Blockbuster Video to close in La Cañada

La Cañada Flintridge residents hosting a movie night will soon have their selection slashed, as the city’s Blockbuster movie rental store is closing permanently on April 15.

The store is currently holding a liquidation sale, selling everything in the store including shelving and other fixtures. Prices will drop each week until the closure.

Brie Lempry, the manager on duty, said that while not that many customers had come in as of yet, they are expecting more to arrive as prices drop.

The move is part of a larger corporate cost-cutting measure by Dish Network, which purchased Blockbuster out of bankruptcy. According to the Wall Street Journal, Dish Network announced on Friday that it would be closing one third of all remaining Blockbuster retail locations in the first half of the year. This makes La Cañada’s Blockbuster just one of 500 of the remaining 1,500 locations to close.

When Blockbuster moves out, it will leave La Cañada Video on Foothill and Gould as the only video rental store in the city.

Hamlet Shahbazian, owner of La Cañada Video, said that he wasn’t sure how Blockbuster’s closing would affect his business.

“It’s always good to have competition. But also we’re glad to have extra business,
he said. “But it’s too early to make a judgment.”

Shahbazian said that while it certainly isn’t a good time for movie rental stores, La Cañada Video was still going.

“Well, it’s always been tough, it’s been tough, we’re doing ok, for now,” he said.

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-- Daniel Siegal, Times Community News

Twitter: @ValleySunDan