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Wikipedia

Blockbuster (retailer)

April 26, 2024

Blockbuster Video[5] is an American multimedia brand and former video rental store chain. It was founded by David Cook in 1985 as a stand-alone mom-and-pop home video rental shop, but later grew into a national store chain featuring video game rentals, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on demand, and cinema theater.[6] The logo was designed by Lee Dean at the Rominger Agency. [7][8][9][10]The company expanded internationally throughout the 1990s. At its peak in 2004,[11][12] Blockbuster employed 84,300 people worldwide and operated 9,094 stores.[13]

Blockbuster LLC
A Blockbuster location in March 2007 in Clermont, Florida, as seen from the Citrus Tower
Company typeSubsidiary
NYSE: BBI (1999–2010)[1][2]
Expert Market: BLIAQ
Expert Market: BLIBQ
(BB Liquidating Inc.)
FoundedOctober 19, 1985; 38 years ago (1985-10-19)[3]
Dallas, Texas
FounderDavid Cook[3]
Defunct
  • September 23, 2010 (2010-09-23) (original company)
  • November 6, 2013; 10 years ago (2013-11-06) (Dish-owned corporate portion)
  • January 12, 2014 (2014-01-12) (corporate-owned stores)
  • January 30, 2020 (2020-01-30) (As a chain)
FateBankruptcy, liquidation sale, limited continuation of brand name in the United States
SuccessorSling TV
Dish Movie Pack
Headquarters
Dallas, Texas
,
U.S.
Number of locations
1 (privately owned, franchised) in Bend, Oregon [a]
ServicesHome video rentals
(VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, DVD, Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray)
Video on demand streaming services
Revenue US$3.24 billion (2010)
−US$78.8 million (2010)
−US$268 million (2010)
Total assets US$1.183 billion (2010)
Total equity −US$582.3 million (2010)
Number of employees
84,300 (2004)
25,000 (2010)
3 (2019)[4]
ParentViacom (1994–2004)
Dish Network (2011–2014)
Websitewww.blockbuster.com

Poor leadership and the impact of the Great Recession were major factors leading to Blockbuster's decline, as was the growing competition from Netflix's mail-order service, video on demand, and Redbox automated kiosks. Significant loss of revenue occurred during the late 2000s, and the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2010.[14][15] The next year, its remaining 1,700 stores were bought by satellite television provider Dish Network,[16][17] and by 2014, the last 300 company-owned stores were closed.[18] Although corporate support for the brand ended, Dish retained a small number of franchise agreements, enabling some privately owned franchises to remain open. Following a series of further closures in 2019, only one franchised store remains open, located in Bend, Oregon, United States.[11][12][13][19][20][21]

History edit

1985–1996: David Cook era and early growth edit

 
A Blockbuster store in Durham, North Carolina

Blockbuster's beginnings can be traced back to another company, Cook Data Services, founded by David Cook in 1978.[3][22] The company's primary goal was to supply software services to the oil and gas industries throughout Texas, but it was very unsuccessful.[22] Sandy Cook, David's wife, wanted to get into the video business, and her husband would soon study the industry and future prospects.[23] Using profit he made from the sale of David P. Cook & Associates, the subsidiary of his company, he decided to buy into a video store franchise in Dallas known as Video Works. When Video Works would not allow him to decorate the interior of his store with a blue-and-yellow design, he departed the franchise and opened the first Blockbuster Video in 1985 under his own company Blockbuster Video Inc.[24][25] When he realized the potential in video rentals, Cook abandoned the oil industry and began franchising the Blockbuster store.[26]

The first Blockbuster store opened on October 19, 1985, in Dallas, Texas, with an inventory of 8,000 VHS and 2,000 Beta tapes.[27][28][29] The chain's name is derived from the term blockbuster, a Hollywood term for a successful film. Cook's experience with managing huge databases proved helpful in driving innovation within the industry.[3] Following early success from the company's first stores, Cook built a $6-million warehouse in Garland, Texas, to help sustain and support future growth that allowed new stores to open quickly.[3] Blockbuster would often custom-tailor a store's inventory to its neighborhood, based on local demographics.[3]

In 1987, Waste Management co-founder Wayne Huizenga, who originally had reservations about entering the video rental industry, agreed to acquire several Blockbuster stores.[30] At that time, there were 19 stores, attracting Huizenga's associate John Melk's attention due to its efficiency, family-friendly no porn image and business model. Huizenga and Melk utilized techniques from their waste business and Ray Kroc's model of expansion to rapidly expand Blockbuster, and soon they were opening a new store every 24 hours.[31][32] They took over many of the existing Blockbuster franchise stores, and Huizenga spent much of the late 1980s acquiring several of Blockbuster's rivals, including Major Video. In 1989, Nintendo attempted to halt Blockbuster's ability to rent video games, filing multiple lawsuits and lobbying the U.S. Congress to ban the practice.[33] Nintendo ultimately lost the battle, which paved the way for future video game rental.[33][34]

Blockbuster sponsored the Blockbuster Bowl in American football, which began in 1990[35] and was played at Joe Robbie Stadium outside Miami. The first three editions were played under that name before Blockbuster withdrew its sponsorship.

 
Blockbuster membership card (c. 1990)

In 1990, Blockbuster bought mid-Atlantic rival Erol's which had more than 250 stores.[36] In 1992, Blockbuster acquired the Sound Warehouse and Music Plus music retail chains and created Blockbuster Music.[37][38] In October 1993, Blockbuster took a controlling interest in Spelling Entertainment Group, a media company run by television producer Aaron Spelling.[39] Blockbuster purchased Super Club Retail Entertainment Corp. on November 22, 1993, from Philips Electronics, N.V. for 5.2 million shares of Blockbuster stock. This brought approximately 270 Record Bar, Tracks, Turtles and Rhythm and Views music stores and approximately 160 video retail superstores into the corporation.[40] It also owned 35% of Republic Pictures; that company merged with Spelling in April 1994.[41]

Blockbuster became a multibillion-dollar company, but Huizenga was worried about how new technology could threaten their business, such as video on demand and the growth of cable television. In 1991, just three days after Time Warner had announced it would upgrade its cable system, Blockbuster's shares dropped more than 10 percent.[42] In 1993, he made an attempt to expand into other areas by investing in Viacom.[43][44] Huizenga also considered buying a cable company, but this was unknown territory for Blockbuster and he decided not to take the risk. He also had the idea of a 2,500-acre Blockbuster sports and amusement park in Florida, something Blockbuster was still considering as late as August 1994.[45] Unable to come up with a proper solution about how to face the growing threats to the traditional videostore, he made the decision to sell Blockbuster to Viacom and pull out.[46] Viacom acquired Blockbuster in 1994 for $8.4 billion to help finance its bid for Paramount in the bidding war with QVC Network Inc.[47][48] Blockbuster's stock trade had been dropping steadily the months before the merger, with a small rise after the deal was announced,[49] and by the latter part of the decade, its worth was estimated to have fallen to just $4.6 billion.[50]

The Blockbuster Block Party concept was test-marketed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1994. It was an "entertainment complex" aimed at adults, containing eight themed areas housing a restaurant, games, laser tag arena, and motion simulator rides, and was housed in a windowless building the size of a city block.[51]

During the 1990s Blockbuster expanded in the United Kingdom, purchasing the country's Ritz Video chain. The stores were rebranded to Blockbuster.[citation needed]

The original Blockbuster company, Blockbuster Video Inc., was merged into the parent company Blockbuster Entertainment Inc. which had earlier replaced the Blockbuster Entertainment Company. In 1996, Blockbuster Entertainment Inc. merged into a new Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation[52] and the retail stores, then called Blockbuster Video, were renamed Blockbuster. The logo changed slightly, but retained the ITC Machine font.[53] In November 1996 Blockbuster confirmed that it was moving its headquarters from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to the Renaissance Tower in downtown Dallas.[54] Most of the workers at the Florida headquarters did not want to relocate, so Blockbuster planned to hire around 500 to 600 new employees for its Dallas headquarters. The company had offered various relocation packages to all of its Fort Lauderdale staff.[55] The second Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation was later merged into Blockbuster, Inc.[citation needed]

1997–2006: John Antioco era, Netflix sale turndown, and financial peak edit

In June 1997, Taco Bell president John Antioco resigned from the company to become CEO of Blockbuster.[56] Also that year, Warner Bros. offered Antioco an exclusive rental deal, seeing as DVDs were emerging as the new home video medium. Blockbuster was to have rights to rent new DVD releases for a period of time before they went on sale to the general public. The studio was to receive 40% of rental revenues in return, which was the same deal already in place for VHS rentals. Blockbuster turned the offer down, and the studio responded by lowering its DVD wholesale price in order to compete with the rental industry. Walmart seized the opportunity and in a few years surpassed Blockbuster as the studios' single largest source of revenue. Other mass retailers soon followed suit, selling DVDs below wholesale price as a loss leader in hopes of drawing more customers to their stores and selling them more profitable items. Unable to match prices, Blockbuster's business model was severely affected.[57]

In 1998, Blockbuster created DEJ Productions, which acquired 225 films primarily to provide exclusive content to its Blockbuster stores prior to being sold off to First Look Studios in 2005.[58] During that same year, Blockbuster bought the Irish video rental store Xtra-vision, with over 200 stores in Ireland and the United Kingdom. In 2009, Blockbuster sold off its Irish operations to Birchall Investments, with the few Xtra-vision stores in the United Kingdom being rebranded as Blockbuster.

 
A Blockbuster sign in Stamford, Connecticut, which stood until March 2023, when it was removed and listed for sale online[59]

In late 1998, Blockbuster launched a loyalty program called Blockbuster Rewards that allowed customers to earn free rentals, including one older title each month from the category of Blockbuster Favorites. After the 1998 test launch, the chain went nationwide with the program in 1999.[60]

In August the same year, Viacom sold the Blockbuster Music chain to Wherehouse Entertainment, which was subsequently purchased by Trans World Entertainment in 2003.[61]

In mid-2000, the company partnered with Enron in an attempt to create a video-on-demand service.[62] The agreement was supposed to last for 20 years; however, Enron terminated the deal in March 2001 over fears that Blockbuster would not be able to provide sufficient films for the service (Enron also filed for bankruptcy that year).[63] Also in 2000, Blockbuster turned down a chance to purchase the fledgling Netflix for $50 million (~$84.1 million in 2023).[64]

In 2002, Blockbuster acquired Movie Trading Company, a Dallas chain that buys, sells, and trades movies and games, to study potential business models for DVD and game trading. Also that year, it acquired Gamestation, a 64-store UK computer and console games retailer chain, and purchased DVD Rental Central for $1 million, an Arizona father-and-son online DVD-rental company with about ten thousand subscribers. DVD Rental Central would eventually become Blockbuster Online.[65]

On or around October 14, 2004, Blockbuster was spun-off from Viacom. Online DVD subscriptions were introduced on Blockbuster.com, also known as Blockbuster Online.[66] Blockbuster also rolled out its "Game Rush" store-in-store concept to approximately 450 domestic company-operated stores. Blockbuster began game and DVD trading in selected U.S. stores.[67]

At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster had more than 9,000 stores worldwide.[12] In December 2004, Blockbuster announced its intention to pursue a hostile takeover of Hollywood Video, its major U.S. competitor.[68] After several extensions of the tender offer, Blockbuster withdrew due to FTC opposition.[69] To counter the Blockbuster offer, Hollywood Video agreed to a buyout in January 2005 by a smaller competitor, the Dothan, Alabama-based Movie Gallery. Since then, Movie Gallery has filed for bankruptcy twice and its entire chain of stores has been liquidated.

In May 2005, financier Carl Icahn waged a successful proxy fight to add himself and two other members to the board. Icahn accused Blockbuster of overpaying chairman and CEO John F. Antioco, who had served in that capacity since 1997, receiving $51.6 million in compensation for 2004. Icahn was also at odds with Antioco on how to revive profit at Blockbuster. Antioco scrapped late fees in January, started an internet service, and decided to keep the company independent, while Icahn wanted to sell out to a private equity firm.[70] Also in 2005, Blockbuster began a campaign promoting its "No more late fees" policy.[71] The campaign proved controversial, with Associated Press reporting that the new policy actually charged users the full price of the movie or game after eight days which they could cancel by returning the product in question and paying a fee.[72] More than 40 states filed suit against the company for false advertising.[72] Blockbuster later settled the suit by agreeing to refunds, as well as promising to better explain the policy.[72]

Vintage Stock acquired the Movie Trading Company name from Blockbuster in 2006, and continues to use the name for Dallas-area stores.[73]

2007–2011: James Keyes era, financial decline, and bankruptcy edit

 
Blockbuster DVD-by-mail envelope

A billion-dollar campaign called "Total Access" was introduced in 2007 as a strategy against Netflix. Through Blockbuster Online, customers could rent a DVD online and receive a new movie for free when they returned it to a Blockbuster store. While it was a major success every free movie cost the company two dollars, but the hope was that it would attract enough new subscribers to cover the loss. Netflix felt threatened, and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings approached Antioco with a suggestion to buy Blockbuster's online business. In return, a new system would be introduced where customers could return their movies to a Blockbuster store. Before the deal could be realized, board member Carl Icahn intervened, refusing to let the company lose more money through Total Access. Antioco was pushed out in July and replaced with James Keyes, who rejected Hastings' proposal, raised the price of online DVD rentals and put an end to the free movie deal. As a consequence, Blockbuster Online's previously massive growth quickly stopped.[74] Antioco's departure reportedly also involved continued controversy over his compensation. He left with a $24.7 million severance package.[75]

On June 19, 2007, after a pilot program launched in late 2006, Blockbuster announced that it had chosen Blu-ray over HD DVD format to rent in a majority of its stores. In the pilot program, Blockbuster offered selected titles for rental and sale in 250 stores. Blockbuster stocked Blu-ray titles in almost 5,000 stores across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Australia.[76]

On July 2, 2007, the company named James W. Keyes, former president and CEO of 7-Eleven, as the new chairman and CEO. He introduced a new business strategy that included enhancements to existing stores. The following month in August, Blockbuster acquired Movielink for $6.6 million, forecasting a shift to streaming video.[77] Movielink was an online video service that allowed customers to download movie rentals from a library of over 6,000 films, created in 2002 by five major studios including Warner Bros, MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Universal Studios.[78] The move gave Blockbuster the opportunity to move away from the unprofitable Total Access (DVD-by-mail) service in favor of online streaming. Despite growing competition from Netflix and Redbox, the company downplayed the threat, choosing instead to focus on Apple and Walmart as their primary competition.[79]

On September 14, 2007, Blockbuster GB Ltd bought a number of retail stores from ChoicesUK plc. ChoicesUK is an AIM-listed multi-channel distributor and retailer of DVDs, computer games, and CDs. The sale secured employment for approximately 450 employees across 59 stores in the UK. As part of the transaction, Blockbuster GB rebranded the stores as Blockbuster.[citation needed]

On February 17, 2008, Blockbuster proposed a buyout of struggling Circuit City. However, following a due diligence review of Circuit City's financial books, Blockbuster withdrew its offer in July 2008. Analysts were not favorable to the proposed deal, viewing it as a desperate effort to save two struggling retailers rather than a bold turnaround initiative.[80] Subsequently, Circuit City filed for bankruptcy on November 10, 2008, and, after liquidating all of its stores, ceased operations on March 8, 2009.[81]

At the beginning of 2010, Blockbuster had over 6,500 stores, of which 4,000 were in the U.S.—[82] a number that fell to 3,425 in late October the same year.[83] In the United States it planned to close between 810 and 960 retail stores, and instead launch as many as 10,000 "Blockbuster Express" video rental kiosks by the middle of 2010.[84] It has been claimed that more than 43 million U.S. households had Blockbuster memberships.[85]

On February 10, 2010, Blockbuster announced that it would cease all its operations in Portugal, closing down 17 outlets and leaving over 100 workers unemployed. Blockbuster representatives in Portugal blamed internet piracy and the lack of government response to it as the key factors to the company's failure in the country.[86]

In March 2010, Blockbuster began "Additional Daily Rates", or "ADRs", for rentals not returned by their due date in the United States, having already used this procedure in other countries such as the UK for many years. An ADR was charged for each day a member kept the rental beyond the rental terms. On March 12, 2010, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Blockbuster's independent registered public accounting firm, issued its audit opinion disclosing substantial doubt about Blockbuster's ability to continue as a going concern. This report was included in Blockbusters's 10-K SEC filing. On March 17, 2010, Blockbuster issued a bankruptcy warning after continued drops in revenue threatened its ability to service its nearly $1 billion (~$1.36 billion in 2023) debt load. By April 1, 2010, Carl Icahn had resigned from Blockbuster's board of directors and sold nearly all his remaining Blockbuster stock.[87] Blockbuster paired up with Time Warner to have Warner Bros. movies made available in Blockbuster stores on the DVD release date and not be subject to a four-week delay.[citation needed] Similar agreements were also made with Universal and 20th Century Fox.

