Movie Gallery Inc., which operates Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video and Game Crazy retail stores, announced it will close all stores following its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in three years.
In March, Movie Gallery closed two of its Springfield stores – 1380 E. Republic Road and 2127 W. Republic Road. The closings were the first to impact Movie Gallery’s 15 stores in southwest Missouri, including eight in the Springfield metropolitan area.
The news was not a surprise to local Movie Gallery staff. Staff at stores nationwide were notified April 30 of the company’s decision.
Ashley Dulyea, manager of the 3303 E. Sunshine St. Movie Gallery, did not know how many workers would be out of a job following the closings of the southwest Missouri stores. The company employed more than 19,000 when it filed for bankruptcy, according to a May 3 Wall Street Journal report.
Before announcing the liquidation, the company already was working to shutter more than half of its 2,415 video rental stores. Movie Gallery was the second largest movie rental chain behind Blockbuster, according to www.moviegallery.com.
Dulyea said a definite closing date for the remaining stores has not been announced. “When we found out that the store was closing, they gave us 30 to 60 days and said end of June, early July,” Dulyea said.
Similar plans have been rumored for Blockbuster Inc. since 2009. Blockbuster closed 253 stores nationwide in January and planned to close another 150 stores by April. The company closed a Springfield store, 1839 Independence St., in February. There are two Blockbuster stores still open in Springfield.
Online movie ordering and technology including video streaming from companies such as Netflix and others as well as rental from kiosks including Redbox have hurt the traditional brick-and-mortar video-rental stores, according to past Springfield Business Journal coverage.[[In-content Ad]]
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