Video Stores and Their Importance

Blockbuster Video may have to throw in and start a new game. With dwindling DVD sales and rentals, and consumer anguish over high retail prices Blockbuster has their hands full. Not to mention alternative options like streams, downloads, Netflix and RedBox, creating a whole new playing field. Blockbuster shares have been bouncing under $1 throughout the year and since 2007 Blockbuster reportedly has a loss of nearly $1 billion. In order to escape this billion dollar debt, the chain may close nearly 3000 stores across America. The question is will physical rental outlets like Blockbuster remain needed or will they go away for good in the future. I must say, considering the negative energy from "late fees" and "disgruntled employee/consumer interaction" of a any DVD/Video rental store, the concept of teenagers, couples and families having somewhere to hang out for 30 minutes on a Saturday night is needed. The dialogue over whether or not to buy popcorn, pop, chocolate covered peanuts or raisins, and even what genre of movie to get is pivotal to the human condition. We all remember slow walking the video isles with our significant other as we discover each other's likes and dislikes and analyze each other's personalities based on our choices of film. So yes, in a anthropological observation, I don't think rentals stores will go away completely, nor will their need of being.