Curtain Closing On Blockbuster In South Whitehall

It's a quiet curtain call in South Whitehall  for bankrupt .

Customers at the video store in the Village West shopping center at Tilghman Street and Cedar Crest Boulevard read notices saying that Thursday, Feb. 24, would be the last day for movie rentals.

Over the weekend, store employees were already getting movies ready for sale, and large portions of the store had empty space.

A hand-written sign posted on the entrance door Tuesday night said the store would close at 5 p.m. on Thursday to get ready for liquidation. On Friday,  the inventory of movies will go from rental to retail, and be sold until April 10.

The total number of layoffs wasn't disclosed.

 Dallas-based Blockbuster put itself up for sale on Monday after creditors were unable to agree on a recapitalization plan, according to Reuters news service.

Video companies such as Blockbuster have been struggling to keep up with modern technology, including subscription firms such as Netflix and $1 per-day vending machines such as Redbox. Just a stone's throw from the Blockbuster store, inside the Giant supermarket in the Village West, Redbox has an outlet. There is another at nearby Wegman's, off Tilghman Street in Allentown.

The store manager at Blockbuster passed media inquiries to corporate headquarters. As is not uncommon in bankruptcies, the communications were done by emails and not quite up to date:

“As part of the recapitalization process, Blockbuster will be evaluating its U.S. store portfolio with a view towards enhancing the overall profitability of the store operations,” said an e-mail early this week from Blockbuster’s corporate communications department. 

“Decisions will be made on a store-by-store basis over the next several months.”

Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in September. It
was seeking to lower its debt and remake itself.

At the time, the company said it expected its daily operations and video stores to continue without interruption. But, it told the New York Times that it “plans to close a sizable number of those stores as part of its reorganization.”

Carl Icahn, the billionaire corporate raider, has been the largest holder of the company's debt. According to Reuters, he did not play a part in an opening $290 million opening bid in the bankruptcy court sales auction for Blockbuster.