UPDATE: Local Blockbuster Ends Rental Program, Plans to Close

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 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.