New Blockbuster Distribution Center List

Jason used a very creative approach to put this list of Blockbuster distribution centers together:

After doing a search on new job listing and assemblying the previous 10 known sites, here is the complete 23 locations for the distribution centers:

Original 10
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Charlotte, NC, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Lansing, MI, Miami, FL, Minneapolis, MN, Flushing, NY, Sacramento, CA, Santa Ana, CA, Seattle, WA

13 New locations
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TX, Houston
MA, Worcester
MD, Gaithersburg
PA, Philadelphia
GA, Atlanta
NJ, Edison
IL, Chicago
MO, St. Louis
CT, Stamford
CA, San Jose
FL, Tampa
OH, Cleveland
AZ, Phoenix

Can anyone confirm if the new sites are operational?

Comments

[Cate]

The Worcester center is operational. I'm in Maine and that's where I got discs when I used their trial. But I went back to Netflix because they have a center in Portland, ME now, so I get one-day turnarounds.

But Blockbuster is definitely using the Mass. center.

[Evan]

Stanford CT is. I am in Westchester and netflix has been using that center since I signed up almost a month ago.

[J-bird]

Not sure about San Jose, CA. My coworker signed up for the two free weeks and has complained all week about movies not arriving. I just point at him and laugh whenever he brings it up... :)

For the record, he sent a movie in on 12/30, it was marked received by Blockbuster on 1/4 and he got his next one on 1/6. Same 4 day swing that I experienced a few months ago when I took them for a test drive.

[Tersanyus]

St Louis is correct. I am still on the 2 week trial but the first 2 DVD's I had from them had Charlotte return addresses. The one I got the other day had St. Louis as the return address.

An interesting note for this change maybe. I was supposed to have recieved Deep Space Nine, Season 1 Disc 5. What arrived was Season 1, Disc 2 which I already had and have already returned!! Reported it as as issue on their website. Disc 5 has already shipped.

Another intersting note. Two discs I had returned on Monday still show as not having been returned and I still don't have Disc 1 of Season 1!

I am cancelling BB on Tuesday when my two week trail is up.

[TheFryCook]

I live near Tampa and I've been getting my movies from there since I started a little less than a year ago. If I mail out on Monday, I have my movies on Wednesday. Very nice.

bb's hub is Dallas, where I live, and even here they are slooooooow. So I can't imagine what some of the brand new centers are like? You pay for what you get, just like everything else in life. Can it be more simple than that? No.

[TheFryCook]

Oops. I didn't see the word Blockbuster. My bad. I was talking about the Netflix Tampa center.

[Paul]

Gaithersburg is for real. That's where my mailer envelope goes.

[aviationwiz]

The Minneapolis one doesn't really appear to be in use much. 3 DVD's shipped Monday, as of Saturday, 1 has arrived. I reported the other 2 as not arrived, and another 2 have "shipped" to me. In my over 3 year relationship with Netflix, just 2 DVD's have ever been lost in the mail. I live in Minneapolis btw.

[Goober22]

I posted this list about 2 weeks ago!

Anyways, I live in the panhandle of Florida but my discs were going back to Miami as of last week when my trial ended. Thats about 600 miles away. Atlanta where Netflix and Walmart both shipped to me is about 290 miles. However I get 3-4 day delivery with both Netflix and Blockbuster. When my month is over, I'm moving fulltime to Blockbuster since there appears to be no difference in speed even though Atlanta is closer.

[Scott]

I live in Chicago, so you'd think I'd get quick service? I joined Blockbuster last Sunday, drawn by the price and 2 store coupons. I made my queue on Sunday, and waited. They started shipping the DVDs on Monday, several hours apart (different distribution centers?). The estimated delivery date was FRIDAY, which was unbelievable to me. Why would it take more than 2 days in the mail? I received one on Thursday, one on Friday, and one today: Saturday!! Where could they possibly have mailed it from to take five days?

As for BB's claims that your DVDs are checked in as soon as they are mailed, so far that's a farce. I dropped the first DVD at the post office on Friday morning, and have yet to see anything in my account. So I imagine that I'll have to wait until Tuesday for them to start mailing out my next DVD, which probably won't arrive until Friday. This is not at all what I expected, and I plan to cancel after the free 2 weeks.

Has anyone in Chicago had quicker turn-around? How is Netflix in Chicago? Thanks.

[Adam]

Regarding Blockbuster in Chicago: As far as I can tell, the Chicago center is not yet in operation, because everything I've gotten has been marked Minneapolis. I'm thinking (hoping?) that once stuff is actually shipping from Chicago it'll be significantly faster.

[roboto]

My Blockbuster.com movies that arrived on 12/29 came from Atlanta (and are being returned to ATL).

