Columbia House, the long-running mail-order music and video retailer known for its record and CD clubs, announces it will close by ending new orders. The company says it will take its final orders next month, bringing to a close a business that rose to prominence through music subscription-style promotions and later shifted toward DVD sales.
Founded in 1955, Columbia House becomes associated with decades of mailed catalog sales before changing formats as media consumption evolves. One source notes that, after shifting away from music-centric offerings, the company’s remaining activity centers on selling movies, with a focus on DVDs that begins around 2015. Other coverage frames the shutdown as the culmination of that transition and the final stage of the company’s mail-order presence.
Together, the reports describe a gradual decline and format change over time, ending with a specified cutoff for customers placing orders. The shutdown’s announcement reflects that Columbia House’s last operations are now winding down rather than continuing under a new model.
