, Blu-Ray discs and video games at a discounted price, currently at 15 percent off. Employees said prices are expected to continually drop as the closure date nears, but selection will obviously be smaller.
Patch contacted Blockbuster Headquarters to gain further insight on the closure, but the company's media contacts didn't address the Sussex store. Rather, they sent a generic written statement that could be used for any closing store.
"Blockbuster continues to evaluate the performance of each store location individually," the statement read. "As we have said in previous statements, we remain committed to maintaining only those stores that we believe we will be able to operate profitably.Stores can close for a number of reasons, such as the store reaching the end of its lease, a store may be too large in size, or property owners may be unwilling to reach a reasonable lease renewal."
To take it a step further, Patch contacted Village Administrator Jeremy Smith and he said he had no knowledge of the franchise closing until Patch contacted him for a comment.
“I haven’t heard anything directly,” Smith said. “A month ago they announced they were closing a bunch of stores, but they didn’t say if Sussex was on that list.”
The closure comes after Blockbuster L.L.C. announced they saved more than 1,500 stores nationwide in July.
A decrease in video and game rentals correlates with the increase of cable providers offering On Demand features and by an abundance of convenient video stalls such as Redbox.
Patch will keep you updated as more information on the closing becomes available.
Victor Drover
7:33 am on Thursday, December 29, 2011
Great follow-up work there Andy.
Andy Ambrosius
9:27 am on Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thanks! My reporter Jared was the real writer here, but we both called around. I was hoping the manager at Blockbuster would have been more talkative, but you can't win 'em all.
DJ Bradley
10:03 am on Thursday, December 29, 2011
I do hope the village gets more informed about this because now the movie rentals at the library will be swamped. The saddest thing about this is that Blockbuster provided an option for family entertainment, and now Sussex is left without a viable family entertainment outlet.
Andy Ambrosius
10:24 am on Thursday, December 29, 2011
I love renting movies from the library, but their selection is so limited compared to Blockbuster. I wonder what business will lease that space now?
Chris
10:50 am on Thursday, December 29, 2011
There is always Redbox...but standing in line at a kiosk is not the same experience as browsing aisles of movies...perhaps even finding a little known gem to take home. I was never a fan of Blockbuster per se, but still hate to see any business go. Perhaps we'll be "blessed" with yet another pub/grill? ;)
Andy Ambrosius
10:56 am on Thursday, December 29, 2011
LOL. And you're right - Redbox doesn't have those '90s movies I like to snag every once in a while, either. If the selection is crappy, it's what you're stuck with.
DJ Bradley
6:58 pm on Friday, December 30, 2011
FYI, I was just in the Blockbuster, and it is true that they are closing, apparently by March. They are no longer renting videos or games; you have to purchase them. I feel so terrible for the employees who will be losing their jobs.
Andy Ambrosius
12:56 pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Note to commenters, the article has been updated with new information.
Victor Drover
1:17 pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Andy, could you note at the bottom what was updated?
Andy Ambrosius
1:20 pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Sure. They officially, officially confirmed that they are closing in March. Also, they are selling off their products rather than renting anymore, and everyone at the store will be losing their jobs.
Kristi
1:16 pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Though there are other outlets - There is no place for anyone in this area to get new popular new releases without actually purchasing the movie. There is a delay on RedBox and if the movie was popular, Zune (a rental service on gaming consoles) will only have the purchase option available for a few weeks. Sorry to see that these people will lose their jobs and we lose an entertainment outlet.
Victor Drover
1:18 pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012
I'd recommend getting an appleTV. New releases, $4.99 to rent.
Andy Ambrosius
9:30 am on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
I've been wanting to get an Apple TV, Victor. They're only $99 and can do so much. I currently have a Mac Mini hooked up to my living room tv, but it's soooo slow.
Will Silvers
6:51 am on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
I joked with my wife about starting a business in the same building - Blockbuster Tax Service. Signage could be reused, you could pick a movie/show to watch if you wanted to wait, and 'block'Buster would directly affront one of the largest, overpriced, untrained (generally) services already in existence today.
Joseph
7:46 am on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The only other rental place that has decent service is Family Video. Hollywood Video was worse than Blockbuster. I wish Jem Photo/Galaxy Video was still around.
Mike B
9:12 pm on Monday, March 19, 2012
If you use the library's online system, they have many thousands of movies to choose from. All of Waukesha is combined and they ship the movies from library to library. We get movies from there all the time. You just have to plan ahead and take them as they come. If you're looking for something on the spot, then obviously you just have to take what you can get.