E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Send E-mail
Reprint story
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Last Duke City Blockbuster Closing
By Rivkela Brodsky
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal Journal Staff Writer
There was a time you could find a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video as easily as driving around the corner.
Not any more.
This week, Blockbuster announced it is closing its lone remaining Albuquerque store, at 9550 Sage Road SW. Hollywood Video announced last month it expects to close all but one of its Albuquerque locations.
Economic conditions, including increased competition from companies such as Netflix and Redbox, have been blamed for the demise of video rental stores.
"There's just too many options for entertainment," said Nicole Dinsman, regional manager for Serendipity Entertainment Corp., the franchise owner of New Mexico Blockbusters.
Added Blockbuster customer David Dimick: "That's shocking. ... I guess those little $1.50 (Redbox) machines are taking over."
Dimick, stopping by the Sage SW store Monday, said he had been renting at that location "since all the other ones closed."
"That's too bad," another customer, Roland Oliver, said about the news when he dropped off a DVD on his way to work.
The news comes just a month after Hollywood Video's parent company filed for bankruptcy reorganization and said it planned to close six of seven locations in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, leaving only one open at 106 Girard SE.
The latest Blockbuster closure leaves one location in Rio Rancho at 2001 Southern Blvd. SE, Dinsman said.
"(The Sage store) just wasn't making it," said Brad Scott, communications director for Serendipity Entertainment Corp.
Scott and Dinsman were preparing the 3,000-square-foot location Monday for a clearance sale. The store reopens today to sell off its inventory at $5 apiece for games, DVDs and videos. It will be open from noon to 7 p.m. today, Wednesday and Thursday for the sale.
Dinsman said the company at one point had 30 locations in New Mexico. With this closure, the company will have five in New Mexico and one in Durango, Colo.
"We're lucky and fortunate enough to have other locations," said Dinsman, who has worked for the company for 19 years.
Hollywood Video closed two of its seven Albuquerque locations since parent company Movie Gallery Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. Those locations were at 2600 San Pedro NE and 13110 Central SE. As part of the filing, the company plans to close four more locations, leaving one store open. When contacted by the Journal on Monday, workers at those locations could not name a closing date.
Blockbuster had 13 stores in Albuquerque in 2008. Four of them closed later that year along with Santa Fe's only location and one in Alamogordo. At that time, a Journal article listed nine other stores operating in Albuquerque.
Just a year later, in September 2009, Scott told the Journal only three locations between Albuquerque and Rio Rancho remained in the area.
Ruidoso also lost its only Blockbuster in March 2009, and Las Cruces lost all of its three locations last year.
Blockbuster stores that remain are two in Gallup, one in Farmington, one in Aztec and one in Rio Rancho, Dinsman said.
Hollywood Video's Web site lists seven other locations in New Mexico — one each in Bernalillo, Los Lunas, Edgewood, Belen, Santa Fe, Española and Las Vegas. It posts no mention of a liquidation sale at any of them.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
