Columbia House, the longtime mail-order media club, is set to stop accepting new orders next month, according to Stereogum and notices on the company’s website. A message posted online says that after Sept. 15, 2026, Columbia House will no longer take new orders, though customers can still buy books with a credit card or credits as normal.
The company began in 1955 as the Columbia Record Club, a direct-mail music service from CBS/Columbia Records. New members were offered a free record, and the program let people order albums to their homes instead of visiting a store.
By 1963, the club accounted for 10% of the music retail market, according to the article. It later expanded its catalog by licensing titles from other labels and changed its name to Columbia House in the early 1970s.
Columbia House remained a major player for decades, reaching 16 million members in 1996, the same year its website launched. But as online and big-box retailers grew, the company changed hands several times, shut down music sales, and eventually continued only as a DVD and Blu-ray Disc club before its Canadian and American branches filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and 2015.
The service also drew criticism over its negative option billing model, which required customers to opt out to avoid being charged for selections. The company’s long run is now ending after 71 years, according to Stereogum.
