Dish Network Announces Plans To Keep 600 Blockbuster Stores Running

Blockbuster was for years the place to go in many cities around the country when you wanted to watch or rent a movie. The company started to lose ground when alternatives like Netflix and Redbox started to become popular ultimately Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. I reported last week that the bankruptcy court had approved the purchase of Blockbuster by Dish Network.

At the time, one of the reasons that Dish Network won the bid was that it planned to keep the chain running. Dish plans to continue to operate about 600 of the Blockbuster stores around the country. That means that 1000 of the stores running right now will be closed. Blockbuster had already cut the number of stores to 1726.

The store closings are all around the country, including some in Dallas where the company is based. Apparently Dish hasn't yet assumed the lease for the corporate HQ of Blockbuster in downtown Dallas or the distribution center measuring a massive 850,000 square feet in McKinney. The purchase of Blockbuster cost Dish Network $320 million.

[via Finantil.tmcnet.com]