The liquidation of Movie Gallery began in May 2010, eliminating Blockbuster's primary competitor. During the same month a dissident shareholder, Gregory S. Meyer, in an effort to be elected to Blockbuster's board of directors, engaged in a proxy battle with Blockbuster's board, alleging that the board had been responsible for significant destruction of value to shareholders. Meyer was elected to the board at Blockbuster's shareholder meeting in Dallas on June 24, 2010.

On July 1, 2010, the company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after its shareholders failed to pass a reverse stock split plan aimed at heading off involuntary delisting because of the stock's trading at well below $1 (~$1.00 in 2023) per share.[88] The stock was then traded on the OTCBB (over-the-counter bulletin board).

 
A Blockbuster store in the Midwest (2012)

Blockbuster was unable to make a $42.4 million(~$57.8 million in 2023) interest payment to bondholders and was given until August 13, 2010, to pay off the debt. The company hired Jeff Stegenga to be its chief restructuring officer (CRO) in an effort to satisfy bondholder demands and recapitalize the company. After failing to pay on August 13, bondholders gave Blockbuster until September 30, 2010.

On August 26, 2010, news media reported that Blockbuster was planning to file a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-September. In light of this news, the company's chief financial officer (CFO), Tom Casey, resigned on September 11. He was replaced by Dennis McGill, formerly CFO of Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc. On September 23, 2010, Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to challenging losses, $900 million (~$1.23 billion in 2023) in debt, and strong competition from Netflix, Redbox, and video on-demand services.[89][90] Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation earlier in 2010 for similar reasons.[91]

At the time of its Chapter 11 filing, Blockbuster said it would keep its 3,300 stores open;[92] however, that December it announced it would close an additional 182 stores by the end of April 2011 in attempts to emerge from bankruptcy.[93] It was reported in February 2011 that Blockbuster and its creditors had not come up with a Chapter 11 exit plan and that the company would be sold for $300 million (~$401 million in 2023) or more, along with taking over debts and leases.[92] Blockbuster admitted that it might not be able to meet financial obligations required under its Chapter 11 filing, a circumstance which could mandate conversion of the bankruptcy filing to Chapter 7 (liquidation).[94] On March 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a claim disclosing that Blockbuster did not have the funds to continue reorganizing and should liquidate.

On March 28, 2011, South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom made a surprise bid to buy Blockbuster.[95] Dish Network had also expressed interest in bidding, as did Carl Icahn, despite calling Blockbuster "the worst investment I ever made".[96] Dish eventually won the auction on April 6, 2011, agreeing to buy Blockbuster for $320 million and the assumption of $87 million in liabilities and other obligations.[16] On April 19, 2011, it was announced that Dish would keep only 500 Blockbuster stores open. The acquisition was completed on April 26, 2011.[17][97] In April 2011, Dish Network told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court that it needed more time to negotiate with landlords in an effort to keep more than 600 Blockbuster stores open.[98]

In April 2011, Blockbuster's landlords objected to its assumption of leases that it sought to assign to soon-to-be-owner Dish Network Corp., claiming that they did not have adequate assurance that the new owner would honor those leases. Blockbuster signed a deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment to launch ITV Programmes released on DVDs, Blu-rays, etc.[99] On May 6, 2011, Keyes resigned as Blockbuster's CEO.

2011–2015: Michael Kelly era edit

Keyes was replaced by Michael Kelly under the new title of Blockbuster's president. On August 31, 2011, the liquidators announced the closure of the remaining 253 Canadian stores and shutting of the entire Canadian unit.[100] In September 2011, it was announced that Blockbuster and Dish Network would launch a new service called Blockbuster Movie Pass that would compete with Netflix. For US$10 per month the members would have access to both a streaming service and movies and games-by-mail. The package was only available for subscribers of Dish Network's pay-TV service, and it eventually folded.[101][102]

 
A "now closed" Blockbuster store in Ypsilanti, Michigan undergoing a liquidation sale in 2013

On January 13, 2012, Dish CEO Joe Clayton announced that while Dish had planned to keep 90% of the stores in operation, meaning around 15,000 employees would remain employed, because of market factors "there are ones that aren't going to make it. We will close unprofitable stores. We will close additional stores." Clayton did not say when these additional closings would happen and only remarked that some stores were unprofitable. The Dish chief would not say which stores the company was planning to close, but that each potential closing was to be assessed on a "case by case basis".[103]

On October 4, 2012, Dish Network announced that it was scrapping plans to make Blockbuster into a Netflix competitor.[104] On January 16, 2013, Blockbuster UK entered into administration and Deloitte was appointed to run the business while trying to find a buyer while some of the stores remained open.[citation needed][105] Between November 6, 2013, and January 12, 2014, all 300 remaining corporate-owned Blockbuster stores in the U.S. were closed and the DVD-by-mail program was shut down.[106][107][108][109] The Blockbuster official website identified 51 franchise locations remaining in operation in the U.S. in 2014.[110] Dish maintained its video streaming services, Blockbuster on Demand and Blockbuster@Home,[111] until they were replaced by a new subscription service in April 2015 called "DISH Movie Pack".[112][113] In May 2015, Michael Kelly retired from Dish.[114]

Blockbuster's decline was attributed to poor leadership according to others in the industry. Franchise owner Ken Tisher said in 2015, "Blockbuster, if it isn't already, is going to go into the Harvard Business Review for how not to run a business, or how to run a business into the ground."[115] Keith Hoogland, owner of Family Video, attributed poor decision-making as a primary reason the company did not survive.[116] Jonathan Salem Baskin, a former Blockbuster marketing communications executive, stated, "Digital would have changed Blockbuster's business, for sure, but it wasn't its killer. That credit belongs to Blockbuster itself."[117] Commentators view Blockbuster as a main example of failing to change with the times.[118][119][120]

2015–present: Post-Kelly era and continual decline edit

Main article: Blockbuster (Bend, Oregon)
 
The last remaining Blockbuster located in Bend, Oregon

Although Blockbuster stores had the option of remaining open by paying a licensing fee to Dish,[121] a corporate entity was no longer available to provide supplies of branded products, forcing franchisees to design and produce their own.[122] Additional store closures continued.[123][124][125] By January 2018,[126] the company's website listed nine remaining franchise-owned stores in the U.S., including six in Alaska, two in Oregon, and one in Texas.[127][128] Eight of those nine had closed by August 2018, leaving only one store in Bend, Oregon.[21][129]

In March 2019, the last remaining store outside of the United States, located in Morley, Western Australia, closed its doors.[130] The Bend location became the last remaining Blockbuster in the world;[20] it serves as a tourist destination, housing Blockbuster memorabilia and Russell Crowe film props which John Oliver had donated to an Alaska store.[131] In August 2020, the location was listed as an Airbnb rental for a 1990s-themed sleepover on three separate nights in September; each were limited to guests from the area in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.[132][133]

The entity that operated Blockbuster prior to the sale to Dish remains nominally active under the name BB Liquidating Inc., and trades as a penny stock.[134] However, it no longer has any assets or ties to the Blockbuster brand or its remaining franchise location.[135] In activity related to the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021, the BB Liquidating stock surged, despite there being "no value for the common shareholders in the bankruptcy liquidation process, even under the most optimistic of scenarios."[136]

On September 21, 2022, the Blockbuster Twitter account revealed the Blockbuster World Video Game Championship 3. The event was held during the Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2022.[137] On March 23, 2023, the Blockbuster web page was re-activated, with the message "We are working on rewinding your movie".[138]

Business model edit

The standard business model for video rental stores had traditionally been to pay a large flat fee per video, approximately $65, and offer unlimited rentals for the lifetime of the medium itself. Sumner Redstone, whose Viacom conglomerate then owned Blockbuster, personally pioneered a new revenue-sharing arrangement for video in the mid-1980s. Blockbuster obtained videos for little cost and kept 60% of the rental fee, paying the other 40% to the studio, and reporting rental information through the global media measurement and research company Rentrak. In addition to benefiting from a lower initial price, Blockbuster also capitalized on the fact that movies were generally not available for purchase at affordable price points during initial release periods. Thus customers had a choice to rent, wait, or buy the film on tape at the much higher manufacturer's suggested retail price targeted at other rental chains and film enthusiasts, which at that time ranged between $70–$100 per title.[citation needed]

Quantity and selection of titles edit

Blockbuster stores followed a strategy of emphasizing access to the most popular new releases, obtaining early access and stocking many copies of the new-release titles, with a relatively narrower range of selections than traditional independent video stores.[139] Much of the shelf space in the stores was devoted to popular titles that were placed relatively sparsely on the shelves with the entire front cover visible, so customers could browse casually and quickly, rather than having a more diverse selection with fewer copies of each title. Blockbuster sometimes contracted with studios to obtain earlier access to new titles than other companies could achieve. Examples of such contracts were those in which Blockbuster became the exclusive rental chain for new releases from WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, formally WWF, World Wrestling Federation), Funimation, Rhino, Paramount, DreamWorks, DWA, Universal, Lionsgate, Summit, Anchor Bay, Manga, The Weinstein Company, Dimension, Miramax, Hollywood, Touchstone, Disney, Buena Vista, 20th Century Fox, MGM/UA, Orion, Sony, Columbia, Tristar, Image, Shout! Factory, Warner Bros., HBO, New Line Cinema and Allumination FilmWorks.[140][141] As one commentator complained:

Blockbuster was once an unstoppable giant whose franchises swept across the country putting mom and pop video stores out of business left and right by offering a larger selection of new releases, pricing them at a lower point due to the volume they worked in... Gone were the fragmented, independently owned shops that were often unorganized treasure troves of VHS discoveries. In their place were walls of new releases: hundreds of copies of a small handful of films. Everyone watching the same thing, everyone developing the same limited set of expectations... They put focus entirely on what was new rather than on discovering film history ...[139]

When a title was no longer a new release, each store would retain a few copies of it and typically sell off the rest as "previously viewed" for discounted prices.[142] Older movies would be re-categorized as "Blockbuster Favorite" titles and placed in a different area of the store.[143] Most Blockbuster locations also accepted trade-ins of used movies, TV shows, and games.[144]

Since Blockbuster's founding in 1985, the chain refused to stock adult films in order to portray the brand as family-friendly.[145] However, the company did carry R-rated and unrated films.

Other ventures edit

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards edit

Main article: Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

Blockbuster Entertainment Inc. ran an awards show annually from 1995 to 2001 called the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. In November 2001, Blockbuster announced that it would cancel the 2002 award show following concerns about viewership and celebrity attendance following the September 11 attacks.[146][147]

Blockbuster Express edit

Blockbuster Express was a movie-rental kiosk brand sublicensed for use by licensee NCR Corporation. In 2011, nearly 10,000 Blockbuster Express kiosks were in operation.[148][149] Apart from the license to use the Blockbuster brand name, Blockbuster Express kiosks are unrelated to Blockbuster LLC, its stores, its DVD-by-mail service, or its online streaming service.

The names Blockbuster Express[150] and Blockbuster Video Express[151] had also been used for smaller Blockbuster retail stores in the United Kingdom.

GameRush edit

 
GameRush store at a Blockbuster in Blue Ash, Ohio

In 2004, Blockbuster opened store-within-a-store video game rental and sales stores called GameRush inside Blockbuster locations in limited markets.[152] Blockbuster also acquired Rhino Video Games, a chain of video game stores in the Southwest, and operated it alongside GameRush.[153] These stores sold and bought DVDs, games, game consoles, and accessories. GameRush was positioned as a direct competitor to stores such as GameStop and GameCrazy. Blockbuster used its location status to get instant coverage; it also promoted these stores by hosting video-game tournaments, special trade-in offers, and a more 'hip' look to the selection and staff. However, when Blockbuster introduced the discontinuation of late fees, GameRush was put on the chopping block. In January 2007, Blockbuster sold Rhino Video Games to GameStop Corp.[154] According to the Blockbuster Twitter account, GameRush was to be part of the "new Blockbuster" in 2016[155] and even had its own Twitter profile, however the GameRush Twitter account has not been active since January 2017.

Discovery Zone edit

In 1993, Blockbuster invested in the indoor kids' play restaurant Discovery Zone.[156] In 1995, Blockbuster bought more stock to take control of the company. Discovery Zone filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 26, 1996, after changes in management & aggressive expansion put them in heavy debt. DZ was emerged a year later under Wellspring Associates ownership, with Blockbuster no longer have control of the chain.[157] Discovery Zone abruptly closed half of its locations in 1999 and sold thirteen others to the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese's.[156] The rest of the Discovery Zone locations closed in December 2001. The chain was revived as a single location in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 7, 2020. It remains in operation, but it is not owned by Blockbuster.[158]

International operations edit

Australia edit

 
A Blockbuster Video store in Wagga Wagga Marketplace, New South Wales, Australia
 
A Blockbuster store in Sandy Bay, an inner suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

In Australia, the first Blockbuster store was opened in 1991 in Melbourne. In 1992, the Virgin Group and Blockbuster Inc entered into a joint venture to set up Australia's first Virgin Megastores in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. This lasted until Virgin sold its interest in the six stores to Blockbuster, which promptly rebranded them in 1993 as Blockbuster Music. In 1994, Australian store numbers rose to 54 with the acquisition of Major Video and Focus chains in both Victoria and South Australia. In 1995, the growth continued with the opening of the 100th video store in the country. By the end of 1998, Blockbuster Australia opened over 125 stores. In July 1998, Blockbuster Australia launched into franchising with the conversion of the former Video Flicks franchise group in Queensland, and the former Movieland group in Western Australia six months later. Also in 1998, the company sold its last two Australian Blockbuster Music stores in Pitt Street, Sydney, and Chapel Street, Melbourne to Brazin Limited, which incorporated them under its Sanity Entertainment brand. Throughout 1999 and 2000, Blockbuster Australia quickly expanded its franchise store network through the conversion of smaller groups and the granting of individual franchises. Before 2005, this was done through the acquisition of the Movies Plus Group and the conversion of some individual Movies 4U and Movieland outlets.[159][160][161]

In February 2007, Blockbuster sold its entire Australian store network to Video Ezy. At the time, Blockbuster Australia comprised 370 outlets nationwide—29 owned by the company and 341 owned by franchisees. Video Ezy had 518 Australian outlets, all of them being owned by franchisees, pushing the combined group's market share to 40% of the country's video rental sector. Video Ezy committed to the master franchise agreement with Blockbuster for 10 years operating the brand with the possibility of renewal for a further 10 years after that. As a consequence of the deal, the company changed its name from Video Ezy to Franchise Entertainment Group (FEG).[162][163][164][165] In October 2010, FEG transferred control of the Video Ezy Australia and Blockbuster Australia online businesses to its newly acquired and reorganized company, Elan Media Partners, leaving FEG to manage the franchise relationships with individual Video Ezy and Blockbuster outlets.[166][167]

Despite the two brands coming together, Video Ezy and Blockbuster franchises closed 270 stores across Australia in the four years to August 2011. Additional store closings would go on for several years,[168][169][170][171] until all the stores in Australia had closed, although vending kiosks with the Blockbuster logo were still in operation until early 2021.[172][173][174] Australia's last Blockbuster store, in Morley, Western Australia, was closed at the end of March 2019.[130][175]

Brazil edit

Blockbuster was the largest video rental chain in the country, but finances were not good enough due to high rental prices. Lojas Americanas, the largest Brazilian department store, acquired half of the shares and now it is named under "Americanas Express Blockbuster". The store layout was similar to a regular American store with a Game Rush, but instead of games it offers electronics goods like computers and DVD players, groceries like candies and microwave popcorn, and even toys from Mattel and Hasbro's board games. In January 2007, when Blockbuster had 127 stores across Brazil, it sold its Brazilian stake for $87.4 million (~$124 million in 2023) and gave Lojas Americanas exclusive rights to the Blockbuster brand in the country for 20 years. The average store has an interior on about 400 m2, where 80-100 m2 is dedicated to movies.[176][177]

Canada edit

 
A Blockbuster store in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, which featured the 1985–1997 logo

