NEW YORK — The once ubiquitous Blockbuster will close its remaining U.S. stores, Bloomberg reports.

The remaining outlets will have their lights turned out by early January and the company will also discontinue its DVD-by-mail service by the end of this year.

Blockbuster’s parent company, Englewood, Colorado-based Dish Network, said it would keep the licensing rights to the Blockbuster brand and leverage it with Dish services. It currently offers a Blockbuster On Demand video-streaming product.

Dish acquired Blockbuster out of bankruptcy in 2011 and has already divested itself of Blockbuster’s international assets.

At its peak, Blockbuster operated about 9,000 stores before streaming video services like Netflix changed the video industry.

“This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment,” said Dish Chief Executive Officer Joseph Clayton. “We continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand, and we expect to leverage that brand as we continue to expand our digital offerings.”