My location is Nashville, home of THURSDAY NIGHT FEVER.

[LaWilson]

Regarding Chicago, the site is NOT operational. I was severely disappointed with my 2 week trial. I managed to get 3 discs in 2 weeks (not exaggerating). One that I sent back last Monday (the 3rd) just got checked in this past Friday.

So I re-opened my Netflix account this past Friday, put 3 discs in my queue, and I got them Saturday. Talk about fast. I don't mind paying $3 extra dollars for that.

[Goober22]

-said by: roboto:
My Blockbuster.com movies that arrived on 12/29 came from Atlanta (and are being returned to ATL).

My location is Nashville, home of THURSDAY NIGHT FEVER.
-end quote

So I wonder why they shipped mine from a center 600 miles away instead of one that is 290 miles from me? The funny thing is, they did not arrive any slower than Netflix. I get 3-day with NF and got 3 day with the BB trial.

[Scott]

LaWilson: I assume you're in the Chicago area as well? If you get that kind of turnaround from Netflix, then I'll definitely switch over. That's the kind of service that I had been expecting, and instead I've just had aggravation.

BTW, my coupons for free in-store rentals were dated as starting a day AFTER I signed up. Since this was unreasonable, it was a simple matter to cut and paste the numbers around on the coupon and I had no problem.

[RP]

Yeah, the speed one gets discs from Blockbuster is not necessarily determined by how close you are to the distribution center. In Dallas also, and the shipping and returns take at least two days rather than the one that Netflix very often is (though Netflix has started shipping a lot of discs to me from Tacoma, Washington, so that's taking longer than when they ship from down the street in Coppell. As a matter of fact, Tacoma may be further from me than any other Netflix center except Hawaii).

[RAYMOND KNIGHT]

If you get the wrong disk from BLOCKBUSTER call an complain and ask for an additional e-coupon which is what I did. They will actually send you 2-free e-coupons because they send them in blocks of two. To shorten log-in time report a DVD as being returned after three days on the issues page.

Gaithersburg is where mine are coming from.

I have goth Netflix and Blockbuster and am served by both through Gaithersburg.

Tried an experiment last week. Dropped one netflix and one BB each on Mon, Tues and Weds AM at the post office on the way to work.
Turnaround Results:
Wed received: One BB (monday's dropoff)
Thurs: BB from tuesday return, Netlfix from monday
Fri: Nothing
Sat One BB from wen, one netflix from Tues
Follong Mon.: one netflix from wednesday

BB is beating Netflix by one day 2/3 of the time in my area.

Iam suprised at the comment on "you get whatyou pay for" against BB. I now know a lot of people who have both or had both recently. Blcokbuster was a bit problematic at first but they are as fast if not slightly faster than netflix. Their selection now is also competative

[REN]

My BB movies are returned to Johnstown, NY 12095. Is that the same as the Flushing, NY listed? I'm confused about how the return mailing addresses work.

For NF, my return address is Harrisburg, PA and the code is GAT. I talked to the Listology guy and he said that that is the code for Gaithersburg, MD.

[REN]

Someone said that Gaithersburg is online for BB. I would think that I would also be served by that center as it is where my NF center is(see above post), and I get 1 day shipping from there. My BB movies currently take 3-4 days even though Johnstown is only 150 miles further away.

Both the Gaithersburg and Philadelphia facilities are 150 miles from me. Maybe they are waiting until the Philly center comes online to switch me over.

[REN]

Wow, nevermind, I got my free trials mixed up. The mailers going to Johnstown, NY are actually from Walmart, not BB.

[technogoy]

I live in Philly and the BB Philly center is not yet operational. I am on a BB trial (I was with NF for almost 2 yrs) and I have gotten 3 discs in 10 days. I have another 3 days to go in my trial period. Lets see if I can see another 3. If it were not for the 3 dollar price difference, Id go with NF. If BB continues to be so late, Id rather go with NF.

[BB is losing]

I am disappointed to learn that the BB distribution center in Worcester, MA is one of the new 13 distribution centers, instead of one of the old 10.

I am in New York (Long Island) and have been a member of BB since Dec. 14. It has taken an average of five days for their discs to get to me.

When I heard that they were expanding their distribution centers from 10 to 23, I thought "Great. Maybe they'll open one up in New York and get the movies to me faster". Only to learn that Worcester IS one of the new distribution centers and that there are no distribution centers in NY. Damn.

Since Dec. 14 I have gotten only 10 discs shipped from BB to me so far. Still waiting for number 11 as I write this.

Disc number 10 was shipped to me on Jan 4. Got to me in the mail today, the 10th (six whole days!). Disc number 11 was shipped to me on the 7th. Still waiting for it.