In Canada, Blockbuster Canada (established in 1990) had operated independently, and it initially remained financially stable.[178] It began a partnership with Wind Mobile in December 2009, selling mobile phones at all stores in cities where Wind's service was available. Phone sales began in Toronto and Calgary, later expanding to other cities with Wind coverage. Some stores even featured a full Wind "store-in-a-store" for postpaid activations and a larger selection of devices.[179] However, on May 3, 2011, it was announced that the company had gone into receivership.[180] On May 25, 2011, it was announced that 146 stores, accounting for approximately 35% of the company's stores in Canada, would be shut down effective June 18, 2011. On August 31, 2011, Blockbuster Canada announced that no buyer could be found for its remaining stores that were acceptable to the court-appointed bankruptcy receiver, and that it would wind down operations and close all stores by December 31, 2011.[181] The company had acted as a guarantor towards Blockbuster's remaining debt.[181]

Denmark edit

Blockbuster came to Denmark in 1996 with the acquisition of the 29 Christianshavn video stores.[182] In 2009 they were on its peak with 72 stores across the country.[183] Blockbuster Video Denmark sold the rights for the Blockbuster brand to the Danish telecommunications corporation TDC in 2013, excluding the 46 remaining brick and mortar stores which continued as RecycleIT A/S, diversifying in refurbishing and reselling consumer electronics in addition sale and rental of games and movies.[83][184] The original goal was to rename all the stores before July 1, 2014, when TDC would get the exclusive rights to the brand name in Denmark, but only 12 of them had been renamed at the end of June and RecycleIT A/S filed for bankruptcy the same year.[185][186] The 12 RecycleIT stores were bought by the company Blue City.[187] The new owners planned to gradually phase out game and movie sales and rental within 2016, but due to the fast changes in the market it happened almost immediately after the takeover, and seven of the stores, therefore, closed in 2015. In 2017, the five remaining ones had started to make some profit, and focus exclusively on second-hand consumer electronics[188]

However, the Blockbuster On Demand service is still active in Nordic Countries, offering both unlimited streaming and 48-hour rental of films online. Several Smart TVs have the Blockbuster app pre-installed out-of-the-box, and it is available on a variety of streaming devices such as Google's Chromecast.[189] The rights to the Blockbuster brand are now in hands of Nuuday.[190]

Germany edit

Blockbuster opened 20 stores in Berlin and Munich and announced plans to open 250 more.[when?] The chain presented itself as family-friendly by not renting pornographic films. However, that decision adversely affected the profitability of the stores. Blockbuster left the German market in 1997.[191]

Hong Kong edit

In 1998, after the closure of KPS Video Express, Blockbuster saw an opportunity to enter into the Hong Kong market, and entered into negotiations with KPS's receivers Ernst & Young to buy the KPS operations. Blockbuster re-opened 15 of 38 former KPS stores by February 16, 1998, [192] and re-employed 145 former KPS staff.[193] KPS members were given special offers to join Blockbuster, but the video pre-paid coupon system was not retained.

Blockbuster pulled out of the market in 2004 after high operating costs and losses to copyright infringement.[194]

Ireland edit

In March 2010, Blockbuster announced that it intended to sell all operations in Europe. The company once had an Irish subsidiary, Xtravision, which did not operate under the Blockbuster brand name. Blockbuster sold Xtravision at a loss in August 2009 to Birchhall Investments Limited. All remaining stores were closed in 2016, leaving only its online business and vending machines. In June 2021, Xtravision Xpress was placed into voluntary receivership.[195][196]

Israel edit

In the late 2000s at its peak, Blockbuster Israel had 40 branches and more than 260 automated video rentals.[197][198] In December 2011, Blockbuster closed off its last branch store, and had only 80 automated video rentals left.[198]

Japan edit

In March 1991, Fujita Den Trading (which was the master franchise owner of McDonald's in Japan) and Blockbuster Inc. entered into a joint venture to establish Japan's first Blockbuster Video stores. By October 1992, Fujita and Blockbuster opened 15 stores in the country – four of them next to McDonald's outlets and most being located in the greater Tokyo area. Unlike Blockbuster's U.S. stores, each Japanese outlet only occupied about half the floor space at 5,000 square feet due to the country's more limited available real estate.[199][200] By June 1996, 32 stores were in operation with a public aim for 150 by 1998. Blockbuster Japan faced heavy competition from Osaka-based video rental chain, Tsutaya, with its 817 outlets, but the company saw opportunity in the population having high VCR ownership levels (at around 75%), low satellite TV penetration (at around 27%), and well-ordered store layouts (unique for most local video stores).[201] However, Blockbuster's business strategy of "wholesome home entertainment" saw it refuse to stock adult entertainment, which accounted for 35% of the Japanese video market, or the extreme horror films that were also popular. All of which meant Blockbuster was unable to fit adequately into the Japanese market, and was immediately put at a disadvantage compared to competitors that had no such ethical stance. Blockbuster handed its remaining shares over to Fujita Den Trading in 1999, and exited the Japanese market.[202]

Mexico edit

In September 2015, all remaining Blockbuster retail stores (263 in total) in Mexico had been converted to "The B Store", and the floor space dedicated to video rentals reduced from 70% to 20%, the remaining space being used for general technology and electronics sales. The re-branding occurred with the owners not renewing their license with Blockbuster and the imminent expiry of the existing license.[203][204] All remaining B-stores closed by July 2016.[205]

New Zealand edit

The chain also operated for many years in New Zealand,[206] but over the years lost customers to other retailers like United Video and Video Ezy, as well as the rise of streaming services. While the store in Bend, Oregon was generally regarded as the last Blockbuster store, there was one in Dargaville, north of Auckland, that managed to stay open until finally closing at the end of January 2020.[207]

Norway edit

In December 2002 the first Blockbuster store opened in Norway, and was followed by another store some months later in 2003, both located in Oslo. The hope was to acquire an already existing video chain. When that failed, it was made an attempt to build a Norwegian blockbuster chain from scratch. But both stores closed in the spring of 2004.[208]

Peru edit

Blockbuster opened its first store in Peru in 1995, and by 2002 it had ten stores in Lima. However, in 2006, Blockbuster announced that it plans to shut down its stores in Peru due to poor revenues, which it blamed on the effect of movie piracy.[209] The last store in Peru was closed on January 3, 2007. The company had already closed down its stores in Ecuador, Portugal and Costa Rica. El Salvador followed in 2010, and Argentina in 2011.[210]

United Kingdom edit

 
A Blockbuster store in Moor Allerton, Leeds
 
A "Blockbuster Express" shop in Harrogate, Yorkshire, typical of the smaller UK stores often located in established urban and suburban areas

In March 1989, Blockbuster opened their first store in the United Kingdom on Walworth Road, London.[211] In February 1992, Blockbuster purchased Citivision PLC, the biggest home-video company in Britain, for $81 million (~$173 million in 2023). At the time, Citivision operated about 775 stores in Britain branded as Ritz.[200]

Blockbuster UK operated trade functions in all their stores, buying and selling pre-owned DVDs, console games, and gaming accessories. Stores offered either store credit or cash for trade-ins, and would price-match with competitors. At its height in 2002, Blockbuster UK operated out of over 800 stores.

In early 2013, the company had 528 locations in the United Kingdom. On January 16, 2013, Blockbuster placed its United Kingdom subsidiaries in administration, putting over 4,000 jobs at risk. Non-UK stores were unaffected by the administration, and continued to trade as normal. On February 1, 2013, a large number of Blockbuster stores in the UK were closed, and the UK business was purchased out of administration by restructuring firm Gordon Brothers Europe on March 23, 2013.[212]

Blockbuster UK then traded as TS Operations, with only 264 branches retained. On October 29, 2013, Blockbuster UK announced it was to go into administration for a second time.[213] On November 14, 2013, 72 store closures were announced,[214] with another 62 made on December 5.[215] A week later, with no success in finding a buyer, it was announced by Moorfields Corporate Recovery that all remaining stores in the country would cease operation on December 16, 2013, with stock to be cleared the day before this.[216]

In September 2018, to coincide with the digital release of Deadpool 2, a pop-up retail store in the style of an original 1989 Blockbuster outlet was opened for two days in Shoreditch in East London. The store gave away 1,989 copies of the film in reference to Blockbuster's entry year into the UK market.[217]

Online rentals edit

Brazil edit

In January 2006, Blockbuster Brazil also introduced an online rental service now featuring both DVD and Blu-ray plans. There were four Block plans available with prices ranging from R$34.90 to R$79.90. The 3-disc plan with unlimited exchanges was R$49.90/month. Unlike the U.S. service, there was no in-store disk exchange.[218][failed verification][failed verification]

Movielink acquisition edit

On August 8, 2007, Blockbuster announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase Movielink. According to the 8-K filing by Blockbuster, the total purchase price was $6.6 million.

The Nordics edit

Blockbuster streaming service is still active in Nordic Countries, offering both unlimited streaming and 48-hour rental of films online. Several Smart TVs have the Blockbuster app pre-installed out-of-the-box, and it is available on a variety of streaming devices such as Google's Chromecast.[189] In 2020, the rights to the Blockbuster brand moved to Nuuday,[190] and to SF Anytime AB in 2023.[219]

United Kingdom edit

 
A Blockbuster store in Northwood, London in June 2008

Rentals cost £3.50 to £4.50 and lasted for five nights, usually from Monday to Friday due to the postal service. Late fees of £0.70 to £0.90 per disc applied if a disc was not returned on time.[220]

In May 2004, Blockbuster also introduced an online subscription service. The unlimited three-disc plan cost £14.99/month but did not allow in-store exchange, contrary to the U.S. service. Partial support for in-store exchange was added in April 2005 with the launch of an "OnlineXtra" service. This service cost £2 per month, required an online subscription to a disc plan, and added two extra discs sent by mail. The OnlineXtra discs could be exchanged in store, but the non-OnlineXtra discs could not. The program was discontinued in 2006 with no grandfathering, but an in-store-only variant of it resurfaced in early 2008.[221] A "Click & Collect" service launched in September 2010 allowed the reservation of Blockbuster movies in store, but the store's regular rental fees applied until the company added in-store exchanges in May 2012.[222][223] Support for game reservations was added in November 2011.[224]

In 2008, Blockbuster UK's website underwent an overhaul, with an online store; a retail store stock checker; improved search functionality; and a critically acclaimed layout.[225] In-store pickup and exclusive titled were added in 2009. Some of the titles which had an exclusivity period at Blockbuster include Gran Torino, Changeling, Taken, and Knowing. Additionally, online rental downloads of Universal Pictures in the United Kingdom remains exclusive to Blockbuster. This provides an advantage to the rental company compared to its competitors HMV, Play, and LoveFilm.[225]

In January 2010, Blockbuster UK launched an online blog.[226] Improved search algorithms, product pages, and social network links were added to the site in April 2010.[227] Blockbuster UK aired a monthly BB Insider online video show from May 2010 to January 2011[228] and launched an iPhone App in September 2010.[229] Throughout the year 2011, Blockbuster UK announced several price cuts along with a new Blockbuster loyalty card program.[230]

These price drops were followed by a price drop of the Blockbuster UK online pay per rent service.[231] Although some Blockbuster UK advertisements claim that the company no longer charges late fees, the fine print and/or voiceover clarifies that rentals will be charged an extra pound for every additional night.[232] A "Top Ticket" feature was added in April 2011, allowing monthly subscription customers to rent an additional movie at no extra charge and to receive it before other movies they request.[233][234] Support for online sales of used movie and game discs was added in July 2011.[235] The Blockbuster UK website was enhanced in September 2011.[236] During the following month, a new TV section was added to the website.[237]

3D Blu-rays were added to Blockbuster UK in February 2012.[238] In May 2012, Blockbuster UK partnered with IGN to launch a new Blockbuster VIP Gamer loyalty program.[239]

On January 16, 2013, Blockbuster UK entered administration, appointing Deloitte as company administrators, casting doubt over the future of their 528 stores in the country.[240] An announcement was then made by Deloitte that 160 UK stores would close.

On February 13, 2013, Deloitte announced a further 164 store closures, leaving 204 stores trading in the UK. The business was sold to restructuring firm the Gordon Brothers Group on March 23, 2013.[212] On October 29, 2013, Gordon Brothers filed notice of intention to appoint an administrator. On November 28, 2013, Blockbuster UK officially entered administration for the second time, and by December 2013, all stores were closed, as no buyer for the chain was found.

United States edit

In 1997, Enron Corporation had entered the broadband market, constructing and purchasing thousands of miles of fiber optic cables throughout the United States.[241][242] In 2001, Enron and Blockbuster Inc. attempted to create a 20-year deal to stream movies on demand over Enron's fiber optic network.[243] However, the "heavily promoted" deal fell through, with Enron's shares dropping following the announcement.[243]

On August 11, 2004, Blockbuster introduced a DVD-by-mail service in the US to compete with the established market leader, Netflix.[244]

Blockbuster's US online operation started with around 10 warehouses; further expansions every year brought that number to 41, plus more than 1400 stores in the Blockbuster Online network. Most Blockbuster independent franchises did not honor the Total Access program. The company had 1.5 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2006.[245] Blockbuster's move to follow the business pattern with its online rentals as was established by Netflix prompted Netflix to sue Blockbuster for patent infringement. Blockbuster counter sued with a counterclaim alleging deceptive practices with its patent which it alleged was designed to maintain an illegal monopoly. The suits were eventually settled, and while the terms were not disclosed it was later reported that Netflix recorded a settlement payment from Blockbuster of $4.1 million (~$5.81 million in 2023) in the second quarter of 2007.[246]

Blockbuster offered several online movie rental plans. In some cities customers could add games to their movie rental queue as if they were included in their plan, but game rentals resulted in a separate additional fee which was not displayed or charged until the end of the billing cycle.[247] Until July 26, 2007, Blockbuster offered and advertised unlimited free in-store exchanges of online rentals with all plans. Since then there were several changes back and forth with regard to this policy; in March 2010 customers were allowed a limited number of in-store exchanges.

At the end of 2006, Blockbuster Total Access had 2.2 million customers, exceeding their original goal of 2 million, according to its website.[248] After an aggressive media campaign that accounted for much of Blockbuster's $46.4 million (~$65.7 million in 2023) net loss in the first quarter of 2007, the Total Access subscriber base surpassed 3 million customers in total, marking the company's highest subscriber growth quarter ever.[249] By 2009, however, the company was declining to provide figures when asked by The Wall Street Journal.[250]

On January 5, 2007, Southern Stores Inc., one of Blockbuster's largest franchise operators in the United States, filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that, by introducing Blockbuster Online and Blockbuster Total Access, the rental chain has undercut the group's franchise agreement.[251]

On August 6, 2010, Blockbuster By Mail subscribers gained access to Blockbuster's library of console games, in addition to movies and television shows.

On March 31, 2012, Blockbuster On Demand removed support from set-top box media players, including Vudu, WDTV, and Roku. Supported devices now only included computers, Blu-ray players, select television sets, and cellular phones.[252]

On February 26, 2013, Roku, Inc. announced that Blockbuster On Demand was being launched on Roku's channel store. Supported devices now included computers, Blu-ray players, select television sets, cellular phones, and the Roku set-top box.[253]

In November 2013, Dish Network said its DVD-by-mail service would shut down by mid-December.[254]

Advertising edit

Super Bowl edit

One of Blockbuster's most well-known advertising campaigns was launched in 2002 during Super Bowl XXXVI. It starred the voices of James Woods and Jim Belushi as Carl and Ray, a rabbit and a guinea pig in a pet shop located across the road from a Blockbuster store. The first campaign ended in 2003. The Carl and Ray campaign started again in 2007 starting with a commercial in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLI.[255]

Misleading advertising edit

In 2005, Blockbuster launched a marketing campaign describing changes in its late fees policy and offering "No Late Fees" on rentals. The program sparked investigations and charges of misrepresentation in 48 states and the District of Columbia: state attorneys general including Bill Lockyer of California, Greg Abbott of Texas, and Eliot Spitzer of New York argued that customers were being automatically charged the full purchase price of late rentals and a restocking fee for rentals returned after 30 days. In a settlement, Blockbuster agreed to reimburse the states the cost of their investigation, clarify communication to customers on the terms of the program, and offer reimbursement to customers charged fees prior to the clarification. New Jersey filed a separate lawsuit and was not a party to the settlement.[256][257][258][259][260]

The 2005 controversy came after a related lawsuit settled in 2002 in Texas. That lawsuit, alleging exorbitant late fees, led the company to pay $9.25 million in attorney fees and offer $450 million in late fee refund coupons (which were rent-one get-one-free coupons, and thus required the customer to make an initial expenditure). The company estimated that the coupons would ultimately cost about $45 million depending on the redemption rate; an attorney for the plaintiffs estimated the final cost at closer to $100 million at a redemption rate of about 20% (calculated based on a similar case in Michigan).[261][262]

Such corrections were also sent to international stores such as those in Canada to prevent further lawsuits.

