Blockbuster Entertainment Group
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Traded as |
OTC Pink: OTC Pink: (BB Liquidating Inc.) |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Successor |
Sling TV Dish Movie Pack |
| Founded | October 19, 1985 Dallas, Texas |
| Founder | David Cook |
| Defunct | January 2014 (Company-Owned Stores) |
| Headquarters | Meridian, Colorado |
|
Number of locations
|
2004: 9,094 2017: about 10 US franchise-owned stores |
| Services | VHS/DVD home video rentals |
| Total assets | $37,000,000 (2010) |
|
Number of employees
|
84,300 (2004) |
| Parent | Dish Network |
| Website | blockbuster |
Blockbuster LLC (formerly Blockbuster Entertainment, Inc., also known as Blockbuster Video or just Blockbuster) was an American-based provider of home movie and video game rental services through video rental shops, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on demand, and cinema theater. Blockbuster became internationally known throughout the 1990s. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster employed 84,300 people worldwide, including about 58,500 in the United States and about 25,800 in other countries, and had 9,094 stores.
Competition from the Netflix mail-order service, Redbox automated kiosks, and video on demand services were the major factors that led to Blockbuster's eventual demise. Blockbuster began to lose significant revenue during the 2000s, and in 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. The following year, its remaining 1,700 stores were bought by satellite television provider Dish Network. While the Blockbuster brand has mostly been retired, Dish still maintains a relatively small number of Blockbuster franchise agreements, which allows some stores to remain open in a few markets.
Blockbuster's early beginnings can be traced back to another company, Cook Data Services, that was founded by David Cook in 1978. The company's primary goal was to supply software services to the oil and gas industries throughout Texas, but it was not very successful. Sandy Cook, David's wife, suggested that he enter the video rental business. Cook sold his oil and gas software to its managers and founded Blockbuster Video in 1985.
The first Blockbuster store opened October 19, 1985, in Dallas, Texas. Cook's experience with managing huge databases proved helpful in driving innovation within the industry. 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. Blockbuster would often custom-tailor a store's inventory to its neighborhood, based on local demographics.
In 1987, the company won a court case against Nintendo, which paved the way for video game rental. Also that year, Waste Management co-founder Wayne Huizenga, who originally had reservations about entering the video rental industry, agreed to acquire several Blockbuster stores. Huizenga and associate John Melk utilized techniques from their waste business to rapidly expand Blockbuster, and soon they were opening a new store every 24 hours. They took over many of the existing Blockbuster franchise stores as well, and Huizenga even spent much of the late 1980s acquiring several of Blockbuster's rivals, including Major Video.
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Wikipedia