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Dish Network said it would shutter 500 Blockbuster video stores across the country in the first quarter, an effort to streamline its retail operations.
On a conference call with analysts to discuss fourth quarter results, Dish CEO Joe Clayton said the company would shutter stores that were underperforming, had too large a footprint or had inflexible landlords.
"Our goal is to reach a steady state store count, so that we can leverage with our current pay TV business and our future wireless enterprise, similar to the way we incorporated Blockbuster homes, by mail and streaming services, into our pay TV business," Clayton said.
This would be the second time that Dish has closed a swath of Blockbuster retail locations - in July 2011 it shut down about 200 Blockbuster locations across the country. Blockbuster currently has about 1,500 retail stores in the U.S.