Blockbuster reintroduced late fees in the United States in 2010 under the name of "Additional Daily Rates". With this pricing scheme, rentals were once again limited to a certain number of days and accrued pay-per-day rates after the days allocated are exceeded.

Presidents and CEOs edit

See also edit

References edit

Informational notes

  1. ^ Down from 9,094 in 2004

Citations

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April 26, 2024
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Blockbuster Video 5 is an American multimedia brand and former video rental store chain It was founded by David Cook in 1985 as a stand alone mom and pop home video rental shop but later grew into a national store chain featuring video game rentals DVD by mail streaming video on demand and cinema theater 6 The logo was designed by Lee Dean at the Rominger Agency 7 8 9 10 The company expanded internationally throughout the 1990s At its peak in 2004 11 12 Blockbuster employed 84 300 people worldwide and operated 9 094 stores 13 Blockbuster LLCA Blockbuster location in March 2007 in Clermont Florida as seen from the Citrus TowerCompany typeSubsidiaryTraded asNYSE BBI 1999 2010 1 2 Expert Market BLIAQExpert Market BLIBQ BB Liquidating Inc FoundedOctober 19 1985 38 years ago 1985 10 19 3 Dallas TexasFounderDavid Cook 3 DefunctSeptember 23 2010 2010 09 23 original company November 6 2013 10 years ago 2013 11 06 Dish owned corporate portion January 12 2014 2014 01 12 corporate owned stores January 30 2020 2020 01 30 As a chain FateBankruptcy liquidation sale limited continuation of brand name in the United StatesSuccessorSling TVDish Movie PackHeadquartersDallas Texas U S Number of locations1 privately owned franchised in Bend Oregon a ServicesHome video rentals VHS Betamax LaserDisc DVD Ultra HD Blu ray Blu ray Video on demand streaming servicesRevenueUS 3 24 billion 2010 Operating income US 78 8 million 2010 Net income US 268 million 2010 Total assetsUS 1 183 billion 2010 Total equity US 582 3 million 2010 Number of employees84 300 2004 25 000 2010 3 2019 4 ParentViacom 1994 2004 Dish Network 2011 2014 Websitewww wbr blockbuster wbr com Poor leadership and the impact of the Great Recession were major factors leading to Blockbuster s decline as was the growing competition from Netflix s mail order service video on demand and Redbox automated kiosks Significant loss of revenue occurred during the late 2000s and the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2010 14 15 The next year its remaining 1 700 stores were bought by satellite television provider Dish Network 16 17 and by 2014 the last 300 company owned stores were closed 18 Although corporate support for the brand ended Dish retained a small number of franchise agreements enabling some privately owned franchises to remain open Following a series of further closures in 2019 only one franchised store remains open located in Bend Oregon United States 11 12 13 19 20 21 Contents 1 History 1 1 1985 1996 David Cook era and early growth 1 2 1997 2006 John Antioco era Netflix sale turndown and financial peak 1 3 2007 2011 James Keyes era financial decline and bankruptcy 1 4 2011 2015 Michael Kelly era 1 5 2015 present Post Kelly era and continual decline 2 Business model 2 1 Quantity and selection of titles 3 Other ventures 3 1 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards 3 2 Blockbuster Express 3 3 GameRush 3 4 Discovery Zone 4 International operations 4 1 Australia 4 2 Brazil 4 3 Canada 4 4 Denmark 4 5 Germany 4 6 Hong Kong 4 7 Ireland 4 8 Israel 4 9 Japan 4 10 Mexico 4 11 New Zealand 4 12 Norway 4 13 Peru 4 14 United Kingdom 5 Online rentals 5 1 Brazil 5 2 Movielink acquisition 5 3 The Nordics 5 4 United Kingdom 5 5 United States 6 Advertising 6 1 Super Bowl 6 2 Misleading advertising 7 Presidents and CEOs 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksHistory edit1985 1996 David Cook era and early growth edit nbsp A Blockbuster store in Durham North Carolina Blockbuster s beginnings can be traced back to another company Cook Data Services founded by David Cook in 1978 3 22 The company s primary goal was to supply software services to the oil and gas industries throughout Texas but it was very unsuccessful 22 Sandy Cook David s wife wanted to get into the video business and her husband would soon study the industry and future prospects 23 Using profit he made from the sale of David P Cook amp Associates the subsidiary of his company he decided to buy into a video store franchise in Dallas known as Video Works When Video Works would not allow him to decorate the interior of his store with a blue and yellow design he departed the franchise and opened the first Blockbuster Video in 1985 under his own company Blockbuster Video Inc 24 25 When he realized the potential in video rentals Cook abandoned the oil industry and began franchising the Blockbuster store 26 The first Blockbuster store opened on October 19 1985 in Dallas Texas with an inventory of 8 000 VHS and 2 000 Beta tapes 27 28 29 The chain s name is derived from the term blockbuster a Hollywood term for a successful film Cook s experience with managing huge databases proved helpful in driving innovation within the industry 3 Following early success from the company s first stores Cook built a 6 million warehouse in Garland Texas to help sustain and support future growth that allowed new stores to open quickly 3 Blockbuster would often custom tailor a store s inventory to its neighborhood based on local demographics 3 In 1987 Waste Management co founder Wayne Huizenga who originally had reservations about entering the video rental industry agreed to acquire several Blockbuster stores 30 At that time there were 19 stores attracting Huizenga s associate John Melk s attention due to its efficiency family friendly no porn image and business model Huizenga and Melk utilized techniques from their waste business and Ray Kroc s model of expansion to rapidly expand Blockbuster and soon they were opening a new store every 24 hours 31 32 They took over many of the existing Blockbuster franchise stores and Huizenga spent much of the late 1980s acquiring several of Blockbuster s rivals including Major Video In 1989 Nintendo attempted to halt Blockbuster s ability to rent video games filing multiple lawsuits and lobbying the U S Congress to ban the practice 33 Nintendo ultimately lost the battle which paved the way for future video game rental 33 34 Blockbuster sponsored the Blockbuster Bowl in American football which began in 1990 35 and was played at Joe Robbie Stadium outside Miami The first three editions were played under that name before Blockbuster withdrew its sponsorship nbsp Blockbuster membership card c 1990 In 1990 Blockbuster bought mid Atlantic rival Erol s which had more than 250 stores 36 In 1992 Blockbuster acquired the Sound Warehouse and Music Plus music retail chains and created Blockbuster Music 37 38 In October 1993 Blockbuster took a controlling interest in Spelling Entertainment Group a media company run by television producer Aaron Spelling 39 Blockbuster purchased Super Club Retail Entertainment Corp on November 22 1993 from Philips Electronics N V for 5 2 million shares of Blockbuster stock This brought approximately 270 Record Bar Tracks Turtles and Rhythm and Views music stores and approximately 160 video retail superstores into the corporation 40 It also owned 35 of Republic Pictures that company merged with Spelling in April 1994 41 Blockbuster became a multibillion dollar company but Huizenga was worried about how new technology could threaten their business such as video on demand and the growth of cable television In 1991 just three days after Time Warner had announced it would upgrade its cable system Blockbuster s shares dropped more than 10 percent 42 In 1993 he made an attempt to expand into other areas by investing in Viacom 43 44 Huizenga also considered buying a cable company but this was unknown territory for Blockbuster and he decided not to take the risk He also had the idea of a 2 500 acre Blockbuster sports and amusement park in Florida something Blockbuster was still considering as late as August 1994 45 Unable to come up with a proper solution about how to face the growing threats to the traditional videostore he made the decision to sell Blockbuster to Viacom and pull out 46 Viacom acquired Blockbuster in 1994 for 8 4 billion to help finance its bid for Paramount in the bidding war with QVC Network Inc 47 48 Blockbuster s stock trade had been dropping steadily the months before the merger with a small rise after the deal was announced 49 and by the latter part of the decade its worth was estimated to have fallen to just 4 6 billion 50 The Blockbuster Block Party concept was test marketed in Albuquerque New Mexico and Indianapolis Indiana in 1994 It was an entertainment complex aimed at adults containing eight themed areas housing a restaurant games laser tag arena and motion simulator rides and was housed in a windowless building the size of a city block 51 During the 1990s Blockbuster expanded in the United Kingdom purchasing the country s Ritz Video chain The stores were rebranded to Blockbuster citation needed The original Blockbuster company Blockbuster Video Inc was merged into the parent company Blockbuster Entertainment Inc which had earlier replaced the Blockbuster Entertainment Company In 1996 Blockbuster Entertainment Inc merged into a new Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation 52 and the retail stores then called Blockbuster Video were renamed Blockbuster The logo changed slightly but retained the ITC Machine font 53 In November 1996 Blockbuster confirmed that it was moving its headquarters from Fort Lauderdale Florida to the Renaissance Tower in downtown Dallas 54 Most of the workers at the Florida headquarters did not want to relocate so Blockbuster planned to hire around 500 to 600 new employees for its Dallas headquarters The company had offered various relocation packages to all of its Fort Lauderdale staff 55 The second Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation was later merged into Blockbuster Inc citation needed 1997 2006 John Antioco era Netflix sale turndown and financial peak edit In June 1997 Taco Bell president John Antioco resigned from the company to become CEO of Blockbuster 56 Also that year Warner Bros offered Antioco an exclusive rental deal seeing as DVDs were emerging as the new home video medium Blockbuster was to have rights to rent new DVD releases for a period of time before they went on sale to the general public The studio was to receive 40 of rental revenues in return which was the same deal already in place for VHS rentals Blockbuster turned the offer down and the studio responded by lowering its DVD wholesale price in order to compete with the rental industry Walmart seized the opportunity and in a few years surpassed Blockbuster as the studios single largest source of revenue Other mass retailers soon followed suit selling DVDs below wholesale price as a loss leader in hopes of drawing more customers to their stores and selling them more profitable items Unable to match prices Blockbuster s business model was severely affected 57 In 1998 Blockbuster created DEJ Productions which acquired 225 films primarily to provide exclusive content to its Blockbuster stores prior to being sold off to First Look Studios in 2005 58 During that same year Blockbuster bought the Irish video rental store Xtra vision with over 200 stores in Ireland and the United Kingdom In 2009 Blockbuster sold off its Irish operations to Birchall Investments with the few Xtra vision stores in the United Kingdom being rebranded as Blockbuster nbsp A Blockbuster sign in Stamford Connecticut which stood until March 2023 when it was removed and listed for sale online 59 In late 1998 Blockbuster launched a loyalty program called Blockbuster Rewards that allowed customers to earn free rentals including one older title each month from the category of Blockbuster Favorites After the 1998 test launch the chain went nationwide with the program in 1999 60 In August the same year Viacom sold the Blockbuster Music chain to Wherehouse Entertainment which was subsequently purchased by Trans World Entertainment in 2003 61 In mid 2000 the company partnered with Enron in an attempt to create a video on demand service 62 The agreement was supposed to last for 20 years however Enron terminated the deal in March 2001 over fears that Blockbuster would not be able to provide sufficient films for the service Enron also filed for bankruptcy that year 63 Also in 2000 Blockbuster turned down a chance to purchase the fledgling Netflix for 50 million 84 1 million in 2023 64 In 2002 Blockbuster acquired Movie Trading Company a Dallas chain that buys sells and trades movies and games to study potential business models for DVD and game trading Also that year it acquired Gamestation a 64 store UK computer and console games retailer chain and purchased DVD Rental Central for 1 million an Arizona father and son online DVD rental company with about ten thousand subscribers DVD Rental Central would eventually become Blockbuster Online 65 On or around October 14 2004 Blockbuster was spun off from Viacom Online DVD subscriptions were introduced on Blockbuster com also known as Blockbuster Online 66 Blockbuster also rolled out its Game Rush store in store concept to approximately 450 domestic company operated stores Blockbuster began game and DVD trading in selected U S stores 67 At its peak in 2004 Blockbuster had more than 9 000 stores worldwide 12 In December 2004 Blockbuster announced its intention to pursue a hostile takeover of Hollywood Video its major U S competitor 68 After several extensions of the tender offer Blockbuster withdrew due to FTC opposition 69 To counter the Blockbuster offer Hollywood Video agreed to a buyout in January 2005 by a smaller competitor the Dothan Alabama based Movie Gallery Since then Movie Gallery has filed for bankruptcy twice and its entire chain of stores has been liquidated In May 2005 financier Carl Icahn waged a successful proxy fight to add himself and two other members to the board Icahn accused Blockbuster of overpaying chairman and CEO John F Antioco who had served in that capacity since 1997 receiving 51 6 million in compensation for 2004 Icahn was also at odds with Antioco on how to revive profit at Blockbuster Antioco scrapped late fees in January started an internet service and decided to keep the company independent while Icahn wanted to sell out to a private equity firm 70 Also in 2005 Blockbuster began a campaign promoting its No more late fees policy 71 The campaign proved controversial with Associated Press reporting that the new policy actually charged users the full price of the movie or game after eight days which they could cancel by returning the product in question and paying a fee 72 More than 40 states filed suit against the company for false advertising 72 Blockbuster later settled the suit by agreeing to refunds as well as promising to better explain the policy 72 Vintage Stock acquired the Movie Trading Company name from Blockbuster in 2006 and continues to use the name for Dallas area stores 73 2007 2011 James Keyes era financial decline and bankruptcy edit nbsp Blockbuster DVD by mail envelope A billion dollar campaign called Total Access was introduced in 2007 as a strategy against Netflix Through Blockbuster Online customers could rent a DVD online and receive a new movie for free when they returned it to a Blockbuster store While it was a major success every free movie cost the company two dollars but the hope was that it would attract enough new subscribers to cover the loss Netflix felt threatened and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings approached Antioco with a suggestion to buy Blockbuster s online business In return a new system would be introduced where customers could return their movies to a Blockbuster store Before the deal could be realized board member Carl Icahn intervened refusing to let the company lose more money through Total Access Antioco was pushed out in July and replaced with James Keyes who rejected Hastings proposal raised the price of online DVD rentals and put an end to the free movie deal As a consequence Blockbuster Online s previously massive growth quickly stopped 74 Antioco s departure reportedly also involved continued controversy over his compensation He left with a 24 7 million severance package 75 On June 19 2007 after a pilot program launched in late 2006 Blockbuster announced that it had chosen Blu ray over HD DVD format to rent in a majority of its stores In the pilot program Blockbuster offered selected titles for rental and sale in 250 stores Blockbuster stocked Blu ray titles in almost 5 000 stores across the United States Canada the United Kingdom Mexico and Australia 76 On July 2 2007 the company named James W Keyes former president and CEO of 7 Eleven as the new chairman and CEO He introduced a new business strategy that included enhancements to existing stores The following month in August Blockbuster acquired Movielink for 6 6 million forecasting a shift to streaming video 77 Movielink was an online video service that allowed customers to download movie rentals from a library of over 6 000 films created in 2002 by five major studios including Warner Bros MGM Studios Paramount Pictures Sony Pictures and Universal Studios 78 The move gave Blockbuster the opportunity to move away from the unprofitable Total Access DVD by mail service in favor of online streaming Despite growing competition from Netflix and Redbox the company downplayed the threat choosing instead to focus on Apple and Walmart as their primary competition 79 On September 14 2007 Blockbuster GB Ltd bought a number of retail stores from ChoicesUK plc ChoicesUK is an AIM listed multi channel distributor and retailer of DVDs computer games and CDs The sale secured employment for approximately 450 employees across 59 stores in the UK As part of the transaction Blockbuster GB rebranded the stores as Blockbuster citation needed On February 17 2008 Blockbuster proposed a buyout of struggling Circuit City However following a due diligence review of Circuit City s financial books Blockbuster withdrew its offer in July 2008 Analysts were not favorable to the proposed deal viewing it as a desperate effort to save two struggling retailers rather than a bold turnaround initiative 80 Subsequently Circuit City filed for bankruptcy on November 10 2008 and after liquidating all of its stores ceased operations on March 8 2009 81 At the beginning of 2010 Blockbuster