Netflix

Retailers with unique business models — and those with both the means and the fortitude to expand while others contracted or stood pat — are the stars of the 2011 edition of the STORES Hot 100 Retailers. The top of the list illustrates this abundantly with the likes of Amazon, Apple and Netflix, each with a distinctive enough approach to retail to preclude having a major rival operating in the same space.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Blockbuster and Netflix may face new competition from Walmart, as the retailer announced that it will launch digital online movie rental and video streaming through its acquired Vudu service. The retailer is now offering 20,000 titles that can be viewed on almost any device with Internet access, from PCs to televisions to Sony's PlayStation3 and other Blu-Ray disc players. This is Wal-Mart’s second try at competing with Netflix, as it previously offered a DVD-by-mail service but it stopped that service in February 2010. "At Walmart, one of our key priorities is to provide a continuous

Dish Network announced it will shut down approximately 200 U.S. Blockbuster stores. The company said it will maintain operations of more than 1,500 U.S. Blockbuster stores, down from the 1,700 stores it operated when it purchased bankrupt Blockbuster in April. "Unfortunately, despite our efforts to reach reasonable terms, some property owners have closed stores," says Michael Kelly, president of Blockbuster. "However, we'll continue to look for opportunities for physical distribution in these neighborhoods as we expand our in-store experience, unmatched for movies and family entertainment. We're pleased that we will continue to operate more than 90% of the stores

Dish Network Corp plans to keep open more than 90 percent of the Blockbuster stores it acquired in its $320 million deal for the video rental chain. Dish, the second largest U.S. satellite TV company, said it reached agreements with property owners allowing it to continue running more than 1,500 stores. In addition, it will retain more than 15,000 employees. Dish Network won Blockbuster in an April bankruptcy auction, further broadening its business beyond satellite TV and setting up a possible showdown with Netflix.

If you're tired of buying brand new clothes for your kids only to have them outgrow them, as children do, or ruin them, as children also do, then subscription-based clothing website Plum is your answer. Founder Caroline O'Connor describes her website as "Netflix for baby clothes," because you know, giving your kids hand-me-downs would be today's embarassing equivalent of renting at Blockbuster.

For a company best known at its inception as the "Netflix of textbooks," online textbook rental company Chegg has spent the last four years building relationships with college-aged consumers through an ever-expanding array of services. 

After six years of leading the e-commerce industry in customer satisfaction, Netflix has dropped and Amazon has narrowly taken the lead, according to a new report from ForeSee Results. Amazon, also the e-tailer with the largest sales volume, got a score of 86, edging out Netflix’s score of 85 in the annual survey.

The traditional definition of convergence has evolved to mean something much more than the ability to view media across three screens (computer, mobile, television). The term now represents the blurring of the lines between media delivery, social interaction, mobile experiences, and even the physical and digital worlds. Here are nine things that happened in the last year to bring convergence into focus:

The internet killed the music business, ruined the newspaper industry and has effectively brought the publishing world to its knees, and for years there's been speculation it would do the same to brick-and-mortar stores, as consumers began to flock online for their shopping needs.

At a time when the U.S. Postal Service is fighting to survive, along comes news of the latest disruptive model: BareDeal.com, which calls itself "Groupon meets Netflix."