Blockbuster is closing all stores by January 2014

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Blockbuster announced Wednesday it's closing all remaining retail locations by January 2014.

The announcement signals the end of an era in home entertainment. The company said there are approximately 300 brick and mortar stores left in the United States that will close.

"This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment," said Joseph P. Clayton, DISH president and chief executive officer, current owners of Blockbuster.

The company will also end its Blockbuster By Mail service by mid-December.

According to the Blockbuster website, the company has nine stores currently open in North Texas. Two of those nine are in Dallas city limits.

Blockbuster was headquartered in Dallas until 2011, when DISH bought the company out of bankruptcy and moved business operations to Colorado.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The final curtain is falling on the Blockbuster video-rental stores that Dish Network Corp. owns in the U.S.

The closures announced Wednesday will affect about 300 Blockbuster locations scattered across the country. Dish Network expects the stores to be closed by early January. Dish Network says about 2,800 people will lose their jobs.

The Englewood, Colo. satellite-TV provider also is shutting down Blockbuster's DVD-by-mail service next month.

Dish Network's retreat will render Blockbuster's once-ubiquitous brand nearly extinct. About 50 U.S. stores operating under franchise agreements will remain open.

Blockbuster's downfall began more than a decade ago with the rise of Netflix Inc.'s DVD-by-mail service, followed by the introduction of a subscription service that streams video over high-speed Internet connections.

Dish Network bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy court in 2011.

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