Article about how Blockbuster Video went out of business

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by PaulKTF, Oct 19, 2016.

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  1. No Static

    No Static Gain Rider

    Location:
    Heart of Dixie
    Reading your last paragraph and not to stray off topic too much, but what other form of media entertainment could that eventually include?
     
  2. Texastoyz

    Texastoyz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas, USA
    As I've mentioned on several threads, here in my South Texas town, there still is a BB.
     
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  3. Scopitone

    Scopitone Caught the last train for the coast

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    You mean streaming music? It's a good point. And even as I complain about culture shifting causing us to be screwed by movie studios now, I continue to use music streaming subscription as my primary listening model.

    Thought for food, indeed.

    ETA: Still, people continue to be willing to spend money on movies, which is part of why the high online prices work. Newer generations of music listeners aren't willing to even pay the $10 for a streaming service. So it's not quite apples-to-apples.
     
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  4. Scopitone

    Scopitone Caught the last train for the coast

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    The "Abandoned" video above mentions 15 remaining stores worldwide using the name, generally private owners with a licensing agreement.
     
  5. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    To me the bottom line is, no matter what they were gonna do, steaming was going to win anyways! Unless they had the foresight to buy NETFLIX, DVD Rentals went the same way as Record shops went. I'm surprised Wal-Mart still sells them and even more surprised HMV still sells DVDs & CDs.
     
  6. ky658

    ky658 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ft Myers, Florida
    I really miss that store, nothing can replace browsing for a movie among thousands of titles and finding something obscure you have never seen...
     
  7. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA


    Ah, memories! :)
     
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  8. mynameistaken

    mynameistaken Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oklahoma City, OK
    I worked at Blockbuster 1999-2002. I remember that towards the end of my time there Blockbuster developed a partnership with DirectTv and developed their own Blockbuster channel. That was when they first started to see that the stores alone weren't the answer. I was really surprised when they didn't further pursue the online/delivery options.

    Random memory - it was crazy the stuff we were instructed to throw away. I remember throwing out trash bags full of VHS tapes or games that didn't sell. Sometimes we'd ship them to other stores but a lot of times we were instructed to toss it. I used to tip off customers I liked on when we would throw stuff out. My store manager event told me 'when it's in the store you can't have it, but as soon as it leaves the door in a trash bag its trash."
     
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  9. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I have read that same thing from so many other ex-employees! They would get shipments of video game strategy guides and magazines and video tapes and other stuff that nobody wanted and they'd have to destroy it all.
     
  10. jojopuppyfish

    jojopuppyfish Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    When I worked at a video store, they would send promotional material for new VHS tapes.
    I still have "The Best of Eddie Murphy" poster when the VHS tape came out hanging in my room at my parents house.
     
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  11. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Hahhaha.
     
  12. I stopped going to Blockbuster because of their absurd late fees. I'm sure they made a massive amount of money on that. I was happy to see Netflix kick their a$$ but sad to see people unemployed.
     
  13. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I really miss the local family video rental store only because the owner and his son were always such a joy to chat with.

    They knew their movies and music, so the visits there were always as much about a friendly chat as renting something, which he always had something I liked on VHS, WC Fields, Marx Brothers, classic Universal horror for example.

    As VHS got cheaper, (less than $14 each for hi fi stereo ones) I built my own collection so my wife and I went there less and less, and when DVD got affordable I built a new collection of those so we went there even less.

    He closed several years ago and I miss him and his son, but not the rentals, as now I've got all the DVD and blu rays I'll ever need I have zero use for any rentals.

    We never had a Blockbuster, but I did use the one by my moms house several times, they never had as good of a selection as that family run place by my house.
     
  14. James Slattery

    James Slattery Forum Resident

    Location:
    Long Island
    I belonged to both by mail rental services. I care only a little about movies but mostly old TV. Blockbuster stopped getting any new vintage TV releases so I dropped them first and then when Netflix stopped getting physical media and went to streaming, I dropped them as well.
     
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  15. Pastafarian

    Pastafarian Forum Resident

    Where I live Blockbuster disappeared around 2012, Amazon rental seemed to be a major factor almost anything available, through your letterbox next day. I seem to remember you could keep it for a few days as well, Pirate Bay then seemed to become a major provider and it's free, you can then even burn your own DVD.
     
  16. Hexwood

    Hexwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I worked at Blockbuster Video when I was the student. I used to get ten free rentals a week and a discount on confectionery. It was a pretty cushy job. My local store closed about three years ago. There was cool independent video shop in my hometown. I have fond memories of going in there as a kid, picking out films with my sister and my parents. My dad always refused to rent The Boy Who Could Fly, lol. The owners of the shop kept all the horror and porn videos in a back room that had a black curtain covering the door.
     
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  17. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Your dad is a smart man. That movie was awful, as I recall.
     
  18. danner

    danner Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    Whenever people wax nostalgic about the good ol' days of video stores, I just remember the frustration of not being able to find half of the older movies I wanted to see. Maybe it was better if you lived in a big city, but in the 'burbs, it was pretty aggravating.

    It actually got to a point where I realized I had better luck finding older movies at the public library.
     
  19. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    There was something amazing about walking into a Blockbuster Video for the first time and seeing that it was roughly four times bigger than the local Mom And Pop video store you had been going to. And it was clean, and well organized too! :)
     
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  20. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    This. I rented Band of Brothers on bluray - and the late fees (on each disc of the set) ended up being multiples of what the set would have cost to purchase new. That ended it for me.
     
  21. Halloween Jack

    Halloween Jack Forum Resident

    I'd actually like to rent Blu-ray discs because you experience the glorious full 50 gigabytes of video quality that streaming is not able to offer. And you watch it and return it.

    Without a rental store you're stuck with buying the blu-rays, and, I don't know, I watch the movies only once or twice.
     
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  22. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I miss Blockbuster. I used to go there all the time.
     
  23. Texastoyz

    Texastoyz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas, USA
    Where else could you see the badassery of Fred Savage's massive ARAH G.I. Joe collection? :winkgrin:
     
  24. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    I have never have and will never "rent" anything from a streaming service. $4.99 for a movie that I can wait for until it shows up on Amazon or Netflix for less than half that a month?

    If I want to see a new release, I'll get off my lazy butt and walk over to the Redbox by my local Walgreens and get it for a dollar.
     
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  25. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Yeah, we had a video store in our neighborhood, and I loved to hang out there and chat with the Indian owner and his brother. Bought a LOT of movies from them when they closed, and got some amazing deals. He would throw in a lot of titles.
     
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