Is Blockbuster making a comeback?

Is Blockbuster making a comeback?

Updated: 3:42 PM EDT Mar 22, 2023

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People come in and say, oh my gosh, it still looks like *** Blockbuster and I’m like, well, of course, it does. We are Blockbuster. Welcome to watch Mojo. And today we’re discussing the rise and fall of Blockbuster. Was it Netflix? Netflix was the really the the nail in the coffin for sure. Netflix, Netflix, Netflix. For this video. We’re looking at the former video rental giants highs and lows in it’s over 30 years as *** company. Do you miss Blockbuster Nights? Let us know in the comments. Early days, David Cook made *** living as *** software engineer in the oil industry. But when that started going downhill, his wife, Sandy suggested getting into the video rental game. The Cooks bought the Dallas video works franchise. Then left to create Blockbuster Video Incorporated. The first store opened on October 19th, 1985 in Dallas, Texas. From the outset Cook wanted his store to be different. Unlike the mom and pop shops, Blockbuster had *** massive inventory starting with 8000 V H S tapes and 2000 beta tapes. And then Blockbuster came along and then it was like, it’s not just like *** little closet with *** couple of videos, it became this world of videos and the store actually put the tapes on shelves instead of using display cases and keeping inventory in the back. Another thing that made Blockbuster stand out was its bright blue and yellow color scheme throughout the store. It kept it mainstream and family friendly. Refusing to rent any adult films, you get *** call or *** person in *** week looking and there would be people you wouldn’t, I’m not like thinking like people in like *** trench coat and *** hat. These are like suburban dads like looking for like where’s the cheerleader movies? Like we don’t got that buddy, but perhaps the most revolutionary aspect was Cooke’s database expertise which allowed him to use barcodes and keep track of inventory. Digitally David Cook left his company in 1980 seven giving control to waste management. Co founder Wayne Hea and John Milk who rapidly expanded the company. Blockbuster had 20 stores and that caught the attention of garbage man, Wayne Haza. Well, less *** garbage man and more the CEO of waste management, the largest garbage company in the country. Hea began buying out smaller rental stores and converting them into Blockbusters. Like I remember watching to the Pacific video when the sign was in the door saying starting next week, this Pacific video will become *** Blockbuster. At one point, there was reportedly *** new store opening every day. By 1988 Blockbuster had 400 locations in the US. And soon after the company went international and bought out Ritz stores in the UK height of popularity with he’s guidance. Blockbuster became *** multi billion dollar company and the number one video rental retailer. And in addition to thousands of movies and television series, Blockbuster also rented video games and gaming consoles. Well, now it’s both at Blockbuster Video never end. Blockbuster nights were weekly occurrences for many people, especially when it came to slumber parties and family bonding or just any Friday and Saturday night. Blockbuster commercials were everywhere and some of the best were in the 19 nineties and early aughts. Right. Look at this wall to wall entertainment. You want entertainment, Carl, I’ll give you entertainment man. Here in late 1998 early 1999 Blockbuster rolled out its rewards program offering free rentals and giving customers even more of *** reason to come back on *** regular basis for every five paid new release movies or games you rent in one month, you get one movie or game free. After time Warner announced its Plan to upgrade their cable system in 1991. Blockbuster shares dropped 10%. He was sure that new advances in technology were *** threat to the brick and mortar stores. So he decided to get out and sell blockbuster to viacom for *** whopping $8.4 billion. In 1994. We really almost, I almost needed the enormous cash flow to service the debt. So strategically, it made *** lot of sense. And also we thought Blockbuster was *** good business which the cable company needed to finance their bid for Paramount. Around this time, Blockbuster also explored other ventures like *** massive Florida amusement park and what were essentially arcades for adults called Block Party. And from 1995 to 2001, Blockbuster even put on its own annual entertainment award ceremony to celebrate movies and stars loved by most people but who were often left out of the Fancy Pansy Oscars. By 2004. Blockbuster was at its peak, boasting 9000 stores around the world. They’d open game rush in store editions for video game and DVD trading, emerging technologies, former president of Taco Bell, John Antioco became CEO of Blockbuster in June, 1997 Sumner Redstone was hoping Antioco could pour some of his famous hot sauce onto the Blockbuster brand. Warner Brothers offered Blockbuster an exclusive deal like their established deal for V H S stores would get new release DVD S before they went on sale. But Antioco turned it down instead WB gave the deal to Walmart which sold the dvds at *** low price. Blockbuster couldn’t compete with those prices later that summer, Mark Randolph and Reed