Redbox is shutting down in Cheyenne -- and Nationwide

One of two kiosks at this Redbox location (Walgreens on East Lincolnway) was not functioning as of July 16th, apparently due to the application crashing - Optopolis

Parent of Redbox, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, swapped its Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Chapter 7 as part of a court order. As part of the bankruptcy, all streaming services and rental kiosks will be shut down.

A glance at Redbox history

Redbox was started in 2003 after McDonald's previous business development project, Ticktock Easy Shop, ultimately shut down. Unlike TickTock Easy Shop, Redbox was focused on DVD rentals, a service which turned out to be successful. The idea was to rent a disk for a dollar per day and then return your movie to any Redbox. One could purchase copies of older movies from Redbox as well.

In 2007, they would enter an agreement with SuperValu, then-owner-of-various-Albertsons, to install Redbox machines inside select locations, including stores in Wyoming. As of 2009, Forbes noted that Redbox had 12,900 kiosks located at or inside various supermarkets, drugstores, and McDonald's restaurants.

This Coinstar machine can be seen at Walmart on Dell Range Blvd. Other stores like Albertsons also sometimes have these. - Optopolis

Coinstar, a name associated with the green-colored counting machines inside of grocery stores and that already invested in Redbox, purchased Redbox from McDonald's in 2009, with plans to expand to 20,000 kiosks.

In 2011, Redbox went on to begin offering video game rentals at their machines. Although it's not known at Optopolis exactly when they expanded to Cheyenne, saves of Redbox's locator show Cheyenne Redbox locations present since at least 2011.

Old Redbox logo seen on one of the Cheyenne Redbox locations - Optopolis

Redbox further expanded in 2012 when they purchased Blockbuster Express, another set of rental kiosks, later selling some of those Blockbuster Express locations to third parties in 2013.

Then-Coinstars' Washington-based parent company, Outerwall, was sold in 2016 to a private equity investment firm known as Apollo Global Management; this move separated Coinstar, ecoATM, and Redbox into separate companies, meaning that only Redbox was purchased by Apollo. As of December 31st, 2016, USA Today noted that the company had almost 40,500 kiosks.

What the interface of a Redbox looks like before you open the explorer page - Optopolis

Redbox merged with Seaport Global in 2021, only for Redbox to be acquired by Chicken Soup for the Soul of Entertainment the following year. As of the end of 2023, MediaPlayNews notes that the brand had about 34,000 kiosks nationwide.

Filing for bankruptcy and plans for liquidation

At the end of June 2024, Chicken Soup for the Soul of Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. At this point, Redbox was down to about 27,000 kiosks in the US.

As of the evening of July 16th, this error message could be seen on one of the Cheyenne kiosks, specifically one of the two kiosks at the Lincolnway Walgreens. - Optopolis

On July 10th, Judge Thomas Horan of a Delaware court ruled that Chicken Soup should change to a Chapter 7 liquidation after allegations of mismanagement of the business and failure to pay workers/fund health benefits prior to filing for Chapter 11.

While Chicken Soup for the Soul of Entertainment is involved with the bankruptcy, the parent company and book publisher, Chicken Soup for the Soul LLC, is not part of the bankruptcy, notes Jonathan Randles in an article from Bloomberg.

"Redbox is sorry" message seen on a kiosk at the Yellowstone Albertsons in spite of Albertsons' notice taped onto the machine - Optopolis

There are around 24,000 rental kiosks that are set to close and be liquidated, along with its streaming services. Although much of Redbox's website has mostly become broken and dilapidated, so-to-speak, one could still view locations in the 82001, 82007, and 82009 area codes as of July 17th.

How this affects Cheyenne's kiosks

Combined and sorted alphabetically, the kiosk locations listed below are still displayed on Redbox's website as of July 17th. Locations marked as "OFF" are locations that were not usable for renting items as of the evening of July 16th; locations marked as "ON" still appeared to be functioning normally, such that one likely could still rent or buy items. One of the two kiosks at the East Lincolnway Walgreens displayed an [ERROR] message that likely would require reopening the application to restore its functionality.

They used to have other kiosk locations including Safeway at Cole Shopping Center, Kum & Go at Dell Range Blvd and Ridge Rd, and Kum & Go in Downtown Cheyenne; and even more kiosk locations including Maverik on Gardenia Dr, Walmart on Dell Range Blvd, and King Soopers on Dell Range Blvd. Even the Maverik on South Greeley Highway once included a Redbox! However, all of these locations are no longer present/in operation, as they were removed quite some time prior to the parent company filing for Chapter 11.

This notice could be seen on kiosks at Albertsons and Safeway in Cheyenne. It appears to have been drafted by Albertsons. No other locations in Cheyenne displayed this message as of July 16th. - Optopolis

The kiosks at Safeway and both Albertsons stores displayed a notice (seen above) that stated the following message:

"This Redbox kiosk will no longer be in service after Monday July 22nd, 2024. Please ensure any discs are returned prior to Monday July 22nd, 2024. After July 22nd, all discs must be returned to other kiosk locations."

This message appeared to have been created by Albertsons, as each of the three signs included only Albertsons banners at the bottom of the notice. It's not clear if these dates also apply to other kiosks that are still functioning, and they most likely do not apply to kiosks that have already been turned off.

At Safeway on South Greeley Hwy, the screens on this Redbox were blacked out, and the doors (both inside and outside) that allow access to this kiosk were locked shut as of the evening of July 16th. - Optopolis

Safeway's kiosk was locked inside one entry during the evening of July 16th, and its screen was black. The kiosk at the Albertsons on Yellowstone Road still was turned on, but the ability to buy or rent items had been disabled. Meanwhile, all Loaf 'N Jug locations displayed a black screen and appeared to have been turned off entirely.

[Update 07-22: As of the evening of July 22nd, the kiosk at Walmart on Livingston Avenue is no longer functioning. Kiosks at Family Dollar, Albertsons on East Pershing Blvd, and both Walgreens locations were still functioning.]

Have you used Redbox recently? If not, have you ever used Redbox? Or do you prefer another medium like Blockbuster Video or Netflix? Let us know your thoughts about Redbox in the comments!

Originally published: 07/17/2024 at 4:14 PM MT

Updated: 07/18/2024 at 5:18 PM MT to add a missing previous location, located at Maverik on South Greeley Highway. 

Updated: 07/22/2024 at 11:07 PM MT to add an update regarding the Walmart Kiosk.

Location: Cheyenne, WY, USA

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