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Business & Tech

Local Blockbuster Video Rental Stores To Remain Open

Locations in Ronkonkoma and Holbrook will stay in business, as the bankrupt chain prepares to sell its assets.

Two Blockbuster locations in the Sachem area will remain open for business according to personnel at both, despite reports of closings of locations in and and the video rental chain's intention to auction its assets in a bidding process, following its bankruptcy filing on Sept. 23, 2010.

According to its corporate web site, Blockbuster states that it is continuing its business operations, including kiosks, by-mail and digital services, without interruption during the sale. 

"What we've heard from corporate is that it's business as usual," concurred Jordan Griffin, the store manager of the Ronkonkoma location on Portion Road.

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Sales there have also remained steady, he added: "Same as always."

A worker at the Holbrook location on Sunrise Highway, who did not wish to be identified, also said their store would not be shutting down.

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Blockbuster does sell franchises, however another worker at the Holbrook location said these did not include any Long Island stores. How the auctioning will affect them, versus their non-franchised counterparts, going forward is unknown. Griffin and workers at the Holbrook location declined to comment further. 

In an email from Blockbuster corporate, a spokesperson only said the stores are company owned and that they have no further updates at this time.

Commentators, including Stephen Gandel of Time Magazine in an October 2010 article, have cited competition from Netflix and Redbox as primary culprits for the company's recent woes, as well as streaming video services offered by Apple and Amazon.com which have further fragmented the rental market.

In a Bloomberg News report dated March 11, U.S. Bankruptcy judge Burton Lifland ruled that Blockbuster could auction its assets to hedge funds with a "stalking horse," or opening bid of $290 million. A more recent Bloomberg report dated March 17 said the company hopes to entertain greater buyout offers.

Billionaire financier Carl Icahn was named as a potentially interested party in the March 17 report, who is now permitted to bid after Lifland dismissed a lawsuit brought by creditors that alleged improper conduct. Icahn was also named a "pre-bankruptcy lender" and was a former member of the company's board, according to a separate report.

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