Hastings founded Netflix, make *** list of the movies you want to see and in about one business day, you’ll get three dvds. Keep them as long as you want without late fees. Then when you’re done, look prepaid envelope which began as *** DVD by rental service. It’s been said that the inspiration for the company was *** $40 late fee. Hastings acquired from Apollo 13 in 2000. Blockbuster made one of its biggest mistakes. Hastings approached the company and offered to sell Netflix for $50 million. John had an opportunity to acquire Netflix. Yes. In 2000. Well, I don’t, it’s back in those days. Yeah, it was possible. His words as they laughed him out of the room, an rejected the idea not ready to enter the online rental space just yet. In hindsight, this seems like an insane decision. However, at that time, Blockbuster was doing very well and Netflix was still the new kid on the block. Blockbuster. He blew it. Four years later, Anak saw the potential in an online market and launched Blockbuster online with *** bigger selection of titles and *** lower subscription price than Netflix. The company was highly successful at first, Blockbuster sweetened the deal in 2007 with total access which let customers exchange their online rentals in store for *** free rental. Despite its massive success, the company lost money from the slew of free rentals. By the mid 2000 S. Blockbuster’s biggest competitors grew with the emergence of Redbox Hulu and Amazon Prime video. And in 2007, Netflix got into streaming and the rest is history. Well, not quite. Here’s more, most people think blockbuster went out of business because of Netflix. But that’s not the truth. Blockbuster’s downfall. Remember how awesome it was when blockbuster got rid of late fees. Well, it may have been cool for us but the company took *** major hit, late fees made up for $800 million blockbuster’s revenue in 2000. No more. Hello? And with customers keeping rentals for much longer stores were often out of stock plus franchise stores did not have to adhere to the policy. So customers found it confusing that some places had late fees and others didn’t. This actually led to lawsuits for false advertising, losing blockbuster even more money. They lost over 250 million in sales over the cash flow of the business was really cut in *** third, basically major shareholder, Carl Icahn wasn’t thrilled with all the big spending on online endeavors or with an Yao’s large salary by July 2007, former 7-Eleven Ceo James Keyes took over for Antioco Ford. Then hired Jim Keyes away from 7-Eleven where he had recently turned that company around by offering free. On July 11. Keyes made several bad decisions from the get go raising prices for total access and getting rid of in store exchanges. Keyes was also vocal in the media regarding his feelings about Netflix saying he’s quote, confused by this fascination that everybody has with the company. The year 2010 was not good for blockbuster in March. They, *** new thing called additional daily rates, but like the no late fees, it just didn’t work that same month. They issued *** bankruptcy warning. And by September they’d filed chapter 11 bankruptcy with $900 million in debt. Blockbuster video on Thursday filed for bankruptcy protection. Well, Blockbuster seems our eight year tug of war over tango and cash in July, they were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in April 2011. Dish Network bought Blockbuster for $320 million and announced later that year, it would launch *** Blockbuster movie pass but it was only for dish customers. Blockbuster tried to stay in the game with services like Blockbuster Express kiosks and *** 28 day exclusive deal For titles from certain movie studios. But by early 2014, the remaining 300 corporate stores were closed and online services were no more before we continue. Be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them. If you’re on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications legacy and nostalgia in the media. The last remaining franchise owned Blockbusters in Alaska closed in 2018, leaving one store left in America in 2020. The Bend Oregon store and its long time manager, Sandy harding were the subject of the nostalgia fueled documentary. The last Blockbuster since then, more and more customers have made special trips just to visit the store and experience the good old days when my kids were little. We just love coming in here during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the store turned into an airbnb where guests could have *** nineties themed sleepover. We’re going to have pizza, we’ll have candy, you’re going to have popcorn. We have *** little closet set up in the corner with all kinds of nineties clothing in it. Ironically, Netflix began streaming the last Blockbuster and the streaming service has green lit an original comedy series about employees working at the last Blockbuster even after decades of new technology and an abundance of streaming options. The love for Blockbuster is still going strong. So will there be *** happily ever after for this last Blockbuster on Earth? I would love to say we’re going to be here forever. But sadly, I think that there probably will be, you know, *** last day at some point. Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Watch mojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.