had over 6 500 stores of which 4 000 were in the U S 82 a number that fell to 3 425 in late October the same year 83 In the United States it planned to close between 810 and 960 retail stores and instead launch as many as 10 000 Blockbuster Express video rental kiosks by the middle of 2010 84 It has been claimed that more than 43 million U S households had Blockbuster memberships 85 On February 10 2010 Blockbuster announced that it would cease all its operations in Portugal closing down 17 outlets and leaving over 100 workers unemployed Blockbuster representatives in Portugal blamed internet piracy and the lack of government response to it as the key factors to the company s failure in the country 86 In March 2010 Blockbuster began Additional Daily Rates or ADRs for rentals not returned by their due date in the United States having already used this procedure in other countries such as the UK for many years An ADR was charged for each day a member kept the rental beyond the rental terms On March 12 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers Blockbuster s independent registered public accounting firm issued its audit opinion disclosing substantial doubt about Blockbuster s ability to continue as a going concern This report was included in Blockbusters s 10 K SEC filing On March 17 2010 Blockbuster issued a bankruptcy warning after continued drops in revenue threatened its ability to service its nearly 1 billion 1 36 billion in 2023 debt load By April 1 2010 Carl Icahn had resigned from Blockbuster s board of directors and sold nearly all his remaining Blockbuster stock 87 Blockbuster paired up with Time Warner to have Warner Bros movies made available in Blockbuster stores on the DVD release date and not be subject to a four week delay citation needed Similar agreements were also made with Universal and 20th Century Fox The liquidation of Movie Gallery began in May 2010 eliminating Blockbuster s primary competitor During the same month a dissident shareholder Gregory S Meyer in an effort to be elected to Blockbuster s board of directors engaged in a proxy battle with Blockbuster s board alleging that the board had been responsible for significant destruction of value to shareholders Meyer was elected to the board at Blockbuster s shareholder meeting in Dallas on June 24 2010 On July 1 2010 the company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange NYSE after its shareholders failed to pass a reverse stock split plan aimed at heading off involuntary delisting because of the stock s trading at well below 1 1 00 in 2023 per share 88 The stock was then traded on the OTCBB over the counter bulletin board nbsp A Blockbuster store in the Midwest 2012 Blockbuster was unable to make a 42 4 million 57 8 million in 2023 interest payment to bondholders and was given until August 13 2010 to pay off the debt The company hired Jeff Stegenga to be its chief restructuring officer CRO in an effort to satisfy bondholder demands and recapitalize the company After failing to pay on August 13 bondholders gave Blockbuster until September 30 2010 On August 26 2010 news media reported that Blockbuster was planning to file a pre packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid September In light of this news the company s chief financial officer CFO Tom Casey resigned on September 11 He was replaced by Dennis McGill formerly CFO of Safety Kleen Systems Inc On September 23 2010 Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to challenging losses 900 million 1 23 billion in 2023 in debt and strong competition from Netflix Redbox and video on demand services 89 90 Movie Gallery Hollywood Video had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation earlier in 2010 for similar reasons 91 At the time of its Chapter 11 filing Blockbuster said it would keep its 3 300 stores open 92 however that December it announced it would close an additional 182 stores by the end of April 2011 in attempts to emerge from bankruptcy 93 It was reported in February 2011 that Blockbuster and its creditors had not come up with a Chapter 11 exit plan and that the company would be sold for 300 million 401 million in 2023 or more along with taking over debts and leases 92 Blockbuster admitted that it might not be able to meet financial obligations required under its Chapter 11 filing a circumstance which could mandate conversion of the bankruptcy filing to Chapter 7 liquidation 94 On March 1 2011 the U S Department of Justice filed a claim disclosing that Blockbuster did not have the funds to continue reorganizing and should liquidate On March 28 2011 South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom made a surprise bid to buy Blockbuster 95 Dish Network had also expressed interest in bidding as did Carl Icahn despite calling Blockbuster the worst investment I ever made 96 Dish eventually won the auction on April 6 2011 agreeing to buy Blockbuster for 320 million and the assumption of 87 million in liabilities and other obligations 16 On April 19 2011 it was announced that Dish would keep only 500 Blockbuster stores open The acquisition was completed on April 26 2011 17 97 In April 2011 Dish Network told the U S Bankruptcy Court that it needed more time to negotiate with landlords in an effort to keep more than 600 Blockbuster stores open 98 In April 2011 Blockbuster s landlords objected to its assumption of leases that it sought to assign to soon to be owner Dish Network Corp claiming that they did not have adequate assurance that the new owner would honor those leases Blockbuster signed a deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment to launch ITV Programmes released on DVDs Blu rays etc 99 On May 6 2011 Keyes resigned as Blockbuster s CEO 2011 2015 Michael Kelly era edit Keyes was replaced by Michael Kelly under the new title of Blockbuster s president On August 31 2011 the liquidators announced the closure of the remaining 253 Canadian stores and shutting of the entire Canadian unit 100 In September 2011 it was announced that Blockbuster and Dish Network would launch a new service called Blockbuster Movie Pass that would compete with Netflix For US 10 per month the members would have access to both a streaming service and movies and games by mail The package was only available for subscribers of Dish Network s pay TV service and it eventually folded 101 102 nbsp A now closed Blockbuster store in Ypsilanti Michigan undergoing a liquidation sale in 2013 On January 13 2012 Dish CEO Joe Clayton announced that while Dish had planned to keep 90 of the stores in operation meaning around 15 000 employees would remain employed because of market factors there are ones that aren t going to make it We will close unprofitable stores We will close additional stores Clayton did not say when these additional closings would happen and only remarked that some stores were unprofitable The Dish chief would not say which stores the company was planning to close but that each potential closing was to be assessed on a case by case basis 103 On October 4 2012 Dish Network announced that it was scrapping plans to make Blockbuster into a Netflix competitor 104 On January 16 2013 Blockbuster UK entered into administration and Deloitte was appointed to run the business while trying to find a buyer while some of the stores remained open citation needed 105 Between November 6 2013 and January 12 2014 all 300 remaining corporate owned Blockbuster stores in the U S were closed and the DVD by mail program was shut down 106 107 108 109 The Blockbuster official website identified 51 franchise locations remaining in operation in the U S in 2014 110 Dish maintained its video streaming services Blockbuster on Demand and Blockbuster Home 111 until they were replaced by a new subscription service in April 2015 called DISH Movie Pack 112 113 In May 2015 Michael Kelly retired from Dish 114 Blockbuster s decline was attributed to poor leadership according to others in the industry Franchise owner Ken Tisher said in 2015 Blockbuster if it isn t already is going to go into the Harvard Business Review for how not to run a business or how to run a business into the ground 115 Keith Hoogland owner of Family Video attributed poor decision making as a primary reason the company did not survive 116 Jonathan Salem Baskin a former Blockbuster marketing communications executive stated Digital would have changed Blockbuster s business for sure but it wasn t its killer That credit belongs to Blockbuster itself 117 Commentators view Blockbuster as a main example of failing to change with the times 118 119 120 2015 present Post Kelly era and continual decline edit Main article Blockbuster Bend Oregon nbsp The last remaining Blockbuster located in Bend Oregon Although Blockbuster stores had the option of remaining open by paying a licensing fee to Dish 121 a corporate entity was no longer available to provide supplies of branded products forcing franchisees to design and produce their own 122 Additional store closures continued 123 124 125 By January 2018 126 the company s website listed nine remaining franchise owned stores in the U S including six in Alaska two in Oregon and one in Texas 127 128 Eight of those nine had closed by August 2018 leaving only one store in Bend Oregon 21 129 In March 2019 the last remaining store outside of the United States located in Morley Western Australia closed its doors 130 The Bend location became the last remaining Blockbuster in the world 20 it serves as a tourist destination housing Blockbuster memorabilia and Russell Crowe film props which John Oliver had donated to an Alaska store 131 In August 2020 the location was listed as an Airbnb rental for a 1990s themed sleepover on three separate nights in September each were limited to guests from the area in light of the COVID 19 pandemic 132 133 The entity that operated Blockbuster prior to the sale to Dish remains nominally active under the name BB Liquidating Inc and trades as a penny stock 134 However it no longer has any assets or ties to the Blockbuster brand or its remaining franchise location 135 In activity related to the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021 the BB Liquidating stock surged despite there being no value for the common shareholders in the bankruptcy liquidation process even under the most optimistic of scenarios 136 On September 21 2022 the Blockbuster Twitter account revealed the Blockbuster World Video Game Championship 3 The event was held during the Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2022 137 On March 23 2023 the Blockbuster web page was re activated with the message We are working on rewinding your movie 138 Business model editThe standard business model for video rental stores had traditionally been to pay a large flat fee per video approximately 65 and offer unlimited rentals for the lifetime of the medium itself Sumner Redstone whose Viacom conglomerate then owned Blockbuster personally pioneered a new revenue sharing arrangement for video in the mid 1980s Blockbuster obtained videos for little cost and kept 60 of the rental fee paying the other 40 to the studio and reporting rental information through the global media measurement and research company Rentrak In addition to benefiting from a lower initial price Blockbuster also capitalized on the fact that movies were generally not available for purchase at affordable price points during initial release periods Thus customers had a choice to rent wait or buy the film on tape at the much higher manufacturer s suggested retail price targeted at other rental chains and film enthusiasts which at that time ranged between 70 100 per title citation needed Quantity and selection of titles editBlockbuster stores followed a strategy of emphasizing access to the most popular new releases obtaining early access and stocking many copies of the new release titles with a relatively narrower range of selections than traditional independent video stores 139 Much of the shelf space in the stores was devoted to popular titles that were placed relatively sparsely on the shelves with the entire front cover visible so customers could browse casually and quickly rather than having a more diverse selection with fewer copies of each title Blockbuster sometimes contracted with studios to obtain earlier access to new titles than other companies could achieve Examples of such contracts were those in which Blockbuster became the exclusive rental chain for new releases from WWE World Wrestling Entertainment formally WWF World Wrestling Federation Funimation Rhino Paramount DreamWorks DWA Universal Lionsgate Summit Anchor Bay Manga The Weinstein Company Dimension Miramax Hollywood Touchstone Disney Buena Vista 20th Century Fox MGM UA Orion Sony Columbia Tristar Image Shout Factory Warner Bros HBO New Line Cinema and Allumination FilmWorks 140 141 As one commentator complained Blockbuster was once an unstoppable giant whose franchises swept across the country putting mom and pop video stores out of business left and right by offering a larger selection of new releases pricing them at a lower point due to the volume they worked in Gone were the fragmented independently owned shops that were often unorganized treasure troves of VHS discoveries In their place were walls of new releases hundreds of copies of a small handful of films Everyone watching the same thing everyone developing the same limited set of expectations They put focus entirely on what was new rather than on discovering film history 139 When a title was no longer a new release each store would retain a few copies of it and typically sell off the rest as previously viewed for discounted prices 142 Older movies would be re categorized as Blockbuster Favorite titles and placed in a different area of the store 143 Most Blockbuster locations also accepted trade ins of used movies TV shows and games 144 Since Blockbuster s founding in 1985 the chain refused to stock adult films in order to portray the brand as family friendly 145 However the company did carry R rated and unrated films Other ventures editBlockbuster Entertainment Awards edit Main article Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Blockbuster Entertainment Inc ran an awards show annually from 1995 to 2001 called the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards In November 2001 Blockbuster announced that it would cancel the 2002 award show following concerns about viewership and celebrity attendance following the September 11 attacks 146 147 Blockbuster Express edit Blockbuster Express was a movie rental kiosk brand sublicensed for use by licensee NCR Corporation In 2011 nearly 10 000 Blockbuster Express kiosks were in operation 148 149 Apart from the license to use the Blockbuster brand name Blockbuster Express kiosks are unrelated to Blockbuster LLC its stores its DVD by mail service or its online streaming service The names Blockbuster Express 150 and Blockbuster Video Express 151 had also been used for smaller Blockbuster retail stores in the United Kingdom GameRush edit nbsp GameRush store at a Blockbuster in Blue Ash Ohio In 2004 Blockbuster opened store within a store video game rental and sales stores called GameRush inside Blockbuster locations in limited markets 152 Blockbuster also acquired Rhino Video Games a chain of video game stores in the Southwest and operated it alongside GameRush 153 These stores sold and bought DVDs games game consoles and accessories GameRush was positioned as a direct competitor to stores such as GameStop and GameCrazy Blockbuster used its location status to get instant coverage it also promoted these stores by hosting video game tournaments special trade in offers and a more hip look to the selection and staff However when Blockbuster introduced the discontinuation of late fees GameRush was put on the chopping block In January 2007 Blockbuster sold Rhino Video Games to GameStop Corp 154 According to the Blockbuster Twitter account GameRush was to be part of the new Blockbuster in 2016 155 and even had its own Twitter profile however the GameRush Twitter account has not been active since January 2017 Discovery Zone edit In 1993 Blockbuster invested in the indoor kids play restaurant Discovery Zone 156 In 1995 Blockbuster bought more stock to take control of the company Discovery Zone filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 26 1996 after changes in management amp aggressive expansion put them in heavy debt DZ was emerged a year later under Wellspring Associates ownership with Blockbuster no longer have control of the chain 157 Discovery Zone abruptly closed half of its locations in 1999 and sold thirteen others to the parent company of Chuck E Cheese s 156 The rest of the Discovery Zone locations closed in December 2001 The chain was revived as a single location in Cincinnati Ohio on February 7 2020 It remains in operation but it is not owned by Blockbuster 158 International operations editAustralia edit nbsp A Blockbuster Video store in Wagga Wagga Marketplace New South Wales Australia nbsp A Blockbuster store in Sandy Bay an inner suburb of Hobart Tasmania Australia In Australia the first Blockbuster store was opened in 1991 in Melbourne In 1992 the Virgin Group and Blockbuster Inc entered into a joint venture to set up Australia s first Virgin Megastores in Sydney Melbourne and Adelaide This lasted until Virgin sold its interest in the six stores to Blockbuster which promptly rebranded them in 1993 as Blockbuster Music In 1994 Australian store numbers rose to 54 with the acquisition of Major Video and Focus chains in both Victoria and South Australia In 1995 the growth continued with the opening of the 100th video store in the country By the end of 1998 Blockbuster Australia opened over 125 stores In July 1998 Blockbuster Australia launched into franchising with the conversion of the former Video Flicks franchise group in Queensland and the former Movieland group in Western Australia six months later Also in 1998 the company sold its last two Australian Blockbuster Music stores in Pitt Street Sydney and Chapel Street Melbourne to Brazin Limited which incorporated them under its Sanity Entertainment brand Throughout 1999 and 2000 Blockbuster Australia quickly expanded its franchise store network through the conversion of smaller groups and the granting of individual franchises Before 2005 this was done through the acquisition of the Movies Plus Group and the conversion of some individual Movies 4U and Movieland outlets 159 160 161 In February 2007 Blockbuster sold its entire Australian store network to Video Ezy At the time Blockbuster Australia comprised 370 outlets nationwide 