Blockbuster Canada Closing All Stores

The video rental chain will close 253 stores and lay off 2,300 employees.

So, Lloyd Robertson's stepping down tonight, analog signals are ending, YouTube's rental service kicks off... and now, Blockbuster reports that it will be shutting down the rest of its Canadian stores by the end of the year. If Sept. 1, 2011, doesn't mark the end of some sort of epoch in Canadian entertainment, we don't know what does. Blockbuster will shutter its remaining 253 stores by Dec. 31, with 2,300 jobs disappearing in the process. Blockbuster had closed a third of its stores earlier this year as it searched for buyers, but with no one coming forward, the classic video rental store will cease to exist. Apparently, gift cards will have to be used up soon, but there could also be amazing going-out-of-business sales like there were when the first round of closures was announced.