Is Blockbuster making a comeback?

Updated: 3:42 PM EDT Mar 22, 2023

Don’t roll the credits on Blockbuster just yet.Rumors online have started to spread that the once-popular video rental chain may be attempting a comeback after its website, blockbuster.com, came back online over the weekend.When you visit the site on your desktop, it takes you to a single page, with Blockbuster’s iconic logo and a simple message underneath: “We are working on rewinding your movie.” On its mobile site, the single page reads, “Be kind while we rewind.”That, along with its Twitter account being reactivated recently, has gotten many fans’ hopes up.”Um hello? I just went to @blockbuster’s website, and saw this?” one Twitter user said. “The right is what the website looked like in 2019. Hello?”So I just randomly typed in @blockbuster website and it’s actually active,” another Twitter user added. “…does this mean we’re gonna be time-traveling back to the 90s where Friday nights were lit?”Blockbuster was a video rental store chain that was founded in Dallas in 1985. The company quickly grew and became one of the most ubiquitous video rental stores in the U.S.At its peak in the early 2000s, Blockbuster had over 9,000 stores worldwide and was the go-to destination for movie rentals, as well as video games, offering a wide-range selection for both.However, as the popularity of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu grew, Blockbuster began to decline. The company struggled to compete with the convenience and low cost of online streaming, and in 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy.Soon after, Dish Network bought the dying company, and by 2014, the last 300 company-owned stores were closed. Dish allowed a handful of privately-owned stores to remain open, but as of 2023, only one location remains, located in Bend, Oregon.Dish Network has not made any public comments about the future of Blockbuster.

Don’t roll the credits on Blockbuster just yet.

Rumors online have started to spread that the once-popular video rental chain may be attempting a comeback after its website, blockbuster.com, came back online over the weekend.

When you visit the site on your desktop, it takes you to a single page, with Blockbuster’s iconic logo and a simple message underneath: “We are working on rewinding your movie.”

On its mobile site, the single page reads, “Be kind while we rewind.”

That, along with its Twitter account being reactivated recently, has gotten many fans’ hopes up.

“Um hello? I just went to @blockbuster’s website, and saw this?” one Twitter user said. “The right is what the website looked like in 2019. Hello?”

So I just randomly typed in @blockbuster website and it’s actually active,” another Twitter user added. “…does this mean we’re gonna be time-traveling back to the 90s where Friday nights were lit?”

Blockbuster was a video rental store chain that was founded in Dallas in 1985. The company quickly grew and became one of the most ubiquitous video rental stores in the U.S.

At its peak in the early 2000s, Blockbuster had over 9,000 stores worldwide and was the go-to destination for movie rentals, as well as video games, offering a wide-range selection for both.

However, as the popularity of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu grew, Blockbuster began to decline. The company struggled to compete with the convenience and low cost of online streaming, and in 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy.

Soon after, Dish Network bought the dying company, and by 2014, the last 300 company-owned stores were closed. Dish allowed a handful of privately-owned stores to remain open, but as of 2023, only one location remains, located in Bend, Oregon.

Dish Network has not made any public comments about the future of Blockbuster.