The End Of An Era: Closure of Popular ‘Redbox’

After 22 years Redbox is calling it a day. The company is shutting down.

More than 1,000 employees were laid off from Redbox, commonly referred to as "Deadbox", as of today. The owner filed for bankruptcy with about $1 billion in debt. The network operated 24,000 DVD rental kiosks across the nation. The parent company, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertaiment, converted its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 liquidation. As a result, all kiosks and streaming services will shut down. According to Variety:

All of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment’s employees are now unemployed and will not receive severance or extended benefits. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment had failed to pay employees and vendors for at least four weeks prior to its Chapter 11 filing.

Redbox was started in 2002, with kiosks at various locations throughout the U.S.

The convenience of being able to rent a DVD while leaving Walmart or Winco was easy and affordable. You couldn't beat the convenience. Redbox was also at gas stations and convenience stores.

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Five years after launching, Redbox surpassed Blockbuster in the number of locations.

And soon, Blockbuster was shut down, although today, there is one Blockbuster remaining in Bend, OR. Redbox also offered video game rentals. However, they stopped with game rentals in 2019.

Redbox’s business had been in decline for more than a decade before Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment bought it in 2020. Its revenue peaked in 2013 at $1.97 billion, and the chain at once time had operated more than 43,000 kiosks in the U.S. and Canada stocked with movies, TV shows and games.