Redbox's owner files for bankruptcy after repeatedly missing payments and payroll / The company hasn't paid employees in

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/29/24188785/redbox-bankruptcy-filing-dvds-chicken-soup-soul-entertainment

Redbox’s owner files for bankruptcy after repeatedly missing payments and payroll / The company hasn’t paid employees in over a week and owes money to almost everyone in Hollywood.

Redbox’s owner, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy protection overnight. This comes at the tail end of a month in which the DVD rental company defaulted on loans, saw an order for its cars to be repossessed, and missed payroll for employees.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment informed employees of the filing late Friday, writing in an email seen by The Verge that it had filed for a debtor-in-possession loan — a way for companies that are reorganizing after filing for bankruptcy to secure additional working capital to meet payroll.

It’s a pressing matter for the company, as employees have been waiting for paychecks since June 21st. The company also promised to reinstate health insurance for his employees, which had lapsed in May.


However, it’s not certain that the company will be able to secure such a loan. Chicken Soup’s bankruptcy filing shows that the company owes money to a number of retailers including Walmart and Walgreens, as well as major Hollywood studios like Universal, Sony, Lionsgate and Warner Bros.

[underpants]

1. I'd forgotten about Redbox. We don't own a DVD player as far as I know

The TV may have a place to insert one but we’ve never used it if it does.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

3. I see their boxes and wonder who rents from them. I havent owned a DVD player in 10 years

[Spencer Martin]

5. Same.

Seems they had a pretty good business model for that brief window following the demise of Blockbuster and before the switchover to reliable 4k streaming.

Wife and I have fond memories of picking Redbox Blu-rays with the phone app and then driving over to a machine to pick them up. We'd use the kids' Playstation or Xbox to watch it.

They were cheap, though. About $2 for a Blu-ray disc versus anywhere from $3 - $10+ to rent a new release on one of the streaming services.

There's probably a few people out there who like the price and just like physical media (or don't like streaming services). Maybe some people who live out in the sticks where high-speed internet capable of playing 4k isn't really available. Still, certainly not enough to justify the vast number of these Redboxes that at one time existed everywhere!

They had a good run. It just wasn't meant to last. Technology was going to catch up. They had to have seen this coming.

[Kaleva]

2. Obsolete like home ice delivery

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

4. you don't get your ice delivered?

[JI7]

6. A lot of businesses go down because there is no need for the product or service anymore

and it has nothing to do with lack of money.