Even After Blockbuster Bankruptcy, Bonney Lake Location Has No Plans to Close

Blockbuster Video in Lakeland is closing its doors, part of the company’s strategy as it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

While facing declining sales nationwide, some Blockbuster stores plan on remaining open – including the

“The Lake Tapps store is closing, but we’re not,” said Bonney Lake Blockbuster Video manager Josh Jennsion. “We’ll probably be here a couple more years.”

The struggling company filed Chapter 11 last year with $1 billion in debt on its books and increasing competition from Redbox and Netflix.

Blockbuster executives told the major Hollywood studios last August that they expected to shutter 500 to 800 of its 3,425 U.S. stores as part of a bankruptcy process that would begin in September, the L.A. Times reported.

Jennison believes the Lakeland Hill store closure will actually benefit his location.

“We’re the only one around now, it should actually help our business,” said Jennison. “A bunch of accounts have already been transferred over.”