August 2026, Columbia House to cease operations after 71 years

Columbia House, the long-running mail-order music and media club founded in 1955, announced it will shut down on September 15, 2026 after more than seven decades in business. Once a dominant direct-to-consumer channel for records, CDs and later DVDs, the company struggled through format shifts, the rise of digital distribution, ownership changes and earlier bankruptcies. The closure ends a legacy business model that failed to adapt profitably to streaming and modern retail, and signals the final stage of a long decline from peak membership and retail relevance.