Students who frequent the local Blockbuster to rent videos or grab a movie-related snack might have to start looking for a new place to do so come April.
The video store, located at 693 E. Grand River Ave., is slated to close in mid-April, a Blockbuster spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson said the decision is subject to change as the company evaluates the current state of its U.S. stores.
“As part of the recapitalization process, Blockbuster will be evaluating its U.S. store portfolio with a view toward enhancing the overall profitability of the store operations,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “No decisions have been made at this time.”
Further comment specifically regarding the East Lansing location were not provided.
In September 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy and announced Feb. 21 it was looking into selling the company. The corporate changes would not affect day-to-day operations of local store locations.
Considering the onset of online movie distribution with companies such as Netflix, it’s not surprising movie-rental stores are starting to wane, predental freshman Logan White said. White, a Netflix user, said the convenience factor of getting movies online has prompted him and many others to stop going to movie rental stores altogether.
“It’s a lot easier to just download movies than walk all the way to the store,” White said. “(Netflix is) getting better — they keep on adding more movies — and it makes going to the store not great.”
East Lansing officials have heard Blockbuster plans to close but has not had any direct conversations with Blockbuster to confirm the closure, East Lansing Community Development Specialist Heather Pope said in an e-mail.
Pope said the loss of the current Blockbuster location would be a sad one for the community.
“It is always disappointing when the (city) is notified of a business closing in the community,” Pope said. “Blockbuster is a great business to have in our downtown.”
Some students still enjoy renting movies and will be upset with the loss of the local Blockbuster, English junior Octavia Buss said.
“I like to rent movies, and I had an account there — I had no idea (of the closure),” Buss said. “I’m really disappointed.”
Buss said the location or another spot in the downtown should be utilized as a new movie-rental store for the students who still enjoy renting films from businesses such as Blockbuster.
“Somebody should be renting movies somewhere because there are people who do rent movies all the time,” Buss said.
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