Blockbuster Canada in receivership

[Thor]

Jumbo Video, free popcorn and porn section! Wasn't there one called video showcase or something like that, Deer Valley mall not far from the gas station and McDonalds today.

[ma-skis.com]

Originally Posted by Thor

Still, I'll never miss the stupid customers

I worked their too and had a buddy dealing with a lady at a different store, trying to get a rental for free, or some deal where she got some food for free. Anyways, he kept turning her down when she finally says

"well, what can i get from you guys?"

"our smiles are free."

"so can I have a smile?"

"sorry, we're all out of smiles"

Best bbv story i ever heard, hardest part he said was keeping a straight face while saying it.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Couldn't happen to a nicer company.

Happy to watch them fade into obscurity.

[Misterpants]

NW love for "Flicks" in Crowfoot. Sweet pron section with the saloon doors. Greatest selection of B movies anywhere. Basket Case FTW.

[troutman]

Torrents killed the video store.

[troutman]

When the Blockbuster in Kensington closed a few months ago, they were practically giving away all the inventory - including snacks and soft drinks.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Misterpants

NW love for "Flicks" in Crowfoot. Sweet pron section with the saloon doors. Greatest selection of B movies anywhere. Basket Case FTW.

There was one in Beddington too, great store.

[chemgear]

I remember reading this a while back as I rode Netflix stock up like crazy.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20025235-261.html

"I remembered getting on a plane, I think sometime in 2000, with Reed [Hastings] and [Netflix co-founder] Marc Randolph and flying down to Dallas, Texas and meeting with John Antioco," McCarthy said in the interview "Reed had the chutzpah to propose to them that we run their brand online and that they run [our] brand in the stores and they just about laughed us out of their office.

[Northendzone]

not specific to BB - but i can recall being younger and renting 3 or 4 movies and having a marathon movie night.......i know that shaw on demand is a little bit more - but it is nice to not have to deal with going to the video store........although i will concede that the quality of a blue ray seems a cut above HD......

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by fotze

I remember Cinematica video in Oakridge. Beat that suckers.

Was that before it was Gold Video? Old Chinese George was hilarious.

[JiriHrdina]

I worked in video stores for years through University - starting with "More Than Video" off 64 Ave NE, followed by Rogers on 14th, Woodbine, 17th Ave and Country Hills. It was a great job and I have great memories of the people I worked with. As far as part-time work for a young person - the video store is pretty much a home run.

I also worked in the marketing department of Rogers Video in their head office - during a time when there should be have been talk about how to adapt to the internet and what not. Sadly I can tell you from being on the inside -companies like Rogers and Blockbuster didn't see their demise coming at all until it was too late.

To answer the Rogers/porn question - overall Rogers had a policy that they would not carry adult movies. However - there were exceptions. The parent company would acquire other chains from time to time and if those stores had porn they would be allowed to keep it. And the store on 17th Avenue was allowed to carry porn for a while because....well...at that location it was just so darn popular.

I haven't been to a video store in years - but I gotta say the one thing I will miss is walking into a store and searching for the perfect movie. Some of my all time favourite "hidden gems" were only discovered because the new release I wanted was out so I was forced to go hunting for something else. That's not something that really happens anymore in the on-demand world. But hunting for that right movie with a bunch of friends and arguing over which one to get - was kinda fun.

[Igottago]

Is everything really available in the online world now? What if you want to rent something older or more obscure? Is it easily rentable online? Itunes seems to mainly feature newer movies as rentals, with older movies available for purchase. Not sure about Netflix. And as other people have said, how are you going to rent blu rays without a video store?

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Is everything really available in the online world now? What if you want to rent something older or more obscure? Is it easily rentable online? Itunes seems to mainly feature newer movies as rentals, with older movies available for purchase. Not sure about Netflix. And as other people have said, how are you going to rent blu rays without a video store?

I suspect that until internet infrastructure provides Blu-Ray quality streaming, the "via Mail" method is going to be really strong (I really liked Zip.ca and found it to be terrific value).

Pending the monetization of bandwidth, the via Mail method may just be a longer term solution for rarer titles.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by troutman

Torrents killed the video store.

You know, I used to be really hardcore against streaming torrents. I considered it stealing.

Then the other day, I popped in a movie I got from Netflix, and I couldn't skip any of the commercials, previews, or warnings. Not only couldn't I skip them... I couldn't even fast forward them.

That's the first time I'd ever seen that. It was too much to take. Especially for POS like "Skyline". I'm pretty much good with streaming from now on.

I guess it's still stealing - but if you're going to subject me to unfastforwardable commercials... all bets are off.

[Aeneas]

I still go to Casablanca in Marda Loop every now and then. Been a while though.
Usually to get a foreign film that I have heard about.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

You know, I used to be really hardcore against streaming torrents. I considered it stealing.

It still is.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by J-bo09

Those were the best days ever. Picking a game based on the cover art and not because of a review or preview. Back then you got info from word of mouth or maybe nintendo power.

Now days the carful process of picking a game (which could be great or terrible) is gone

Your comments are very similar to Jon Bon Jovi regarding iTunes:

http://www.zimbio.com/Jon+Bon+Jovi/a...unes+destroyed

Bon Jovi tells The Sunday Times Magazine, “Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it.”

I guess this is what it is like to get old and talk about the good ole days. Like the days when I could rent pron from the Rogers near Southland and Elbow Drive SW.

[Ozy_Flame]

Anyone know if Casablanca video is struggling? Or is it for a real niche audience?

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by troutman

It still is.

I will personally only use torrents when there is a movie that I can't find at the video store - such as Armadillo, a Danish movie about troops in the Helmand province in Afghanistan. I looked and I couldn't find it - I don't have a netflix account so I can't use that so I downloaded it off a torrent site. Not saying it is right but what other options do I have?

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Is everything really available in the online world now? What if you want to rent something older or more obscure? Is it easily rentable online? Itunes seems to mainly feature newer movies as rentals, with older movies available for purchase. Not sure about Netflix. And as other people have said, how are you going to rent blu rays without a video store?

And how are you going to rent Betamax tapes? I mean I have this beta player right here and I cant rent tapes for it anymore...

I think Bluray is going to die as well. Not right away because that is a lot of data that our bandwidth can't deal with atm. I think more people will be willing to deal with a slightly lower quality from (netflix/vod/ppv) than are willing to drive to a video store to rent a movie.

You can always purchase the movie on Bluray if quality is that important to you.