29 owned by the company and 341 owned by franchisees Video Ezy had 518 Australian outlets all of them being owned by franchisees pushing the combined group s market share to 40 of the country s video rental sector Video Ezy committed to the master franchise agreement with Blockbuster for 10 years operating the brand with the possibility of renewal for a further 10 years after that As a consequence of the deal the company changed its name from Video Ezy to Franchise Entertainment Group FEG 162 163 164 165 In October 2010 FEG transferred control of the Video Ezy Australia and Blockbuster Australia online businesses to its newly acquired and reorganized company Elan Media Partners leaving FEG to manage the franchise relationships with individual Video Ezy and Blockbuster outlets 166 167 Despite the two brands coming together Video Ezy and Blockbuster franchises closed 270 stores across Australia in the four years to August 2011 Additional store closings would go on for several years 168 169 170 171 until all the stores in Australia had closed although vending kiosks with the Blockbuster logo were still in operation until early 2021 172 173 174 Australia s last Blockbuster store in Morley Western Australia was closed at the end of March 2019 130 175 Brazil edit Blockbuster was the largest video rental chain in the country but finances were not good enough due to high rental prices Lojas Americanas the largest Brazilian department store acquired half of the shares and now it is named under Americanas Express Blockbuster The store layout was similar to a regular American store with a Game Rush but instead of games it offers electronics goods like computers and DVD players groceries like candies and microwave popcorn and even toys from Mattel and Hasbro s board games In January 2007 when Blockbuster had 127 stores across Brazil it sold its Brazilian stake for 87 4 million 124 million in 2023 and gave Lojas Americanas exclusive rights to the Blockbuster brand in the country for 20 years The average store has an interior on about 400 m2 where 80 100 m2 is dedicated to movies 176 177 Canada edit nbsp A Blockbuster store in Moncton New Brunswick Canada which featured the 1985 1997 logo In Canada Blockbuster Canada established in 1990 had operated independently and it initially remained financially stable 178 It began a partnership with Wind Mobile in December 2009 selling mobile phones at all stores in cities where Wind s service was available Phone sales began in Toronto and Calgary later expanding to other cities with Wind coverage Some stores even featured a full Wind store in a store for postpaid activations and a larger selection of devices 179 However on May 3 2011 it was announced that the company had gone into receivership 180 On May 25 2011 it was announced that 146 stores accounting for approximately 35 of the company s stores in Canada would be shut down effective June 18 2011 On August 31 2011 Blockbuster Canada announced that no buyer could be found for its remaining stores that were acceptable to the court appointed bankruptcy receiver and that it would wind down operations and close all stores by December 31 2011 181 The company had acted as a guarantor towards Blockbuster s remaining debt 181 Denmark edit Blockbuster came to Denmark in 1996 with the acquisition of the 29 Christianshavn video stores 182 In 2009 they were on its peak with 72 stores across the country 183 Blockbuster Video Denmark sold the rights for the Blockbuster brand to the Danish telecommunications corporation TDC in 2013 excluding the 46 remaining brick and mortar stores which continued as RecycleIT A S diversifying in refurbishing and reselling consumer electronics in addition sale and rental of games and movies 83 184 The original goal was to rename all the stores before July 1 2014 when TDC would get the exclusive rights to the brand name in Denmark but only 12 of them had been renamed at the end of June and RecycleIT A S filed for bankruptcy the same year 185 186 The 12 RecycleIT stores were bought by the company Blue City 187 The new owners planned to gradually phase out game and movie sales and rental within 2016 but due to the fast changes in the market it happened almost immediately after the takeover and seven of the stores therefore closed in 2015 In 2017 the five remaining ones had started to make some profit and focus exclusively on second hand consumer electronics 188 However the Blockbuster On Demand service is still active in Nordic Countries offering both unlimited streaming and 48 hour rental of films online Several Smart TVs have the Blockbuster app pre installed out of the box and it is available on a variety of streaming devices such as Google s Chromecast 189 The rights to the Blockbuster brand are now in hands of Nuuday 190 Germany edit Blockbuster opened 20 stores in Berlin and Munich and announced plans to open 250 more when The chain presented itself as family friendly by not renting pornographic films However that decision adversely affected the profitability of the stores Blockbuster left the German market in 1997 191 Hong Kong edit In 1998 after the closure of KPS Video Express Blockbuster saw an opportunity to enter into the Hong Kong market and entered into negotiations with KPS s receivers Ernst amp Young to buy the KPS operations Blockbuster re opened 15 of 38 former KPS stores by February 16 1998 192 and re employed 145 former KPS staff 193 KPS members were given special offers to join Blockbuster but the video pre paid coupon system was not retained Blockbuster pulled out of the market in 2004 after high operating costs and losses to copyright infringement 194 Ireland edit In March 2010 Blockbuster announced that it intended to sell all operations in Europe The company once had an Irish subsidiary Xtravision which did not operate under the Blockbuster brand name Blockbuster sold Xtravision at a loss in August 2009 to Birchhall Investments Limited All remaining stores were closed in 2016 leaving only its online business and vending machines In June 2021 Xtravision Xpress was placed into voluntary receivership 195 196 Israel edit In the late 2000s at its peak Blockbuster Israel had 40 branches and more than 260 automated video rentals 197 198 In December 2011 Blockbuster closed off its last branch store and had only 80 automated video rentals left 198 Japan edit In March 1991 Fujita Den Trading which was the master franchise owner of McDonald s in Japan and Blockbuster Inc entered into a joint venture to establish Japan s first Blockbuster Video stores By October 1992 Fujita and Blockbuster opened 15 stores in the country four of them next to McDonald s outlets and most being located in the greater Tokyo area Unlike Blockbuster s U S stores each Japanese outlet only occupied about half the floor space at 5 000 square feet due to the country s more limited available real estate 199 200 By June 1996 32 stores were in operation with a public aim for 150 by 1998 Blockbuster Japan faced heavy competition from Osaka based video rental chain Tsutaya with its 817 outlets but the company saw opportunity in the population having high VCR ownership levels at around 75 low satellite TV penetration at around 27 and well ordered store layouts unique for most local video stores 201 However Blockbuster s business strategy of wholesome home entertainment saw it refuse to stock adult entertainment which accounted for 35 of the Japanese video market or the extreme horror films that were also popular All of which meant Blockbuster was unable to fit adequately into the Japanese market and was immediately put at a disadvantage compared to competitors that had no such ethical stance Blockbuster handed its remaining shares over to Fujita Den Trading in 1999 and exited the Japanese market 202 Mexico edit In September 2015 all remaining Blockbuster retail stores 263 in total in Mexico had been converted to The B Store and the floor space dedicated to video rentals reduced from 70 to 20 the remaining space being used for general technology and electronics sales The re branding occurred with the owners not renewing their license with Blockbuster and the imminent expiry of the existing license 203 204 All remaining B stores closed by July 2016 205 New Zealand edit The chain also operated for many years in New Zealand 206 but over the years lost customers to other retailers like United Video and Video Ezy as well as the rise of streaming services While the store in Bend Oregon was generally regarded as the last Blockbuster store there was one in Dargaville north of Auckland that managed to stay open until finally closing at the end of January 2020 207 Norway edit In December 2002 the first Blockbuster store opened in Norway and was followed by another store some months later in 2003 both located in Oslo The hope was to acquire an already existing video chain When that failed it was made an attempt to build a Norwegian blockbuster chain from scratch But both stores closed in the spring of 2004 208 Peru edit Blockbuster opened its first store in Peru in 1995 and by 2002 it had ten stores in Lima However in 2006 Blockbuster announced that it plans to shut down its stores in Peru due to poor revenues which it blamed on the effect of movie piracy 209 The last store in Peru was closed on January 3 2007 The company had already closed down its stores in Ecuador Portugal and Costa Rica El Salvador followed in 2010 and Argentina in 2011 210 United Kingdom edit nbsp A Blockbuster store in Moor Allerton Leeds nbsp A Blockbuster Express shop in Harrogate Yorkshire typical of the smaller UK stores often located in established urban and suburban areas In March 1989 Blockbuster opened their first store in the United Kingdom on Walworth Road London 211 In February 1992 Blockbuster purchased Citivision PLC the biggest home video company in Britain for 81 million 173 million in 2023 At the time Citivision operated about 775 stores in Britain branded as Ritz 200 Blockbuster UK operated trade functions in all their stores buying and selling pre owned DVDs console games and gaming accessories Stores offered either store credit or cash for trade ins and would price match with competitors At its height in 2002 Blockbuster UK operated out of over 800 stores In early 2013 the company had 528 locations in the United Kingdom On January 16 2013 Blockbuster placed its United Kingdom subsidiaries in administration putting over 4 000 jobs at risk Non UK stores were unaffected by the administration and continued to trade as normal On February 1 2013 a large number of Blockbuster stores in the UK were closed and the UK business was purchased out of administration by restructuring firm Gordon Brothers Europe on March 23 2013 212 Blockbuster UK then traded as TS Operations with only 264 branches retained On October 29 2013 Blockbuster UK announced it was to go into administration for a second time 213 On November 14 2013 72 store closures were announced 214 with another 62 made on December 5 215 A week later with no success in finding a buyer it was announced by Moorfields Corporate Recovery that all remaining stores in the country would cease operation on December 16 2013 with stock to be cleared the day before this 216 In September 2018 to coincide with the digital release of Deadpool 2 a pop up retail store in the style of an original 1989 Blockbuster outlet was opened for two days in Shoreditch in East London The store gave away 1 989 copies of the film in reference to Blockbuster s entry year into the UK market 217 Online rentals editBrazil edit In January 2006 Blockbuster Brazil also introduced an online rental service now featuring both DVD and Blu ray plans There were four Block plans available with prices ranging from R 34 90 to R 79 90 The 3 disc plan with unlimited exchanges was R 49 90 month Unlike the U S service there was no in store disk exchange 218 failed verification failed verification Movielink acquisition edit On August 8 2007 Blockbuster announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase Movielink According to the 8 K filing by Blockbuster the total purchase price was 6 6 million The Nordics edit Blockbuster streaming service is still active in Nordic Countries offering both unlimited streaming and 48 hour rental of films online Several Smart TVs have the Blockbuster app pre installed out of the box and it is available on a variety of streaming devices such as Google s Chromecast 189 In 2020 the rights to the Blockbuster brand moved to Nuuday 190 and to SF Anytime AB in 2023 219 United Kingdom edit nbsp A Blockbuster store in Northwood London in June 2008Rentals cost 3 50 to 4 50 and lasted for five nights usually from Monday to Friday due to the postal service Late fees of 0 70 to 0 90 per disc applied if a disc was not returned on time 220 In May 2004 Blockbuster also introduced an online subscription service The unlimited three disc plan cost 14 99 month but did not allow in store exchange contrary to the U S service Partial support for in store exchange was added in April 2005 with the launch of an OnlineXtra service This service cost 2 per month required an online subscription to a disc plan and added two extra discs sent by mail The OnlineXtra discs could be exchanged in store but the non OnlineXtra discs could not The program was discontinued in 2006 with no grandfathering but an in store only variant of it resurfaced in early 2008 221 A Click amp Collect service launched in September 2010 allowed the reservation of Blockbuster movies in store but the store s regular rental fees applied until the company added in store exchanges in May 2012 222 223 Support for game reservations was added in November 2011 224 In 2008 Blockbuster UK s website underwent an overhaul with an online store a retail store stock checker improved search functionality and a critically acclaimed layout 225 In store pickup and exclusive titled were added in 2009 Some of the titles which had an exclusivity period at Blockbuster include Gran Torino Changeling Taken and Knowing Additionally online rental downloads of Universal Pictures in the United Kingdom remains exclusive to Blockbuster This provides an advantage to the rental company compared to its competitors HMV Play and LoveFilm 225 In January 2010 Blockbuster UK launched an online blog 226 Improved search algorithms product pages and social network links were added to the site in April 2010 227 Blockbuster UK aired a monthly BB Insider online video show from May 2010 to January 2011 228 and launched an iPhone App in September 2010 229 Throughout the year 2011 Blockbuster UK announced several price cuts along with a new Blockbuster loyalty card program 230 These price drops were followed by a price drop of the Blockbuster UK online pay per rent service 231 Although some Blockbuster UK advertisements claim that the company no longer charges late fees the fine print and or voiceover clarifies that rentals will be charged an extra pound for every additional night 232 A Top Ticket feature was added in April 2011 allowing monthly subscription customers to rent an additional movie at no extra charge and to receive it before other movies they request 233 234 Support for online sales of used movie and game discs was added in July 2011 235 The Blockbuster UK website was enhanced in September 2011 236 During the following month a new TV section was added to the website 237 3D Blu rays were added to Blockbuster UK in February 2012 238 In May 2012 Blockbuster UK partnered with IGN to launch a new Blockbuster VIP Gamer loyalty program 239 On January 16 2013 Blockbuster UK entered administration appointing Deloitte as company administrators casting doubt over the future of their 528 stores in the country 240 An announcement was then made by Deloitte that 160 UK stores would close On February 13 2013 Deloitte announced a further 164 store closures leaving 204 stores trading in the UK The business was sold to restructuring firm the Gordon Brothers Group on March 23 2013 212 On October 29 2013 Gordon Brothers filed notice of intention to appoint an administrator On November 28 2013 Blockbuster UK officially entered administration for the second time and by December 2013 all stores were closed as no buyer for the chain was found United States edit In 1997 Enron Corporation had entered the broadband market constructing and purchasing thousands of miles of fiber optic cables throughout the United States 241 242 In 2001 Enron and Blockbuster Inc attempted to create a 20 year deal to stream movies on demand over Enron s fiber optic network 243 However the heavily promoted deal fell through with Enron s shares dropping following the announcement 243 On August 11 2004 Blockbuster introduced a DVD by mail service in the US to compete with the established market leader Netflix 244 Blockbuster s US online operation started with around 10 warehouses further expansions every year brought that number to 41 plus more than 1400 stores in the Blockbuster Online network Most Blockbuster independent franchises did not honor the Total Access program The company had 1 5 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter of 2006 245 Blockbuster s move to follow the business pattern with its online rentals as was established by Netflix prompted Netflix to sue Blockbuster for patent infringement Blockbuster counter sued with a counterclaim alleging deceptive practices with its patent which it alleged was designed to maintain an illegal monopoly The suits were eventually settled and while the terms were not disclosed it was later reported that Netflix recorded a settlement payment from Blockbuster of 4 1 million 5 81 million in 2023 in the second quarter of 2007 246 Blockbuster offered several online movie rental plans In some cities customers could add games to their movie rental queue as if they were included in their plan but game rentals resulted in a separate additional fee which was not displayed or charged until the end of the billing cycle 247 Until July 26 2007 Blockbuster offered and advertised unlimited free in store exchanges of online rentals with all plans Since then there were several changes back and forth with regard to this policy in March 2010 customers were allowed a limited number of in store exchanges At the end of 2006 Blockbuster Total Access had 2 2 million customers exceeding their original goal of 2 million according to its website 248 After an aggressive media campaign that accounted for much of Blockbuster s 46 4 million 65 7 million in 2023 net loss in the first quarter of 2007 the Total Access subscriber base surpassed 3 million customers in total marking the company s highest subscriber growth