Blockbuster to merge with Circuit City

[rocklobster]

In case you folks haven't heard, Blockbuster is looking to buy up Circuit City and turn it into Blockbuster Electronics. This means you'll still be able to buy ordinary stuff you'd expect to buy there, but now you'll be able to rent movies as well! I like this because Circuit City has anime. Yes, I know Netflix lets you rent anime (and there are other venues too), but most of them feel like those buy 20 CD's for a penny deals (especially Netflix). I like Blockbuster's methods better. What do you folks think?

[Roy Mustang]

It really doesn't matter to me.

I stop going to Blockbuster in my city, due to poor service years ago.

The closest Circuit City is 20 miles anyway and never carried anything that I was looking for and what they carried as for as anime was a joke.

I just go to the Best Buy in my city. They have a big line of anime titles as well as everything else that I need in terms of electronics.

[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[Radical Dreamer]

I'm not really surprised by this. Circuit City has taken a huge blow because of Best Buy's success, so the merge (or Circuit City's closing, rather) has been a long time coming. Interesting idea, though. I'll be curious to see how it works out.

[ShiroiHikari]

I hate Blockbuster and I've never even been to Circuit City, so...meh. And I don't see the comparison between 20 CDs for a penny and Netflix.

[EricTheFred]

Fry's beats all of them! (And ours is only about four miles from my house.)

[Kurama]

Hmmmm This may prove to be interesting. ^^

[rocklobster]

The reason I find Netflix comparitive to a CD club is that there's a monthly subscription fee and they seem bent on you constantly renting stuff, just like CD clubs make you think you're getting a colossal deal, then hit you with huge fees.

[AsianBlossom]

Say whut? XD

Should be interesting. What does this do to Blockbuster customers?

[ShiroiHikari]

I pay 13 bucks a month for Netflix and I get my money's worth out of it. I don't have cable and refuse to subscribe to it, so having something new to watch that I actually want to see is very nice. I can watch it on my own time and there are no commercials. And for only 13 bucks a month? Pretty sweet deal.

[starwarsboy90]

Fry's Electronics does beat Circut City anyday. I like Blockbuster more then Hollywood Videos and most other video rental stores. So, it would be interesting to see this merger.

[Cognitive Gear]

I can only hope that this merger causes both companies to pick up the sack. I stopped going to Blockbuster years ago due to poor customer service, the lack of indie movies, and their tendency to kill my favorite Mom & Pop rental stores. I stopped shopping at Circuit City because they had less service and higher prices than Best Buy.

I'd really like to find a true competitor to Best Buy. Fry's and Micro Center are great, but I would put them both into a different category, as they seem to be more akin to something like Costco.

The reason I find Netflix comparitive to a CD club is that there's a monthly subscription fee and they seem bent on you constantly renting stuff, just like CD clubs make you think you're getting a colossal deal, then hit you with huge fees.

Not really. In fact, they are nothing alike at all. I subscribe to Netflix, and it's the best use of 13$ for entertainment I spend. There aren't any hidden fees, like the CD clubs you mention. They don't require that you rent any certain number of movies per month, unlike CD clubs. In fact, Netflix is a great deal with fantastic customer service.

I can't imagine what anyone would have against the service they offer, to be quite honest. They've even lowered their prices and added value to the subscription in the last few years.

[Syreth]

So, I'm curious now. Are they merging or is Blockbuster buying Circuit City? If they're merging, then it will probably only hurt both businesses--mergers typically aren't very effective.

[ADXC]

Ah, well the Circuit City near me pretty much sucks. It may have like one anime dvd in the whole store at one time! And it got beat up pretty bad because of Best Buy(The place I like to go.). So I think if anyone is hurt by this deal it would be Blockbuster considering my Circuit City has one of the poorest selections ever.

[rocklobster]

I can only hope that this merger causes both companies to pick up the sack. I stopped going to Blockbuster years ago due to poor customer service, the lack of indie movies, and their tendency to kill my favorite Mom & Pop rental stores. I stopped shopping at Circuit City because they had less service and higher prices than Best Buy.

I'd really like to find a true competitor to Best Buy. Fry's and Micro Center are great, but I would put them both into a different category, as they seem to be more akin to something like Costco.



Not really. In fact, they are nothing alike at all. I subscribe to Netflix, and it's the best use of 13$ for entertainment I spend. There aren't any hidden fees, like the CD clubs you mention. They don't require that you rent any certain number of movies per month, unlike CD clubs. In fact, Netflix is a great deal with fantastic customer service.

I can't imagine what anyone would have against the service they offer, to be quite honest. They've even lowered their prices and added value to the subscription in the last few years.

Okay, what about the fact that you can only get one movie delivered to you at a time, and if you want more than one movie delivered, it costs extra?

[Nate]

Okay, what about the fact that you can only get one movie delivered to you at a time, and if you want more than one movie delivered, it costs extra?

Netflix dropped the single rental model in early 2000. Since then it has built its reputation on its model of flat-fee unlimited rentals with no due dates, late fees, shipping or handling fees, or per-title rental fees.

Are you browsing news sites from eight years ago? o.O

[Cognitive Gear]

Okay, what about the fact that you can only get one movie delivered to you at a time, and if you want more than one movie delivered, it costs extra?

This is like saying "What about the fact that you can only buy one taco, and if you want a second one you have to pay extra?"

Since when is paying more for optional services a bad thing? I'm fairly certain that this is common practice just about everywhere.

[CrimsonRyu17]

This does not surprise me at all nor do I honestly care. All of the Blockbusters I've been to before sucked and Circuit City bores me. Best Buy is by far my favorite.

As for the whole DVD rental discussion, I will sum up my feelings in simple words.

Netflix wins, Blockbuster fails.

[ShiroiHikari]

Blockbuster fails because they sold me a DVD that was marked 16.99 for 19.99. I said to the girl, "Um, this says 16.99 on it, but it rang up at 19.99." She just looked at me like, "And?" I really wish I hadn't bought it, but I had been looking all over the city for that movie and couldn't find it anywhere, so I went to Blockbuster as a desperate last resort. :\

Anyway, I'll never set foot in another Blockbuster. If I need to rent a movie real quick-like and don't want to wait for it, there's a place down the way called Family Video, and 7-11 has MovieQuik for 99 cents. So who needs stupid Blockbuster? XD

[Azier the Swordsman]

Blockbuster fails because they sold me a DVD that was marked 16.99 for 19.99. I said to the girl, "Um, this says 16.99 on it, but it rang up at 19.99." She just looked at me like, "And?" I really wish I hadn't bought it, but I had been looking all over the city for that movie and couldn't find it anywhere, so I went to Blockbuster as a desperate last resort. :\

Couldn't you have asked for a manager?

The girl could have gotten in a lot of trouble for being that rude.

[ShiroiHikari]

There wasn't anybody else in the store but her.

[Azier the Swordsman]

There wasn't anybody else in the store but her.

I would have returned at a later time.

It's policy for ALL retail stores to sell the product for the price on the item, no matter what. (Excluding expiration dates, and shoplifters switching the price tags, ect.)

You should have been able to get some money back.

[creed4]

Fry's beats all of them! (And ours is only about four miles from my house.)

i don't know where the nearest fry's is but when i did live near one it was cool

[Doubleshadow]

I wish Circuit City would have thrown in the towel sooner rather than go through mass firings and wage reductions.