Bally's gone, Blockbuster going

One of Smyrna’s two is closing. The location at 2350 Spring Road rented its last videos on Monday and then on Tuesday started a liquidation sale to clear inventory.

According to a store employee on Wednesday, the majority of the staff has been laid off and it’s undetermined as to when the store’s final day will be. Once it closes, Smyrna’s remaining Blockbuster store will be at 2900 S. Cobb Drive.

An announcement was posted on Dec. 19 in the window of the store located in the Plantation Point shopping center. The store is currently open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

There will discounts on all products increasing each week as long as the store is open. On Wednesday, DVDs were being sold for $9.99. Games and new retail items were 10 percent off and Blu-ray discs 15 percent off.

One wall of shelves was partially filled with lesser known movie titles being sold for just 99 cents.

The once leading provider of video and game rentals hit financial troubles in 2010 when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after accumulating $1 billion in debt.

A few months ago, Dish Network purchased the chain, which has 1,700 locations, for $228 million, according to wire reports. After its acquisition, the network decided to continue operating 500 stores, leaving the other 1,200 locations eligible for purchase. It also moved to close all Blockbuster locations in Canada.

Not too far away, the former Bally’s Total Fitness gym at 2211 Cobb Parkway sits empty after its Dec. 8 closing, not long after Bally’s sold 171 of its locations nationwide to LA Fitness. A sign in the window instructs Bally’s members to visit the LA Fitness located not far away at 2995 Cobb Parkway.

Both nationally and in the metro Atlanta area, Bally’s had been the target of ire following the purchase by its competitor. Some customers were initially told they would be out of a membership, including “lifetime” agreements that cost thousands of dollars.

But that turned out not to be true and according to a recent statement posted on the LA Fitness website, the company has doubled down on its decision to honor lifetime agreements.

"LA Fitness has decided to simplify the access rules and give all of the acquired Bally Total Fitness (“BTF”) members access to current LA Fitness clubs as described below," reads the statement, which also bullet points the following guidelines:

• BTF “Local” Members will have access to LA Fitness clubs and acquired BTF clubs in the state of enrollment*;
• BTF “National” Members will have access to those clubs in all states*; and
• Acquired BTF members who only have single club access will continue to have access to that single club (or, if that club has closed, to another BTF or LAF club nearby).
• *Except for New York clubs (unless you enrolled in NY) and clubs designated now or in the future as Signature and Athletic clubs. - Zac Farbe and Kyle Bagenstose contributed to this story.