Charting The Not-At-All-Unexpected Demise Of Redbox

If you were looking for a last-minute movie for a Friday night on the couch 15 years ago, chances are you at least considered visiting one of the thousands of Redbox kiosks located across the U.S.

By that point, many traditional movie rental stores were already starting to go out of business and the age of streaming media hadn’t fully come into its own. And Redbox flourished (albeit briefly) in the gap between these two entertainment eras.

A small window of success

You might not realize that the company, which allowed people to visit a bright red machine to rent and return DVDs, started out as something much different. In the early 2000s, it was owned by McDonald’s and the vending machines were used to sell grocery items.

But Redbox soon relaunched with a focus on renting DVDs, eventually reaching its peak about a decade or so ago.

Of course, there was competition. At that time, Netflix was busy mailing DVDs directly to subscribers’ homes, which was even more convenient than going out to a Redbox kiosk.

Nevertheless, for a while it was hard to find a pharmacy or gas station without one of those red machines sitting outside.

As Netflix shifted away from DVD and toward streaming, however, the entire industry followed suit … and Redbox’s days were numbered.

The window slams shut

Even amid the prolonged death of physical media, Redbox has continued to limp along as one of the last remaining sources of a product fewer and fewer customers wanted.

But the clock seems to have finally run out, as evidenced by a bankruptcy court hearing this week. A judge approved the company’s request to shift its ongoing bankruptcy to Chapter 7, which likely means that all of its assets will be sold off.

Chris Agee July 13th, 2024

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