Rogers has finally thrown in the towel when it comes to their movie and video game rentals – the last few Rogers’ stores that are still open have turned into liquidation centres in preparation of a final closing.
At the end of last year the company announced that they’d be closing 40 percent of their stores, which meant that 93 stores were still stocked with DVDs and gaming options. However, those storefronts are closing its doors now too.
As The Canadian Press explained, Rogers intends to keep those locations open to serve its other businesses, such as TV and wireless services. Yet, as far back as 2005, Rogers had been signalling that its video business was doing poorly, and in February, the company reported its video operations lost $23 million in 2011 on revenues of $82 million, which were down 43 per cent from the previous year.
Last year, Blockbuster Canada also closed down hundreds of stores, so with the Rogers’ announcement, this means that Canadians no longer have a national video rental store chain.
“We’re just refocusing our retail offering and so at those locations we’re going to be investing in infrastructure,” said spokeswoman Leigh-Ann Popek to the CP. “Some stores are going to be repurposed, some are going to be repurposed and/or relocated to better real estate. The plan is we’re going to be opening at least 30 new stores in addition by the end of the year.”
If you’re still a rental junkie, you’ll find the chain Le SuperClub Videotron in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario, as well as the Jumbo Video name in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island.
