The Wall Street Journalreportsthat chains like CVS and Safeway are facing a predicament.
You might think to yourself, Redbox seems like an easy business with low overhead.
Theyre just self-serve machines that spit out DVDs.
Retailers across the country are looking to dispose defunct Redbox kiosks. / Smith Collection/Gado/Getty
Put that all together and its really not a good business.
Its collapse marks the end of the video rental era.
Its hard not to see why.
It was appreciated especially by the budget-conscious and those living in areas with poor internet connections.
It also sometimes offered movies on DVD that werent available on a subscription streaming service.
In 2019, Chicken Soup for the Soul had purchased Crackle from Sony.
It reported a loss of $636 million for 2023 and quickly fell behind on paying Redboxs vendors.
Its very much a zero-interest rate story like so many others in tech from that time.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
Why isn’t that possible?
The data may go back close to a decade.
Redbox Is Now Deadbox
Say so long to those red kiosks outside of the convenience store.
What Place Does Physical Media Have in Our All-Digital World?
