Redbox’s owner files for bankruptcy after repeatedly missing payments and payroll
theverge.com
informed employees of the filing late Friday [...] 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. [...] employees have been waiting for paychecks since June 21st [...] it’s not certain that the company will be able to secure such a loan.
Chicken Soup took on $325 million in debt when it acquired Redbox in 2022 and has since been sued over a dozen times over unpaid bills.
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I don't doubt that rental companies have been squeezed harder and harder on licensing costs specifically to drive them out so the publisher-owned services take over
I'm not sure that was much of an issue for DVD. Historically VHS had those huge licensing terms for new releases ($90 for VHS), but the same rules didn't apply to DVD (new releases $20). This was one of the main reasons VHS rentals died so fast after DVDs came out.
Also at least at one time, I remember Redbox was simply buying DVDs at retail stores instead of buying from retail stores for their disc inventory. I see that Walmart is listed as a creditor. That makes me think perhaps Redbox still was.
I'd wager walmart is listed because they weren't paying their floor rent for all the redboxes they have at walmarts, not that they were buying DVDs there.
Thats a very good point.