Video rental chain Blockbuster to close remaining stores

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But times have definitely changed, and DISH, Blockbuster’s current owner, today announced it will close its 300 remaining U.S. stores by early January. The Blockbuster-By-Mail service will end in mid-December.

KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis speaks with Paul Whitefield from the LA Times and Michael Schneider from TV Guide Magazine about the closure of the once-omnipresent brick-and-mortar video store.

“It’s almost like a Calvinist thing,” Whitefield said. “We in America, we like to suffer along with our pleasure. There was a delicious suffering to everybody having to go to Blockbuster to get their videos, and it was kind of a bonding experience.”