I joined Netflix on Dec. 20, (six days after joining BB), and so far I have had 15 discs shipped to me. And no, I have not held onto the BB discs longer than I did the Netflix discs. I watch them as quickly as possible and mail them back the next day.

In fact, the last time I returned a couple of movies to Netflix, they got them back the very next day (they have a distribution center only a couple towns away from me), and the very next day after that I received my next queue selections in the mail. Thats how fast Netflix is.

BB NEEDS to clean up their act with shipping. 5-6 days from Massachusettes to New York? Thats just not acceptable. Okay, the post office might be at fault. Then this should tell BB that they should stop distributing from Worcester. Find another town.

[BB is losing]

I wrote: "When I heard that they were expanding their distribution centers from 10 to 23, I thought "Great. Maybe they'll open one up in New York and get the movies to me faster". Only to learn that Worcester IS one of the new distribution centers and that there are no distribution centers in NY. Damn."

Scratch that. They do have one in Flushing, NY. But I'd like to know why BB is so damn slow. Shipping from other places? Like where? A first class mail from California to NY usually takes 2-3 days. So it shouldnt take 5-6 days for their movies to get to me.

WHERE are they shipping the movies from???? China?

[BB's faster growth]

I subscribed to both in November.

I tend to agree with the concensus that Netflix will give you good service for a little while and slow to a crawl. Blockbuster just keeps getting faster!

What I noticed is during my first two months netflix was much faster and now has slowed down, adding about two days to total shipping. blockbuster started slow and has been steadily speeding up. My blockbuster films come noticably quicker than netflix. I guess that explains their higher growth.

[BB terrible]

The Blockbuster center in Cleveland is operation, but very sketchy. I got 2 DVDs next day, third never came. Sent those 2 back, they sent three more. One never came, and two came 7 days later. They sent another one to accomodate the second missing disc, and so far three days have passed. Meanwhile, I signed up with NetFlix and got 3 DVDs the day after they were shipped. But I am a new user to Netflix (and already cancelled Blockbuster) so we'll see if it can send my next 3 the next day.

[BBToSlow]

If i get my discs in a week that's fast and they ship from different locations no where close to where i live.

As soon as the third disc comes i am canceling and will let Ballsbuster know why.

[Thor Prichard]

I would like to contribute to the accuracy of the distribution center list. Originally, the only center serving the Northwest was in Tacoma, WA (not Seattle). Sometime in 2003, they opened a second distribution center, this time in Salem, OR (an hours drive south of Portland, OR). This means I receive my DVDs the next day they ship, sometimes even beating the email notice saying they've just shipped a title.

"Disc number 10 was shipped to me on Jan 4. Got to me in the mail today, the 10th (six whole days!). Disc number 11 was shipped to me on the 7th. Still waiting for it."

STILL waiting for Disc number 11 from BB. Didnt come in todays mail. But discs number 16 and 17 from Netflix did.

Great, so Netflix will keep all of the high-cost movie-flippers like you.

Meanwhile, Blockbuster will attract more of the mainstream audience (those who rent < 10 DVDs/month) who want a lower price.

As a Blockbuster shareholder, this scenario sounds good to me.

[Chris]

As a cheapo in a rural area, all I know is that both BB and netflix are slow with a one week turnaround. Be glad that you all live in a more highly populated area. But I'll just save the $3 a month which is like $36 a year! I mean, if there's a movie I want to see quick, the $3 a month and e-coupons will cover the difference. And I can always tell myself it's a good thing for delivery to take a little while or I'd never get anything else done.
But the crazy thing is that delivery time is the same when the netflix distribution center is about 200 miles away in Charlottesville, VA and the BB dist. center is about 350 miles away in Charlotte, NC.

"Meanwhile, Blockbuster will attract more of the mainstream audience (those who rent < 10 DVDs/month) who want a lower price."

And want crappier service, I'm sure.

Hey people! You dont get the movies in the mail within a decent amount of time, but you get to pay them a lower price for the priviledge of waiting around! Aint that nice?

"As a Blockbuster shareholder"

Just the person I want to meet! Now, I got this bridge to sell you....

[Adam]

Even if Blockbuster does give slower service at the moment to some areas, there are important things to keep in mind:

1. In some areas, Blockbuster is faster

2. Blockbuster doesn't do that "shipping tomorrow" thing that Netflix seems to often do

3. Blockbuster is opening more centers, which will only make it faster

4. To me, the big one is saving $36 a year AND getting 24 rentals a year. It's totally the best of both worlds. Even with Netflix and quick shipping, if you decide you want a movie NOW you're out of luck. Or if you decide you want ANY video game. Blockbuster solves that problem.

