ATLANTA – On Monday, NACS member Blockbuster Inc. revealed that it had offered up to $1.3 billion to purchase Circuit City Stores, saying such a merger would provide a change in electronics and digital media.

A number of analysts commented that they did not see the value of the proposed deal, Reuters reports. “The world is littered with remnants of bankrupt retailers,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan. “It’s a bad idea.”

However, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes, who previously headed 7-Eleven, said that a merger would enable local Blockbuster stores to offer DVD and digital media players preloaded with movies, in addition to video games, while Circuit City could combine movie-download services or subscriptions with each hardware sale.

"Our view of the change that's occurring in consumer electronics and the movie-rental business is one of convergence," Keyes told The Wall Street Journal. Keyes noted that Apples stores are "a user-friendly one-stop shop with solutions for the consumers" that could be a model for Blockbuster-Circuit City combination.

“It is not inconceivable to imagine a Blockbuster kiosk in your local Circuit City store or a Circuit City video-game terminal residing next to the video-game rental section in your neighborhood Blockbuster store,” Keyes said.