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Business & Tech

Bye-Bye, Blockbuster

The Caton Farm store is the second in Plainfield to close since September.

Plainfield's last Blockbuster store is officially kaput.

A sign on the door at its former storefront, in a strip mall at 4704 Caton Farm Road, reads, “We’re Closed. We are no longer open to the public. Sorry.”

It's not news that the store was soon to be history, the casualty of the Dallas-based video rental chain’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But deep-discounted sale prices on DVDs and video games throughout March must have cleared the shelves more quickly than expected; it shut its doors almost a week and a half before the targeted April 9 closing date. 

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The window signs direct customers the next closest stores that still remain open: and .

About six months ago, just before Blockbuster’s bankruptcy was filed, Plainfield's other Blockbuster at 13400 Route 59 closed its doors. Jersey Mike’s sub shop now operates fills the space.

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The two Plainfield Blockbusters were among 182 shuttered nationwide over the last year or so, according to Associated Press reports.

Altogether, Blockbuster Inc. has shut down nearly 1,000 stores and it’s not finished closing stores yet, according to the Wall Street Journal. Blockbuster may sell out to a group of creditors for $290 million. The deal, which is being challenged by other debt holders, calls for 600 more stores to be closed this spring, the report said.

Experts in the previously robust movie rental industry blame Netflix, Redbox and cable on demand for the demise of the storefront video rental business. Customers can order movies from Netflix to be delivered by mail or directly to their computer. Redbox rents videos for $1 through vending machines outside stores such as Jewel and Walgreens. Movie watchers and gamers can place orders through their television remote controls.

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