Blockbuster Canada to Close 140 Stores
Blockbuster Canada has notified its staff of the closure of 140 locations across Canada. Set to be closed June 18th, Blockbuster Canada employees have not been informed on what closures mean for their employment with the company.
Court-ordered receiver Grant Thornton Ltd. has been authorized to initiate the Blockbuster purchase process and has not specified what store closures mean for employees or whether layoffs are imminent.
"While Blockbuster Canada will be consolidating certain stores in the next few weeks, the majority of its stores are continuing to operate in the ordinary course during the (receivership) process," Grant Thornton said in a statement to the Canadian Press.
As Blockbuster Canada has been going through its bankruptcy process, employees were informed their pay days would change from bi-weekly to weekly payments and have been instructed not to sell gift certificates.
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Customers will be able to rent videos through Thursday at stores scheduled to close, while liquidation sales will start Friday.
Grant Thornton is in the process of looking for potential buyers for Blockbuster Canada’s assets. These include 400 movie and video game rental stores and 4,000 employees across Canada.
The company was placed under receivership earlier this month facing its $70 million USD in debts.
Additionally, Blockbuster Canada is clashing with the new parent company of the US division, Dish Network Corp—which bought the US business last September. Dish Network is claiming Blockbuster Canada should no longer have rights to the “Blockbuster” name, something that would cause detriment to business claims Blockbuster Canada.
Another issue affecting the movie rental industry is new competitors such as Netflix and cable providers video on demand services. Companies such as Blockbuster will have to fight to find market share in the new technological industry to survive.
