Blockbuster will shutter 300 stores in the next few weeks, the Denver Post reports. The company will lay off about 3,000 workers, the report adds.

The closures will hit underperforming stores or those that are getting close to the end of their leases. Dish, which owns the video-rental chain, said it will have 500 Blockbuster stores remaining after the closings.

Dish "continues to see value in the Blockbuster brand, and we continue to analyze the store-level profitability as we have in the past," said Dish spokesman John Hall.

The 3,000 employees who will lose their jobs were informed Friday about the closings, the piece adds.

The company shut down about 500 stores last year.