Who invented blockbuster

On September 23, , the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. By , the last of the company-owned stores had closed. An independently owned Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon , is the only store still open. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

The largest-ever one-day percentage decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average comes not in but on October 19, As a number of unrelated events conspired to tank global markets, the Dow dropped points— On October 19, , the automaker John Z. DeLorean is arrested and charged with conspiracy to obtain and distribute 55 pounds of cocaine. DeLorean was acquitted of the drug charges in August , but his legal woes were only beginning. He soon went on trial for fraud and over From its beginnings in the early s, it was clear that MTV, the Music Television Network, would have a dramatic effect on the way pop stars marketed their music and themselves.

In keeping with this trend, first quarter financial results for were disappointing. Huizenga blamed the Gulf War for keeping people interested in television news instead of rented videos. In early May, Cox Communications, one of the company's franchisers, announced that it would sell all 82 of its Blockbuster stores. Faced with a rapidly maturing industry, Blockbuster began to expand its offerings to maintain profitability.

The company began to offer video game equipment and Sega Genesis video games at some of its stores. The company considered selling audio cassettes and compact disks. Blockbuster also acquired the right to market tapes of the Olympic games. In a further effort to encourage rentals, the company launched an advertising campaign themed 'Win in a Flash,' and made an agreement with the Showtime cable network for a joint promotion. In August , Blockbuster dropped its rental price for hit movies for the first three months after their release and shortened the time they were taken out, as a further step to raise earnings.

In an effort to ensure that the company would be just as good at running video stores over the long haul as it was at opening them, Blockbuster hired more senior executives with long-term experience in the retail field. In addition to these efforts to increase earnings in the United States, Blockbuster increased its foreign efforts.

With 30 stores already established in Britain, Blockbuster announced in November a large expansion in that country, designed to make it the nation's number one video rental chain. Further foreign involvement came later that month, when Philips Electronics N. As a result of this partnership, Blockbuster said that it would market Philips's newly introduced interactive compact disk systems and software in its stores.

To streamline its corporate management, Blockbuster bought a large office building in Florida and consolidated the company's five regional offices. The company hoped that, through joint ventures, international operations would contribute a quarter of revenues by With stores in nine foreign countries, Blockbuster began to intensify its efforts to expand both in products and geographically.

In October , Blockbuster embarked on a series of agreements that were designed to expand the company's operations beyond its core movie rental business. One month later, Blockbuster entered into an agreement with the British conglomerate Virgin Group plc to set up 'megastores' in the United States, Europe, and Australia.

In December , the first such store in the United States opened in Los Angeles, the precursor to a network of stores which Huizenga envisioned not only renting videos, but also selling and renting music, computer programs, and games, and containing high-tech 'virtual reality' entertainment arcades.

The company also hoped to improve on the traditionally low profits of music retailing by adding other, more profitable products. By , the distinctive bright blue and yellow Blockbuster logo adorned more than 3, video stores worldwide, about one-third of them overseas. Republic's most valuable asset was its film library of television shows and films, including several John Wayne movies and the hit television series 'Bonanza.

Moreover, Blockbuster began construction of a prototype family entertainment center in Florida. With its ever-growing number of corporate activities, Blockbuster was committed to diversification as a means of ensuring its future in the entertainment industry in the face of the potential onslaught of new formats--video-on-demand and satellite TV--and the shift from rentals to lower-priced tapes. Viacom did win the war for Paramount, but the merger talks with Blockbuster stalled, and the move cost Blockbuster a great deal as Blockbuster shareholders lost confidence in the company and wondered if its investment in Viacom would pay off.

By April , Blockbuster's and Viacom's stock had tumbled dramatically. Blockbuster's glory days appeared to be over. Insiders assessed that the company was suffering from dramatic changes in the industry. Specifically, with competition stiffening due to newly emerging formats, the video industry's meteoric growth began to level off.

Moreover, there was trouble internally. The merger between Blockbuster and Viacom, though eventually effected, had been rough, and Viacom was reportedly depending heavily upon Blockbuster's cash to help pay its debts and have money for future investments. In addition, leadership at Blockbuster seemed unstable. But people who were with the company from the beginning say the issues extended back much further than the rapid rise of Netflix in the mids.

Follow Ben Unglesbee on Twitter. Disruptions from the pandemic, e-commerce and broader economic trends continue to bedevil operations for small businesses. After a rapid leadership shakeup, and amid significant debt, a ransomware attack and the pandemic followed, leading Alex and Ani to file bankruptcy. Topics covered: retail tech, e-commerce, in-store operations, marketing, and more.

Search x. An article from. Deep Dive. Five years later, Viacom took Blockbuster public, as the number of stores reached 6, globally. Blockbuster was known for charging customers a fee for every day they were late returning a movie rental. This frustrated many customers, including Netflix founder Reed Hastings. In its early stages, Hastings' company, which had no late fees, would send DVDs straight to your house for a flat monthly rate.

Netflix went on to become even more popular and more profitable than Blockbuster. Redbox's addition to the market reinforced the idea that people wanted quicker rental options with no late fees, so Blockbuster had to make a change. In , Viacom parted ways with Blockbuster.

That same year, the company launched Blockbuster Online, but it was already years behind Netflix. At the same time, Blockbuster decided to end late fees.

At the time, there were only Blockbuster stores still in operation, Business Insider reported. The standalone Blockbuster says it's still in operation because of its loyal customer base, citing the fact that they have 4, accounts and sign up new customers each day. The store also said a large number of tourists visits the store to reminisce about the former rental company. In , the lone store plans to open its doors for overnight guests by partnering with Airbnb. For you.