Hollywood Video
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|
| Public | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Wilsonville, Oregon |
| Products | VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and video game rentals and sales |
| Parent | Movie Gallery |
| Subsidiaries | Hollywood Entertainment, GameCrazy |
| Website | Official website |
Hollywood Entertainment Corporation (Nasdaq: HLYW), known as Hollywood Video, was a home video and video game rental shop company started in 1988. The chain was the largest direct competitor to Blockbuster Video until it was purchased by Movie Gallery in 2005.
Hollywood Video ceased operations in May 2010, when Movie Gallery, its parent company, declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Its last US store closed its doors on July 31, 2010, whereas the last one in Canada closed on August 8 of that year.
As of late 2011, the HollywoodVideo.com site had been relaunched as a blog, which was discontinued in October 2014.
In 1984, Mark Wattles left college and was struggling financially. Wattles' parents had given him and his wife a VCR, which they used as a form of low-cost entertainment. Wattles later said: "I thought, 'There must be other people in America in the same shoes. I think this would be a great business." In 1985, Wattles borrowed money so he could open a 500 square-foot video rental store with 300 films, located in downtown Portland, Oregon. In 1988, Wattles formed Hollywood Entertainment and served as the company's president and chief executive. Hollywood Video stores later opened in Washington, California, Nevada, and Texas.
In 1993 Hollywood, which operated 16 stores, became a public company. As of 1994, the average Hollywood Video store was 7,500 square feet with 16,000 video tapes. In some instances, the company ordered up to 70 copies of a popular film for each store, while some stores stocked up to 200 copies of a single film. At that time, each store generated approximately $1 million, while 78 additional stores were planned to open in 1995.
In January 1995,Blockbuster filed a $10 million lawsuit against Hollywood Entertainment for hiring five former Blockbuster employees. Blockbuster alleged that the employees knew some of the company's trade secrets, which could be used to aid Hollywood Entertainment. At the time, Hollywood Video had 117 stores, compared to Blockbuster's 2,800 stores. Hollywood Video was ranked fourth in national sales. In May 1995, a judge ruled in favor of Hollywood Entertainment, stating that Blockbuster had failed to demonstrate irreparable harm as a result of the hiring.
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Wikipedia