quarter ever 249 By 2009 however the company was declining to provide figures when asked by The Wall Street Journal 250 On January 5 2007 Southern Stores Inc one of Blockbuster s largest franchise operators in the United States filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that by introducing Blockbuster Online and Blockbuster Total Access the rental chain has undercut the group s franchise agreement 251 On August 6 2010 Blockbuster By Mail subscribers gained access to Blockbuster s library of console games in addition to movies and television shows On March 31 2012 Blockbuster On Demand removed support from set top box media players including Vudu WDTV and Roku Supported devices now only included computers Blu ray players select television sets and cellular phones 252 On February 26 2013 Roku Inc announced that Blockbuster On Demand was being launched on Roku s channel store Supported devices now included computers Blu ray players select television sets cellular phones and the Roku set top box 253 In November 2013 Dish Network said its DVD by mail service would shut down by mid December 254 Advertising editSuper Bowl edit One of Blockbuster s most well known advertising campaigns was launched in 2002 during Super Bowl XXXVI It starred the voices of James Woods and Jim Belushi as Carl and Ray a rabbit and a guinea pig in a pet shop located across the road from a Blockbuster store The first campaign ended in 2003 The Carl and Ray campaign started again in 2007 starting with a commercial in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLI 255 Misleading advertising edit In 2005 Blockbuster launched a marketing campaign describing changes in its late fees policy and offering No Late Fees on rentals The program sparked investigations and charges of misrepresentation in 48 states and the District of Columbia state attorneys general including Bill Lockyer of California Greg Abbott of Texas and Eliot Spitzer of New York argued that customers were being automatically charged the full purchase price of late rentals and a restocking fee for rentals returned after 30 days In a settlement Blockbuster agreed to reimburse the states the cost of their investigation clarify communication to customers on the terms of the program and offer reimbursement to customers charged fees prior to the clarification New Jersey filed a separate lawsuit and was not a party to the settlement 256 257 258 259 260 The 2005 controversy came after a related lawsuit settled in 2002 in Texas That lawsuit alleging exorbitant late fees led the company to pay 9 25 million in attorney fees and offer 450 million in late fee refund coupons which were rent one get one free coupons and thus required the customer to make an initial expenditure The company estimated that the coupons would ultimately cost about 45 million depending on the redemption rate an attorney for the plaintiffs estimated the final cost at closer to 100 million at a redemption rate of about 20 calculated based on a similar case in Michigan 261 262 Such corrections were also sent to international stores such as those in Canada to prevent further lawsuits Blockbuster reintroduced late fees in the United States in 2010 under the name of Additional Daily Rates With this pricing scheme rentals were once again limited to a certain number of days and accrued pay per day rates after the days allocated are exceeded Presidents and CEOs editJohn F Antioco CEO 1997 2007 James W Keyes CEO 2007 2011 Michael Kelly president 2011 2015 263 See also edit nbsp Companies portal Dish Network Family Video Gamerang Hollywood Video Movie Gallery Netflix Retail apocalypse List of retailers affected by the retail apocalypseReferences editInformational notes Down from 9 094 in 2004 Citations Blockbuster releases IPO CNNMoney August 10 1999 Retrieved March 27 2018 Blockbuster Stock Trading Halted The Street July 1 2010 Retrieved March 27 2018 a b c d e f Hyatt Joshua July 1 2003 He Began Blockbuster So What David Cook created a household name but he refuses to become one CNN Money Retrieved January 23 2014 Harding Sandi May 17 2019 Experience I manage the last Blockbuster in the world The Guardian Retrieved May 17 2019 Stephen Bijan August 29 2018 The last Blockbuster what we really lose when video stores shut down The Verge Retrieved April 19 2019 Hecht John The Associated Press April 28 2007 Blockbuster opening Mexico multiplex The Hollywood Reporter WordPress com VIP Retrieved September 23 2023 https fontsinuse com uses 6800 blockbuster identity text In 201985 2C 20David 20Cooke 20started Dean 20to 20design 20an 20identity https 1000logos net blockbuster logo https logos world net blockbuster logo https fontsinuse com uses 6800 blockbuster identity text In 201985 2C 20David 20Cooke 20started taken 20out 20of 20the 20identity a b The Sad End Of Blockbuster Video The Onetime 5 Billion Company Is Being Liquidated As Competition From Online Giants Netflix And Hulu Prove All Too Much For The Iconic Brand International Business Times December 5 2013 a b c Clifford Stephanie April 8 2011 Other Retailers Find Ex Blockbuster Stores Just Right The New York Times a b Form 10 K www sec gov Retrieved June 7 2017 Blockbuster LLC Chapter 11 Petition PDF PacerMonitor Archived PDF from the original on June 2 2016 Retrieved May 9 2016 Blockbuster Reaches Agreement on Plan to Recapitalize Balance Sheet and Substantially Reduce its Indebtedness Press release Blockbuster September 23 2010 Archived from the original on October 3 2018 Retrieved September 23 2010 a b Fritz Ben April 7 2011 Dish Network wins bidding for assets of bankrupt Blockbuster Los Angeles Times Retrieved May 2 2011 a b DISH Network Completes Acquisition of Blockbuster Assets DishNetwork MediaRoom com April 26 2011 Archived from the original on July 17 2015 Retrieved June 16 2011 Blockbuster to Close Remaining 300 Stores in U S The Hollywood Reporter November 6 2013 Retrieved December 9 2019 Blockbuster to end late fees in 2005 NBC News December 14 2004 Retrieved July 13 2018 a b Gourarie Chava April 15 2020 The Last Blockbuster on Earth Is Still Open Commercial Observer c 2020 Observer Media Retrieved May 3 2020 a b Zak Annie July 12 2018 Alaska s last 2 Blockbuster stores are closing leaving just one in the U S Anchorage Daily News Retrieved August 29 2018 a b Blockbuster Inc Company Profile Information Business Description History Background Information on Blockbuster Inc Reference for Business Retrieved January 1 2017 Weber Ken January 6 2015 Dear Investor What the HELL are You Doing Smart and Easy Ways to Fix the Mistakes You Make With Your Money Greenleaf Book Group ISBN 9781626341623 Retrieved July 13 2018 via Google Books Film Lovers Mourn Mockingbird Staple Premiere Video D Magazine August 2017 Retrieved July 13 2018 SEC 10 K 1999 SEC March 24 2000 Retrieved June 7 2017 Poggi Jeanine September 23 2010 Blockbuster s Rise and Fall The Long Rewinding Road Retrieved July 13 2018 The Making of a Blockbuster Bloomberg Businessweek Archived from the original on November 13 2010 Retrieved November 3 2010 1985 First Blockbuster Store Opens The History Channel November 13 2009 Retrieved May 24 2015 Billboard Nielsen Business Media Inc October 19 1985 Retrieved July 13 2018 via Google Books DeGeorge Gail 1997 The Making of a Blockbuster New York Wiley p 32 ISBN 0 471 15903 4 DeGeorge Gail 1995 The Making of a Blockbuster Prologue Wiley ISBN 0 471 15903 4 Carey Charles W May 14 2014 American Inventors Entrepreneurs and Business Visionaries Infobase Publishing ISBN 9780816068838 Retrieved July 13 2018 via Google Books a b Video Rental Firms Win Round in Struggle with Nintendo The Baltimore Sun September 19 1990 Retrieved October 15 2020 Rose Tim Jr 5 Legal Battles That Changed Video Game History Modern Rogue Retrieved October 15 2020 The Making of a Blockbuster How Wayne Huizenga Built a Sports and Entertainment Empire from Trash Grit and Videotape Wiley 1997 ISBN 9780471159032 Retrieved January 1 2008 David Conn November 20 1990 Blockbuster agrees to buy Erol s chain Curran examining antitrust concerns The Baltimore Sun Shapiro Eben October 20 1992 Blockbuster Agrees to Buy Music Store Chain The New York Times Johnson Ted September 10 1993 Store Wars Retailing A busy intersection has become the battleground for three giant music and video outlets And just up the street a specialty store is trying to carve out a niche Los Angeles Times Spelling Entertainment Completes Sale of Shares to Blockbuster Archived August 8 2017 at the Wayback Machine thefreelibrary com Retrieved on May 27 2013 Blockbuster Completes Super Club Acquisition Orlando Sentinel November 23 1993 Retrieved October 6 2018 Orlando Sentinel Blockbuster s Spelling Finishes Buying Republic OrlandoSentinel com Retrieved on May 27 2013 Sandomir Richard June 9 1991 ENTREPRENEURS WAYNE HUIZENGA S GROWTH COMPLEX The New York Times Retrieved July 13 2018 Sheridan Mary Beth January 10 1994 Viacom Blockbuster merges colorful moguls Spartanburg Herald Journal Associated Press Retrieved February 10 2012 Fabrikant Geraldine September 30 1993 THE MEDIA BUSINESS Viacom Gets Help From Blockbuster The New York Times Retrieved July 13 2018 Booth William August 21 1994 REPUBLIC OF HUIZENGA CARVED OUT OF FLORIDA FOR GAMES Retrieved July 13 2018 via www washingtonpost com Gandel Stephen October 17 2010 How Blockbuster Failed at Failing Time Retrieved July 13 2018 via content time com Viacom captures Paramount February 16 1994 Retrieved July 13 2018 Viacom Plans Blockbuster Split CBS News February 10 2004 Retrieved July 13 2018 Viacom captures Paramount February 16 1994 Retrieved July 13 2018 Viacom s Headache It s A Blockbuster Bloomberg News May 5 1997 Retrieved July 13 2018 This block party is for adults only Blockbuster opens 1st indoor center Associated Press Retrieved May 26 2012 permanent dead link Blockbuster s Entertainment Store website home page Wayback Machine December 24 1996 Archived from the original on October 25 2013 Retrieved November 7 2013 Blockbuster name design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster Entertainment Inc c 1987 1996 Blockbuster Entertainment Inc All Rights Reserved Developed by Blockbuster Technology Online Group and Viacom Interactive Services Blockbuster Identity Fonts In Use May 13 2014 Retrieved December 26 2016 Blockbuster sets meeting on move Video rental chain preparing possible relocation to Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram November 1 1996 1 Business Retrieved December 18 2009 Kirkpatrick John Blockbuster to hire hundreds in Dallas office Two thirds of Florida workers not moving with headquarters The Dallas Morning News March 17 1997 Retrieved December 18 2009 Taco Bell Chief Antioco Moving to Blockbuster Los Angeles Times June 4 1997 Epstein Edward Jay January 9 2006 Hollywood s New Zombie The last days of Blockbuster Slate Retrieved March 27 2018 Hettrick Scott DEJ Deal to First Look Variety November 5 2005 Lederman Jay March 8 2023 Blockbuster sign removed from Stamford plaza listed for 15K on Facebook Marketplace News 12 Connecticut Retrieved March 15 2023 Blockbuster Loyalty Put To Test November 2 1998 Retrieved July 13 2018 Wherehouse Buys Blockbuster Music for 115 million Stereophile com August 16 1998 Retrieved June 16 2011 Schiffman Betsy July 20 2000 Enron Blockbuster Partner For Movie Mania Forbes com Retrieved March 28 2018 Blockbuster s Broadband Video Deal Collapses Los Angeles Times March 11 2001 Retrieved October 27 2016 Leopold Todd November 6 2013 Your late fees are waived Blockbuster closes CNN Even Blockbuster s late fees came back to bite the chain in an unlikely way In 1997 a man named Reed Hastings returned a late copy of Apollo 13 to his local Blockbuster He was assessed a 40 fee Two years later he founded Netflix Blockbuster was caught flat footed by many of these changes It could have purchased Netflix for 50 million in 2000 but passed As Netflix rose Blockbuster s attempts to compete on Netflix s terms especially through the mail foundered It also tried to compete with Redbox using standalone kiosks That didn t work either Keating Gina October 11 2012 Netflixed The Epic Battle for America s Eyeballs Penguin ISBN 9781101601433 Retrieved July 13 2018 via Google Books With Several Million U S Households as Potential Customers Blockbuster Plans to Capture Substantial Share of Online Rentals Press release Blockbuster MediaRoom December 31 2003 Archived from the original on December 1 2008 Retrieved January 28 2009 Blockbuster Launches National DVD and Game Trading Program Press release Blockbuster MediaRoom October 25 2004 Archived from the original on December 1 2008 Retrieved January 28 2009 Press Release sec gov Retrieved May 28 2015 Jr Tom Zeller March 26 2005 Blockbuster Ends Bid for Rival The New York Times Retrieved May 28 2015 Carl Icahn Wins Seat on Blockbuster s Board May 12 2005 The New York Sun Nysun com May 12 2005 Archived from the original on June 8 2011 Retrieved June 16 2011 Carr Austin September 22 2010 Blockbuster Bankruptcy A Decade of Decline Fastcompany Retrieved October 27 2016 a b c Blockbuster Settles Over No Late Fees Billboardbiz Associated Press Archived from the original on November 23 2016 Retrieved October 27 2016 About Us Vintage Stock Movie Trading Co Music Movies Video Games and More Retrieved December 17 2016 Sankin Aaron November 14 2013 How Blockbuster Almost Beat Netfilx Retrieved July 13 2018 Keating Gina March 20 2007 UPDATE 5 Blockbuster CEO to leave with lower pay package Reuters Blockbuster Blu ray In Almost 5 000 Stores TVpredictions com April 10 2008 Archived from the original on July 20 2011 Retrieved June 16 2011 Rayburn Dan July 16 2009 Blockbuster Still Doesn t Have A Digital Strategy Business Insider Retrieved August 16 2020 Simons John March 5 2008 Don t count Blockbuster out CNN Money Retrieved August 16 2020 Munarriz Rick December 10 2008 Blockbuster CEO Has Answers Retrieved July 13 2018 Blockbuster Circuit City deal gets thumbs down Reuters April 14 2008 Musil Steven July 1 2008 Blockbuster abandons Circuit City bid News Blog CNET News cnet com Archived from the original on June 17 2011 Retrieved June 16 2011 retrieved 2009 10 04 Blockbuster com Archived from the original on July 20 2011 Retrieved June 16 2011 a b The decline of video stores What we ll miss the most October 20 2010 Retrieved July 13 2018 Talley Karen October 1 2009 Blockbuster Plans Expansion To Counter Raft Of Competition The Wall Street Journal Blockbuster Reports Fourth quarter And Full Year Results Revenues Top 6 1 Billion Press release Blockbuster MediaRoom Archived from the original on December 1 2008 Retrieved January 28 2009 Blockbuster files for bankruptcy in Portugal and blames internet piracy Press release Engadget February 10 2010 Retrieved February 16 2010 Stempel Jonathan April 2 2010 Carl Icahn unwinding Blockbuster stake The Globe and Mail Canada Dobuzinskis Alex July 2 2010 Blockbuster says to delist from NYSE Thomson Reuters International Business Times Archived from the original on July 8 2012 Retrieved September 26 2010 James Surowiecki The Next Level The New Yorker October 18 2010 Blockbuster Chapter 11 Petition PDF PacerMonitor Retrieved May 2 2016 Ricker Thomas September 23 2010 Blockbuster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy blog Engadget Retrieved February 19 2011 a b Report Blockbuster plans to put itself up for sale USA Today February 11 2011 Retrieved February 11 2011 Blockbuster plans to close 182 stores by April Reuters December 20 2010 Retrieved December 29 2010 Ruth Eric February 18 2011 Blockbuster to close most Delaware locations Liquidations to begin this month DelawareOnline Gannett OCLC 38962480 retrieved February 19 2011 Jeanine Poggi March 28 2011 Blockbuster Receives Surprise Bid From Korea Report TheStreet Spector Mike April 6 2011 Blockbuster Auction Gets Under Way With Dish Bid The Wall Street Journal Retrieved June 16 2011 Dish Network agrees to acquire blockbuster assets Dishnetwork mediaroom com Archived from the original on July 21 2011 Retrieved June 16 2011 Maria Halkias Dallas News Dish Network is trying to keep more than 600 Blockbuster stores open April 21 2011 Retrieved April 22 2011 Joseph Checkler NASDAQ Blockbuster Landlords Want More Assurance Money For Leases April 21 2011 Retrieved April 22 2011 Blockbuster Canada closing its doors CBC August 31 2011 retrieved August 31 2011 Blockbuster Movie Pass Dish Network s 10 Month Answer To Netflix September 23 2011 Retrieved July 13 2018 Blockbuster Movie Pass no Netflix killer September 23 2011 Retrieved July 13 2018 Dish closing more Blockbuster stores than expected CNET CBS Interactive January 13 2012 Dish scraps plans to turn Blockbuster into Netflix competitor The Verge October 5 2012 Retrieved October 5 2012 Blockbuster to End Domestic Retail DVD By Mail Services Blockbuster LLC Archived from the original on March 23 2017 Retrieved July 28 2017 Whitney Lance November 6 2013 Blockbuster throws in the towel CNET Retrieved April 1 2018 Hansen Jamie November 6 2013 Last Sonoma County Blockbuster to close doors The Press Democrat Retrieved April 1 2018 Hlavaty Craig January 29 2018 The last Blockbuster Video in Texas has closed The Houston Chronicle Retrieved March 14 2018 Life After Blockbuster Catching Up With the Owner of Some Yahoo News September 17 2014 Retrieved May 16 2018 List of franchise Blockbuster store locations Blockbuster LLC Archived from the original on March 3 2021 Retrieved June 10 2017 Kohut Joseph March 16 2014 The decline of a video rental giant provides warnings of a failure to adapt innovate The Times Tribune Retrieved May 18 2018 Blockbuster Home planetdish com April 17 2015 Retrieved May 18 2018 Padden Kathy October 15 2015 This Day in History October 19th A Bust TodayIFoundOut com Retrieved May 18 2018 Veteran DISH Executive Michael Kelly announces retirement Hamway Stephen April 24 2015 Bend Blockbusters among last in country The Bulletin Retrieved April 1 2018 Kirsch Noah February 21 2017 The Last Video Chain The Inside Story Of Family Video And Its 400 Million Owner Forbes Retrieved April 1 2018 Baskin Jonathan Salem November 8 2013 The Internet Didn t Kill Blockbuster The Company Did It To Itself Forbes Retrieved April 1 2018 Satell Greg July 7 2018 How Blockbuster Kodak and Xerox Really Failed It s Not What You Think Inc com Archived from the original on January 26 2021 the senior leadership came up with a viable strategy but couldn t manage the internal networks of forces that derailed it John Antioco April 1 2011 How I Did It Blockbuster s Former CEO on Sparring with an Activist Shareholder Harvard Business Review Archived from