"In some areas, Blockbuster is faster"

Yes, I understand that. That was and is the way with Netflix too. But I live near a major metropolitan area. I'm only about a half hour train ride from one of its distribution centers, and I wait 5-6 days???

"Blockbuster doesn't do that "shipping tomorrow" thing that Netflix seems to often do"

You're missing my point here. It's not that I object to. In fact, BB has been quite quick in mailing out my choices in my queue. The problem I have is that after they have told me they have shipped it out, I still have a long wait ahead of me.

Other people have these same complaints, and BB blames it on the post office, but that excuse makes no sense. It seems that the post office has no trouble in getting my returned discs back to BB (within 2-3 days). Netflix has no problem getting or sending my discs either way. Its only BB that has this problem of getting the discs to its customers in a timely fashion. I have a sneaking suspicion that BB just MIGHT be (note I said "MIGHT be") lying to its customers about when they have shipped out their discs to us. For exapmple: They tell you that they have shipped out your next selection in your queue on a specific date when in fact it hasnt been shipped out at all. And when you complain, they have the post office as its convenient scapegoat.

"Blockbuster is opening more centers, which will only make it faster"

I should hope so. Although I complain about the lousy shipping time (BTW: Disc number 11 did not come in todays mail. Shipped on the 7th, and I'm STILL waiting for that disc! Congrats BB, now you make me wait 7 days, maybe longer, instead of the usual 5-6), I am willing to wait it out, keep my membership to BB for now to wait and see if the delivery service improves.

"Even with Netflix and quick shipping, if you decide you want a movie NOW you're out of luck"

This is partly true, partly false. Many of the popular hit movies on Netflix are "Available Now". Netflix has improved its service in being able to provide more popular movies immediately. I've had two movies on a "short wait" at BB, and those werent recent Hollywood film, but little known cult films.

[Adam]

"This is partly true, partly false. Many of the popular hit movies on Netflix are "Available Now". Netflix has improved its service in being able to provide more popular movies immediately. I've had two movies on a "short wait" at BB, and those werent recent Hollywood film, but little known cult films. "

When I said "Even with Netflix and quick shipping, if you decide you want a movie NOW you're out of luck", I meant NOW. As in, in the next 5 minutes. Next day isn't Now. But with the 2 free movies a month, you can go to the nearest Blockbuster and get what you want without having to wait even that one day.

[catzpawz]

I signed up with Blockbuster about a month ago, and have definately noticed they are slow. I live just outside of Houston, TX and it takes an average of 6 days for me to receive a movie. With Netflix it was just 2 days. I have also had a problem arise where on three different occasions I have received the mailing lable with no movie attached. Two times the movie was returned to BB in about 4 days and the 3rd movie is still missing. I never had this kind of problem with Netflix! I am definately switching back to Netflix, more reliable shipping and packaging and a whole lot FASTER!!!

[r1ngl0rd]

I agree that Blockbuster is pulling your leg when they say they ship it out now and wait to actually get it in the mail. Fortunately for me it's only a 3 day wait, unlike some of there customer having to wait 7+ days. I'm closing my account and enjoying all the old reliable Netflix and its new cool features. I love the profiles, my wife has been on me about always getting movies she has no interest in, now she can't complain! I just tested Phoenix area and found the following results:

Signed up for service 1/10/05 @ 10am
Received first Blockbuster item ship email 1/11 @ 8am and 3rd item @ 4pm
Received Netflix ship email for same item 1/11 5pm
Received Netflix item in mail 1/12 (next day) with PHX return envelope
Received Blockbuster item in mail 1/14 with return envelope to Santa Ana, CA
Returned item to Blockbuster and Netflix in 1/14 mail
Received Netflix receive email for item 1/17 8pm
Received item receive email 1/17 @ 8am
Received Blockbuster item ship email 1/15 @ 12pm
Received Blockbuster item in mail 1/18 with return envelope to Phoenix, AZ
Received Netflix ship email for next item 1/17 7pm
Received Netflix item in mail 1/19 (next business day) with PHX return envelope

It took Blockbuster 2 extra days to deliver item 3 times, even from my city

[KatCT]

I live in Stamford and when I signed up with Netflix several months ago, my movies were returned to Stamford at first but then changed to Hartford. I tried Blockbuster.com for the free trial and all the returns went to Flushing, NY until the last movie came with had a Stamford return address. I cancelled my BB account due to the very slow turnaround.

[Adam]

The Blockbuster St. Louis center is open - I just got my first movie from there (this is in Chicago, it came a day quicker than it would have from the one Minneapolis center). Now they just need to get the Chicago center open and I'll be all set.