Those red automated kiosks sprinkled about grocery stores, gas stations and mini-malls provide one of the few opportunities for film lovers to rent a physical copy of a flick.
But Redbox says demand for viewing movies on discs is so low in Canada it has little choice but to leave the country and focus on business in the U.S.
The company announced on its website it would stop renting out discs by February 13 and it would stop accepting returned discs March 5, the day all remaining kioks would be shut off.
People who don’t return the discs — Redbox charges daily fees of $1.50 for DVDs, $2 for Blu-ray and $2.50 for video games — before then will be charged the full purchase price.
The company began renting discs in Canada in 2012, opening 1,400 kiosk over the part three years.
“We were excited to bring our service here, but unfortunately, demand just didn’t meet our expectations,” Redbox said on its website.
“We will be focusing our attention on our U.S. business, where demand for physical media remains strong.”
Redbox’s parent company, Outerwall (Nasdaq: OUTR), said in its fourth-quarter earnings report released February 5 that the Canadian operations we’re meeting expectations.
“As a result, the company recognized an after-tax expense of $1.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2014” related to closing operations down, the report said.
Redbox’s exit comes after both Sony’s retail division and the Target (NYSE:) department store chain announced in January they’d be leaving the Canadian market.
