Blockbuster Is Closing 300 Stores And Laying Off 3,000 Workers

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Blockbuster has announced that it's closing around 300 stores in the U.S. over the next few weeks.

That's around 35 percent of its total brick-and-mortar presence of 850 stores.

Around 3,000 employees will be laid off as a result of the closings, according to a spokesperson from parent company Dish Network.

"We continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand and we will continue to analyze store level profitability and — as we have in the past — close unprofitable stores," the spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times.

Dish acquired Blockbuster back in a 2011 bankruptcy sale. At that point, the chain operated around 1,700 stores.

The company had planned to leverage Blockbuster's brand name to push its streaming service to compete with Netflix and Redbox.