Dish to close 300 Blockbuster stores, 3,000 jobs may be lost

[marmar]

(Reuters) - Dish Network Corp plans to close 300 Blockbuster stores in the United States in the coming weeks and could lay off as many as 3,000 employees, a move that comes days after the DVD rental firm's UK unit went into administration.

Dish is trying to shed unprofitable Blockbuster outlets as online retailers like Amazon.Com Inc and download sites like Apple Inc's iTunes eat away at Blockbuster's business model. The potential job cuts represent about 40 percent of Blockbuster's U.S. workforce of 7,300 people.

"We continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand and we will continue to analyze store-level profitability and, as we have in the past, close unprofitable stores," Dish said in a statement. The company did not disclose the locations of the store closings. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/dish-close-300-blockbuster-stores-3-000-jobs-035624824--finance.html

[Shadowflash]

1. I never am happy about anybody losing their jobs

But this couldn't happen to a more deserving business.

I live in Michigan and four, or so, years ago on a cold, snowy January night, we went into one of their stores here to get a few movies for the weekend. My 5 year old daughter and I had just come from having dinner and swung by on the way home.

After spending about twenty minutes in the store, and having picked out a movie or two, my daughter decided that she needed to use the bathroom, as most small children do after a meal. We went to the bathroom and the sign said not for use by the public, however, as anybody with small children knows, they don't mention they have to use the bathroom until they REALLY have to go.

I pleaded with the staff to let her use the bathroom but they absolutely refused. they expected us to bundle back up, get in the car, go somewhere else for her to use the bathroom and then come back to finish our shopping.

Needless to say. I didn't go back to finish picking out movies, EVER, and I've never been happier to see a chain go out of business.

[CalFresh]

2. So one person

working at one store was an ass to you your happy that 3000 people are out of work?

[Agschmid]

3. And I quote from the previous poster...

"I never am happy about anybody losing their jobs"

I understand his frustration with the service.

[Shadowflash]

4. Yup.

The same as ONE Whole Foods CEO was an ass and it started a whole boycott movement

Or the same as ONE pizza chain owner saying something some people don't like and boycotting the whole company.

This was the Representative of the company I've dealt with. He was the face of the company.

The same as the restaurant you will never go back to because the ONE waitress gave lousy service or the ONE cook couldn't get your order right.

[HangOnKids]

11. That Is NOT What The OP Said And You Know It

Keep on keeping on CAL, you are just a hoot!

[Yavin4]

5. Automation destroys more jobs than outsourcing

Delivery of goods and services will require less and less human input, and there will be less jobs.

[Spike89]

9. Great observation. That is reality.

I hear lots of people railing against the loss of jobs and they always (almost) point to offshoring as the culprit, but won't look at the deeper issue--we are hurtling toward a "black box" (in this case, a Red box) future where human labor/interaction is minimal.

On a macro scale, this can be a great thing--just as the industrial age allowed people to do more than just struggle for the basics, the post-industrial age will allow people even greater freedom. Of course, the industrial revolution didn't immediately bring in the 40-hour work week, near universal literacy, and higher standards of health and social justice. It took the better part of centuries for significant progress once the world began shifting from agrarian models--and no one can say it is anywhere near complete even in the best societies.

There is hope that an "age of plenty" can only benefit the human race and give us the opportunity to get past the economics of scarcity (why is gold worth more by weight than even the Mona Lisa?) Realistically, it isn't going to be a smooth transition and as always, the poor and the uneducated are going to suffer the most during the upheaval.

We need to begin planning for a post-industrial society. It isn't enough to throw labels on it, like "the service or knowledge" economy. We've got to start reevaluating our priorities.

[Yavin4]

12. We're Entering a World Without Work

Automation and robotics will eventually replace a majority of human labor. Everything that I once did as a Paralegal 20 years ago -- legal research, case file organization, document managemet--is completely automated today. My former profession is obsolete.

Eventually, without work, wealth will have to be re-distributed. Those who are wealthy now will be able to enjoy it, but when they die, their wealth will be confiscated and re-distributed. They won't be allowed to pass it on to their children.

We'll have a system wherein everyone is given a basic income or standard of living with financial incentives for those who want to create real products and services that actually improve our lives, like bio research, the arts, etc.

[Spike89]

13. "work" will be (once again) redefined

There will always be "work", even if it is not something we currently think of as such. A couple hundred years ago, there were no paralegals and work meant physical labor at least 6 days a week for 10-16 hours. A precious few were professionals who didn't "work", but had careers. Obviously the industrial revolution opened the door for massively reduced work hours and many more professional careers. The post-industrial world will almost certainly see a further reduction in the standard work week and many new types of work.

Just as the child of a middle-ages serf would have scoffed at the idea of regular people sitting down at a desk for a living, we would be amazed at what will be considered a profession in a hundred years. My guess is that "work" will involve highly social interactions.

[bunnies]

6. The Blockbuster stores near me went out long ago.

Im actually surprised to hear there are still Blockbusters at all.

[marmar]

8. There are definitely a lot fewer of them......

but there are still some.

[RobinA]

10. Me Too!

Renting movies with friends is a thing of the past. Now we're stuck with whatever "on demand" wants to have available, which is nowhere near what was available at the store. Although, the movie industry decided it didn't want my dollar years ago, so the lack of places to rent their product is less of a loss than it could have been.

[MadrasT]

7. I didn't know there were still any Blockbuster stores.

I haven't seen one in a long time.