A big banner was draped over the windows in front of the Blockbuster video store on Dobbin Road in Columbia on Friday afternoon. It read "Store Closing."
The location will officially close on April 7, according to sign posted inside the store, making it the last Blockbuster in Howard County to close. The last Ellicott City Blockbuster closed earlier this year.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
Inside the store on Friday, a customer who was returning rentals told one of the employees she thought the store was never going to close because it was so busy and the employee responded, "I guess they just picked us."
As part of the closure, DVDs inside the store are priced at $9.99 or less and pre-used video games are selling between $10 - $40. Rentals are no longer available, said employees.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
The move comes as the owners of Blockbuster, Dish Network, recently announced plans to close about 300 stores and cut about 3,000 jobs amid the company's struggle to compete with on-demand movie rental services such as Netflix, according to a CNN Money report.
However, the move will not completely take Blockbuster out of the county, they still operate rental kiosks at the following locations:
- Food Lion: 5896 Robert Oliver Place in Columbia
- Food Lion: 6551 Waterloo Road in Elkridge
- Food Lion: 705 Lisbon Center Drive in Woodbine
Will you miss having a Blockbuster in Howard County? - Tell us in the comments.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
