Dish Network keeping 600 Blockbuster stores open

We reported that Dish Network had purchased Blockbuster, Inc. for $320 million ($228 million in cash) in bankruptcy court last month. The company was forced to file Chapter 11 after being close to $1 billion in debt, mostly to a number of movie studios. When the news first hit, it was not known what that meant for the stores. Today a report from TheWrap states that Dish plans to take over the leases of about 500 or 600 stores. When Blockbuster entered into bankruptcy last year it had 3,200 stores, and now it has roughly 1,700 currently in operation. In its prime, the chain operated 5,700 U.S. locations and another 3,300 international stores. 

We still don't know what Dish plans to do with the stores that it’s keeping open. The plans for the purchase are being finalized today. Reports suggest that Dish will attempt at creating a Netflix competitor by using Blockbuster’s assets, while still maintaining some physical retail presence. I was not aware that Blockbuster was still doing the disc's by mail service. I have changed my Netflix plan to only be streaming and have been quite pleased. It is doubtful that the 600 stores will remain open long. If there were more Blockbuster Kiosk's nationwide (and at a comparable price to Redbox), I can see that being successful. I love using Redbox or streaming services and rarely even buy discs anymore.

What do you think?