AutoZone to replace Blockbuster in West Akron

Jul 09, 2009 (The Akron Beacon Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- AZO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The Blockbuster movie store in West Akron near the Wallhaven area will stop renting movies on Sunday in preparation for its closure next month after nearly 15 years. On Monday, the store at 1935 W. Market St. will become a retail-only store, selling off used movies and games until it closes Aug. 22. (Newer releases and games most likely will be transferred to other locations for rentals.) Movie buffs who frequent the shop, which opened in October 1994, are upset by the closure and decision by Blockbuster not to open another nearby store. They've launched a petition campaign and a Web site to make their displeasure known to Blockbuster and the landlord. Replacing the Blockbuster will be an AutoZone store, an automotive repair retail outlet, confirmed AutoZone spokeswoman Brenda Berry. It will open in mid-November, said Berry, who had no further details on the new store. Blockbuster and the building's landlord, Levey & Co., were unable to reach an agreement on a new lease. Blockbuster officials said the chain wanted to remain in the location but Chris McFarland, director of leasing for Levey, said Blockbuster chose not to exercise a right to renew its lease for five years, instead opting for a shorter term. McFarland said all previous renewals from Blockbuster had been for five-year terms. "We do believe with AutoZone we did find a good suitor for the space and a retailer that will commit to the space and the community for a long time," McFarland said. The landlord did not want to get into a situation where the company closed the store, leaving the space empty, he said. "We did what we needed to do within our power in order to get a tenant in that space," he said. Blockbuster spokesman Randy Hargrove said the Dallas-based company wanted to stay at the location, but the company does not enter into agreements for more than a few years at a time. "We did everything within our power to try to stay at that location, including agreeing to a multiyear extension of the lease," said Hargrove, adding the lease was not up until the end of the year. Blockbuster leases are typically three to five years and the company was willing to re-sign to keep the store there for three years, but not five years, he said. "The landlord exercised the right he had to move in a different direction with a tenant willing to make a longer term commitment," Hargrove said. Hargrove said it's the intent of the company to find jobs at other locations for all of the employees. Longtime patrons like Jacqueline Sheeley and Brian Sean Green-Tuttle are upset at the closure and the distances to another Blockbuster store. The closest is in Montrose, about a 10- to 15-minute drive away. Sheeley and her 10-year-old son live on nearby Pershing Avenue and often walk to the store every few days. They have a Friday-night movie tradition and Sheeley said she has a movie card to allow her better prices on rentals and her son has a game card to check out video games. "I'm a little peeved," Sheeley said. "It really is just going to force us to use Red Box [DVD rentals at grocery stores] or something. Just to drive down to Montrose is very inconvenient," she said. Green-Tuttle said going to the West Market Blockbuster store was part of growing up for 13 years. He loved it so much that he took a part-time job at the store as his fourth job. But Green-Tuttle said he's going to quit his Blockbuster job so he can focus on getting people to sign his petition about the store closing. The petition is in the store and also can be signed at a Web site Green-Tuttle and his girlfriend set up, http://www.akronlovesrentingmovies.webs.com "Blockbuster is my only outlet. I don't have cable, I don't have Internet. I've only got movie renting," said the 28-year-old. "It's just a movie rental place, but when you grow up with something and you're so used to it being there and when it's gone . . . it feels like someone punches you in the stomach if they take something away that's been tradition in your life." Green-Tuttle said he hopes the petition will convince Blockbuster to find another location nearby. Hargrove said Blockbuster officials looked in the nearby area for another location that the current store could immediately move into, but were unable to find anything. There are no plans for a new store at this time, said Hargrove. But Hargrove said "the support from the community is certainly something we're taking notice of." Hargrove said Blockbuster hopes patrons use other Blockbuster stores or the company's other options, which include a service that delivers movies by mail or movies that can be downloaded onto a home computer or box top on a television through an Internet connection. Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at

330-996-3724 or blinfisher@

thebeaconjournal.com.

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