300 Blockbuster stores to close in US
About 300 Blockbuster stores across the country will be closed by Dish Network Corp., the owner of the video rental chain. About 3,000 employees will lose their jobs. The closures will leave about 500 Blockbuster locations in the U.S., according to company spokesman John Hall.
Dish Network last year also shuttered about 500 underperforming Blockbuster locations. Hall says the stores that will be closed in coming weeks are either underperforming or nearing the end of their leases.
He says the 3,000 employees were informed about the latest closures on Friday. The store locations have not been announced.
Colorado-based Dish Network in March 2011 bought the then-bankrupt video rental chain for $320 million. It plans to move Blockbusters' headquarters from Texas to Colorado's Douglas County.
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