the original on January 26 2021 Katherine Blunt May 16 2021 Natural Gas America s No 1 Power Source Already Has a New Challenger Batteries The Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Wikidata Q114357341 Retrieved October 2 2022 I m hellbent on not becoming the next Blockbuster Video said Vistra Chief Executive Curt Morgan I m not going to sit back and watch this legacy business dwindle and not participate Hsu Tiffany Bates Ian C March 29 2019 Meet the Curiosity Seekers and Die Hards at the Last True Blockbuster The New York Times Retrieved August 16 2020 Powers Jenny May 1 2020 There s a reason we are the last ones At the only remaining Blockbuster on Earth business is still booming Business Insider Retrieved August 16 2020 Rodriguez Ashley April 28 2017 At the edges of America Blockbuster stores stocked with actual DVDs still exist Quartz Retrieved June 9 2017 Tunseth Matt June 29 2017 Closing Attraction Eagle River Blockbuster going out of business Chugiak Eagle River Star Archived from the original on June 29 2017 Retrieved July 2 2017 Maguire Sean March 30 2018 South Anchorage Blockbuster set to close KTUU TV Retrieved April 1 2018 The Magic of Blockbuster Video lives on with Dish blockbuster com Archived from the original on January 25 2018 Retrieved May 18 2018 Blockbuster Video Stores amp On Demand Movies Dish Network Retrieved August 8 2017 Kavanaugh Shane Dixon December 3 2017 Blockbuster in Sandy one of 10 remaining in the world to close The Oregonian Retrieved January 4 2018 Abrams Abigail July 12 2018 There Will Only Be 1 Blockbuster in America Soon Time Retrieved August 29 2018 a b Australia s last Blockbuster store in Morley WA closing its doors The West Australian March 1 2019 Retrieved March 1 2019 Spurr Kyle December 29 2018 The top local stories of 2018 Central Oregon saw news of the weird scary and political The Bulletin Archived from the original on March 8 2019 Retrieved January 2 2019 Genevieve Shaw Brown August 11 2020 You can spend the night in the world s last Blockbuster ABC News Retrieved August 12 2020 Doha Madani August 11 2020 World s last Blockbuster transforms into 90s themed Airbnb NBC News Retrieved August 12 2020 BB Liquidating Inc Reuters January 28 2021 Retrieved January 28 2021 BB Liquidating Inc September 28 2011 Current Report Form 8 K Securities and Exchange Commission Retrieved January 28 2021 As a result of the Asset Sale the Debtors have no further business operations nor assets to liquidate DISH Network Corporation is the current owner of the Blockbuster brand inclusive of its ongoing retail internet and by mail distribution channels It is the Debtors understanding that such ongoing business operations are being managed by Blockbuster L L C New Blockbuster which is an affiliate of DISH and a non debtor entity Accordingly all inquiries concerning the ongoing business of New Blockbuster should be directed to DISH and the success or failure of New Blockbuster will have no impact on the recoveries anticipated in these chapter 11 cases for either creditors or equity interest holders of the Debtors Bankrupt Blockbuster Joins Reddit Inspired Retail Rally Bloomberg com January 27 2021 Retrieved February 1 2021 Last Blockbuster Twitter Twitter Retrieved September 21 2022 Blockbuster Website Reactivated www cbsnews com CBS News March 24 2023 Retrieved March 24 2023 a b Adams Nathan February 22 2011 Anyone Want to Buy Blockbuster Archived from the original on April 2 2018 Retrieved April 1 2018 Blockbuster signs deal to be exclusive renter for Weinsteins USA Today Reuters November 15 2006 Retrieved April 26 2010 Galliher Cory March 27 2010 Agreement gives Blockbuster exclusive access to new release Warner Bros films Cumberland Times News Retrieved July 13 2018 Riske Adam September 12 2017 Riske Business Do You Dig on Busterverses fthismovie net Retrieved January 7 2018 We Promise You Will Go Home Happy St Louis Post Dispatch November 6 1997 p 75 Blockbuster nationwide DVD and game trading program October 28 2004 Retrieved April 26 2010 Poggi Jeanine September 23 2010 Blockbuster s Rise and Fall The Long Rewinding Road TheStreet Inc Retrieved January 7 2018 Susman Gary November 22 2001 Trophy Case Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on July 11 2019 Retrieved May 15 2013 Viewership uncertainty causes Blockbuster to cancel awards Berkeley Daily Planet November 24 2001 Retrieved May 15 2013 NCR Exploring Options for Blockbuster Express Including Sale Home Media Magazine Archived from the original on October 30 2011 Retrieved October 28 2011 Wayback Machine blockbusterexpress com Internet Archive Archived from the original on September 14 2010 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Blockbuster Express Cold Bath Road December 5 2009 Retrieved November 4 2014 Blockbuster goes into administration January 16 2013 Retrieved November 4 2014 Hale Meitner Sarah November 29 2004 Blockbuster Video Gets Into the Game With Game Rush OrlandoSentinel com Retrieved October 23 2020 Fabrikant Geraldine July 26 2004 MEDIA Showdown Begins in Movie Rental Business Blockbuster Tries a Remake Published 2004 The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved October 23 2020 PRN Blockbuster Reaches Agreement to Sell Rhino Video Games to GameStop Chron January 6 2007 Retrieved October 23 2020 Gamerush is becoming part of the new Blockbuster Twitter August 23 2016 Retrieved October 23 2020 a b Kappatos Nicole November 15 2018 From the Archives Discovery Zone a short lived indoor play zone enjoyed by kids in the 1990s Richmond Times Dispatch Retrieved December 17 2018 DISCOVERY ZONE BOUNCES BACK Sun Sentinel July 30 1997 Archived from the original on March 28 2023 Retrieved July 24 2023 Sams Travis February 3 2020 Discovery Zone Is Making A Comeback This Month 99 5 WKDQ Blockbuster Australia New South Wales stores Only Sydney Archived from the original on March 27 2012 Retrieved March 26 2013 Cresswell Ellen April 22 1998 Brazin acquires Brashs International Data Group Retrieved March 29 2013 Blockbuster Inc History Funding Universe Retrieved March 29 2013 Turner Adam February 23 2007 Video Ezy to acquire Blockbuster as rental stores prepare for video download onslaught iWire Archived from the original on November 1 2013 Retrieved March 26 2013 Video Ezy takeover of Blockbuster gets green light 19 September 2007 Smart Company Archived from the original on April 13 2012 Retrieved March 26 2013 Video Ezy fast forwards with Blockbuster buy The Age Melbourne February 24 2007 Retrieved March 26 2013 Keating Gina February 23 2007 Blockbuster to sell Australian business to Video Ezy Reuters Media Release New Name New Business Opportunities As Stomp Becomes Elan Media Partners PDF Elan Media Partners October 6 2010 Archived from the original PDF on April 17 2012 Retrieved September 13 2013 MCN Joins Forces With Elan Media Partners To Strengthen Entertainment Offering MCN August 28 2012 Retrieved September 15 2013 Osborne Kayla October 4 2017 Blockbuster Mount Annan is closing down Camden Advertiser Archived from the original on July 14 2018 Retrieved July 13 2018 Australia s oldest video store is shutting up shop in QLD 4Bc 1116 January 18 2018 Retrieved July 13 2018 Moore Tony February 4 2018 Streaming kills the video store as Brisbane s last rental shop closes Brisbane Times Retrieved March 1 2019 Stephen Bijan August 29 2018 The last Blockbuster what we really lose when video stores shut down The Verge Retrieved October 24 2018 Hastie Hamish January 4 2019 And then there were two Morley Blockbuster one of the last in the world Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved January 4 2019 Morley Blockbuster video store defies the odds and still going strong March 12 2018 Retrieved October 16 2018 Bell Bradley January 6 2021 The Last Two Blockbuster amp Video Ezy kiosks To Be Closed After Being Hit Hard By COVID 19 Archived from the original on June 25 2021 Retrieved April 3 2021 Lou Michelle Ahmed Saeed March 6 2019 There s only one Blockbuster left on the planet CNN Retrieved March 7 2019 Retailer Americanas buys Brazil Blockbuster stores Reuters January 24 2007 Retrieved July 13 2018 Lojas Americanas February 19 2015 Archived from the original on July 14 2018 Retrieved July 13 2018 Shaw Hollie September 23 2010 Business as usual for Blockbuster Canada Vancouver Sun Archived from the original on September 26 2010 Retrieved September 26 2010 Wind Mobile to partner with Blockbuster The Globe and Mail Canada December 14 2009 Berkow Jomeson May 6 2011 Blockbuster Canada goes bust Financial Post Archived from the original on May 9 2011 Retrieved May 9 2011 a b Strauss Marina Marlow Iain August 31 2011 Blockbuster to pull plug in Canada The Globe and Mail Archived from the original on November 21 2011 Milliardgaeld truer verdens storste filmudlejningskaede August 16 2010 Retrieved July 13 2018 Nu lukker Blockbuster butikker July 17 2012 Retrieved July 13 2018 TDC kober danske Blockbuster detailfolk dk Retrieved July 13 2018 TDC iTunes bliver storste konkurrent til Blockbuster test FlatpanelsDK flatpanels dk Retrieved July 13 2018 Fra Blockbuster til RecycleIT til Bluecity FlatpanelsDK www flatpanels dk Retrieved July 13 2018 Blue City videreforer Blockbuster koncept recordere dk August 2 2014 Retrieved July 13 2018 Blue City er tradt ud af Blockbusters skygge RetailNews May 9 2017 Retrieved July 13 2018 a b Om Blockbuster Hvem er vi Fra butik til online streaming blockbuster dk Archived from the original on May 11 2020 Retrieved April 28 2020 a b nuuday nuuday in Danish Retrieved April 17 2020 Blockbuster ist pleite WirtschaftsWoche September 23 2010 Retrieved April 28 2017 Stewart Ann January 8 1999 Blockbuster to reopen 15 KPS stores in deal with receivers South China Morning Post Hong Kong Blockbuster re employs 145 former KPS staff Hong Kong iMail Currently The Standard Hong Kong February 22 1999 Michael Peter January 30 2004 Blockbuster sunk by pirates say patrons South China Morning Post Hong Kong Xtra vision killed by Christmas sales collapse court told The Irish Times Retrieved July 13 2018 No sequel as final credits roll for Xtra vision The Irish Times Retrieved July 13 2018 מועדון יחד מועדון צרכנות לרופאים מועדון יחד מועדון צרכנות לרופאים ההסתדרות הרפואית בישראל Retrieved July 13 2018 a b חיות אילנית March 6 2012 14 סניפי טאוור רקורדס נסגרו בלוקבסטר הפסיקה לפעול Globes Retrieved July 13 2018 Kelley Lane October 5 1990 Blockbuster Plans A Move Into Japan Sun Sentinel Archived from the original on June 2 2013 Retrieved April 7 2013 a b Degeorge Gail October 19 1992 They Don t Call It Blockbuster For Nothing Bloomberg com Archived from the original on September 30 2022 Retrieved September 29 2023 Kageyama Yuri June 18 1996 Blockbuster Moving In on Japan s Video Market Los Angeles Times Retrieved April 7 2013 Examples of Failure for Market Entry into Japan G Cross Inc Archived from the original on November 4 2012 Retrieved April 5 2013 Blockbuster desaparece en Mexico lo sustituye The B Store Expansion September 21 2015 Retrieved August 26 2016 in Spanish Farewell Blockbuster here comes The B Store September 21 2015 Archived from the original on June 20 2019 Retrieved July 13 2018 Grupo Salinas pone fin a su tienda de peliculas The B Store October 31 2016 Retrieved July 13 2018 Eriksen Alanah November 22 2007 Sounds Blockbuster firm s survival bid a first New Zealand Herald Retrieved October 16 2018 Moodie Kim January 19 2020 Final credits Dargaville s Blockbuster DVD and video rental store Blue 2 Video is closing NZ Herald ISSN 1170 0777 Retrieved March 6 2020 Blockbuster stenger 129 butikker January 20 2013 Retrieved July 13 2018 Blockbuster shuts down in Peru piracy blamed Reuters January 3 2007 Blockbuster Closing All Its Stores In US What Will Happen To The Few Stores Left in Latin America November 6 2013 Retrieved July 13 2018 About Us Blockbuster Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on January 15 2013 Retrieved September 29 2023 a b Buyer found for Blockbuster stores say administrators BBC News March 23 2013 Retrieved March 22 2013 Blockbuster back in administration BBC News October 29 2013 Retrieved October 29 2013 Blockbuster s administrator will close 72 stores BBC News November 14 2013 Blockbuster to close more stores as 427 more jobs go BBC News December 5 2013 Blockbuster to close remaining stores BBC News December 12 2013 Retrieved December 13 2013 Blockbuster Video Reopens In London Well For Two Days Anyway www Londonist com September 12 2018 Blockbuster Brazil Archived September 29 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 25 2012 Blockbuster Blockbuster in Danish Retrieved November 13 2023 Help Pay Per Rent Quick Start Guide Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on July 20 2011 Retrieved June 16 2011 Band Signup All Rental Plans Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on June 28 2011 Retrieved June 25 2011 The new way to rent Click amp Collect Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on October 17 2010 Retrieved June 25 2011 Service Update Introducing In Store Exchange Total Access Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on July 15 2012 Retrieved May 25 2012 Service Update Click amp Collect Games Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on November 26 2011 Retrieved November 21 2011 a b Blockbuster co uk About Us Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on June 28 2011 Retrieved June 25 2011 Blockbuster Blog Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on August 12 2011 Retrieved June 25 2011 Blockbuster Blog New Site Features Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on March 26 2012 Retrieved June 25 2011 Blockbuster Blog BB Insider Video 01 Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on June 8 2012 Retrieved June 25 2011 Blockbuster Blog Service Update iPhone App Mobile App Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on March 26 2012 Retrieved June 25 2011 Service Update Stores Great Nights In Start with BLOCKBUSTER Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on February 28 2011 Retrieved June 25 2011 Service Update Pay Per Rent Price Drop Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on April 23 2011 Retrieved June 25 2011 The Fighter and True Grit Exclusive to Blockbuster only 2 99 YouTube Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on October 30 2021 Retrieved June 25 2011 Service Update Introducing Blockbuster Top Ticket Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on April 23 2011 Retrieved June 25 2011 Blockbuster UK Top Ticket Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on June 28 2011 Retrieved June 25 2011 Service Update Introducing Blockbuster Marketplace Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on July 19 2011 Retrieved July 17 2011 Service Update The New Blockbuster Experience Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on January 15 2013 Retrieved September 20 2011 Service Update Full TV Genre Launch Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on November 10 2011 Retrieved September 27 2011 Service Update Top Ticket 1 50 Rentals 3D Blu rays Click amp Collect amp Marketplace Blockbuster UK Archived from the original on January 15 2013 Retrieved January 23 2012 Blockbuster partners with IGN to promote VIP Gamer scheme MCV Archived from the original on May 14 2012 Retrieved May 11 2012 Blockbuster goes into administration Blockbuster said that it was shutting 129 of its 528 stores in the UK BBC News January 16 2012 Schiesel Seth July 11 1999 Jumping Off the Bandwidth Wagon The New York Times Retrieved February 17 2017 Montana Power Williams Communications Enron Units Announce Fiber Providers for Portland to Los Angeles Network PRNewswire December 17 1997 Archived from the original on February 17 2017 Retrieved February 17 2017 a b Behr Peter January 1 2001 Broadband Strategy Got Enron in Trouble Bid to Create Market for Fiber Optic Space Included Aggressive Accounting The Washington Post No E01 Blockbuster going after NetFlix CNNMoney August 11 2004 Retrieved July 25 2013 Blockbuster reports narrowed Q3 loss Video Business June 7 2011 Archived from the original on February 16 2009 Retrieved June 16 2011 NetFlix Outlook Gloomy Despite A Profitable Quarter The New York Times The Associated Press July 24 2007 Retrieved June 16 2011 Answers blockbuster3 custhelp com permanent dead link Blockbuster Achieves Year End Goal of 2 Million Online Subscribers Press release DALLAS Blockbuster MediaRoom January 3 2007 Archived from the original on December 1 2008 Retrieved January 28 2009 Blockbuster Reports First Quarter 2007 Results Franchising com Press release Blockbuster Inc May 2 2007 Retrieved June 16 2021 Mcbride Sarah September 16 2009 Wall Street Journal Blockbuster to Shutter More Stores The Wall Street Journal Retrieved June 16 2011 Blockbusted Local franchisee sues Blockbuster Inc alleges Dallas company undercut its business 1 5 2007 Memphis Daily News Retrieved June 16 2011 Accessing the Blockbuster On Demand service on a WD TV Live Product Wdc custhelp com May 13 2013 Archived from the original on January 21 2013 Retrieved November 7 2013 Blockbuster On Demand launches on Roku The Official Roku Blog February 26 2013 Archived from the original on November 9 2013 Retrieved November 7 2013 Yu Roger November 6 2013 Blockbuster to close U S retail stores mail DVD operation USA Today Retrieved November 7 2013 Neill Rob February 5 2007 Best Super Bowl ad Readers pick a Blockbuster NBC News Retrieved November 21 2014 Blockbuster Sued Over Late Fees CBS News February 18 2005 Blockbuster settles no late fees claims NBC News March 30 2005 Caroline Mayer February 19 2005 Blockbuster sued over return policy The Washington Post Michael McCarthy February 27 2005 No late fees ads cause a stir USA Today Lorenza Munoz March 30 2005 Blockbuster Settles State Probes Into Late Fee Ads Los Angeles Times Sarah Hale June 6 2001 Blockbuster to settle lawsuit over late fees Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on March 6 2009 Retrieved March 25 2009 via Hartford Courant Blockbuster customers to be reimbursed for late fees Fox News January 11 2002 Archived from the original on May 18 2013 Retrieved January 5 2019 Veteran DISH Executive Michael Kelly announces retirement Press release DISH Network Archived from the original on December 20 2016 Retrieved December 17 2016 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blockbuster Official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Blockbuster retailer amp oldid 1220205253, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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