Dish Network Corp., the satellite-TV provider that bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy in April, will keep about 90 percent of the video-rental chain’s U.S. stores after shutting down as many as 200 locations.
Dish will retain more than 1,500 U.S. stores and 15,000 employees, according to a statement Thursday. The stores will be refurbished and restocked with new movies while maintaining the look and feel of Blockbuster before its bankruptcy, said Marc Lumpkin, a Dish spokesman.
The Douglas County-based company purchased Blockbuster for $320 million April 26, inheriting about 1,700 U.S. stores, about half of the 3,300 locations before the bankruptcy. Blockbuster sales had declined as Netflix Inc. customers soared and Coinstar Inc.’s Redbox DVD vending machines competed for kiosk business in supermarkets and drugstores.
Dish closed the additional 100 to 200 stores because they weren’t profitable enough or the company couldn’t come to an agreement with landlords on new leases, Lumpkin said. The satellite-TV provider will eventually sell its own products in the Blockbuster stores, he said.
Dish rose 32 cents to $31.91 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.
