The Death of Blockbuster | Rentals, Stubbornness, and Netflix | History in the Dark

[@LatitudeSky]

Netflix didn’t kill Blockbuster. They seriously wounded them, yes. But Redbox is what finally ended Blockbuster, and then Netflix severely wounded Redbox. Trivia: the Roku box was originally The Netflix Player, a standalone player meant to play streaming movies. They decided having a proprietary box would limit the service too much and spun it off as a seperate company. They were right. Netflix today plays on anything.

[@Lurch-Bot]

I started streaming when I first got broadband in 2009. At that time, it had been probably 2 years since I 'd rented from Blockbuster but about 2 days since I'd gotten a movie from Redbox. I continued to use Redbox for several years...until Amazon started doing rentals. But it has still been a decade since I rented a physical movie. Still, Redbox can still exist and be profitable because of their business model (more locations available, fewer selections, lower prices) makes them an attractive option for renting new release movies for those of limited budget since you can get a BluRay player pretty cheap these days or a DVD player for even cheaper.

[@cawheeler27]

@@LatitudeSky yes this was my experience. I managed a blockbuster up until my store closed in 2009. A Redbox kiosk was put in at the local Walmart and our business collapsed overnight.

[@NineToFiveGamerUC0079]

@cawheeler27 Wow that's sad and hilarious

[@Tgogators]

Yes it was a big cause. Also didn’t help that when it was purchased by Viacom. Viacom was borrowing against it. It was doomed to die slowly unless they started pulling numbers like they did in the 80s and 90s.

[@SunnySky-]

Blockbuster was a big part of my childhood even though i was born in 2004. My family didnt really have the money or space to buy the physical movies so we would go there together and pick out games and movies to play during our family nights. I have some really fond memories of these places.

[@DonJulio510]

The experience of going there as a family was the purpose.

[@edgardeitz5746]

Blockbuster Video was also part of _my_ childhood, as well; keep in mind I was born in 1986 and grew up in the 1990's. Our (my family's) problems started when they started computerizing the whole process; suddenly we owed overdue fees for a video game on a system we didn't have. In *Michigan.* We live in Pennsylvania, and I've _never been to_ Michagan.

[@monus782]

I was born in ‘95 and I’m glad I got to experience these stores, there was a store in my hometown that managed to survive for much longer than the others and was probably was one of the last ones to shut down. Before that during a big flood in 2006 another local Blockbuster split in two and I’m betting that it’ll become some sort of urban legend as time goes on.

[@billie-jeanmede2984]

Blockbuster isn't dead. It lives on in all of our hearts.

[@Lurch-Bot]

And through all the movies I forgot to return when they were going out of business.

[@shawbros]

@@Lurch-Bot You better go return them.

[@Chris_Stanley007]

Worked at a Blockbuster around 99-2002. They laughed at Netflix back then. Look who's laughing now. I loved the job, tbh. Talking and suggesting movies and getting paid for it on the side was actually fun. I used to be the one who did the Saturday late fees call list. No one else wanted to do it. We would get death threats and all kinds of verbal abuse. Most hated it. I loved it. It was always fun to see what they could come up with on the other end when being asked to pay their fee. I used to wipe a ton of late fees when I could, up to a certain dollar amount. I've seen a ton of people flip out at the registers. I never charged if the person returning a video didn't rewind it before returning it. Got pretty high out back "taking out the trash" with other fellow employees as well. The good ol' days.

[@trinarichardson6682]

They always lied and said the videos were late. I use to drop the movies off 2 days early and they would still say they were late. I started going in and getting a receipt and had to fight to get one because they knew they were frickin' lying crooks. That's when me and a lot of people stopped going there.

[@Chris_Stanley007]

@@trinarichardson6682 Sorry to hear that, we didn't do that at the location I worked at.

[@kuebby]

I worked at an independent movie rental place 2006-7. Was one of the best jobs I've ever had, certainly the best hourly job I had. We also sold used books, CDs, and videos.

[@Chris_Stanley007]

@@kuebby Felt like you almost weren't working, right?

[@CreachterZ]

@@trinarichardson6682 Not to defend Blockbuster, but I’d think this has more to do with incompetence and bad record keeping.

[@mack.attack]

Netflix was NOT streaming when Blockbuster turned them down. Everybody forgets this, but Netflix was mailing DVDs at that time. There was no streaming.

[@JosieJOK]

Yup. I remember switching from Blockbuster to Netflix and I got the plan where they’d mail you 3 discs at a time. I kept that plan for a long time, way after they started emphasizing streaming.

[@quincywilliams9860]

I was a very early adopter of Netflix. While I appreciate the convenience of streaming I also very much miss the feeling of cracking open that red envelope knowing what my plans for the evening were. Now we infinitely scroll to find something worth watching. Never gave a thought to Blockbuster after that first DVD hit my laptop's drive.

[@dgb2394]

There's actually a video store left in my town. Its a brick store with no windows and black glass on the door. The lighting is very dark inside. They have rooms in the back where you can sample watch movies. The floors in those rooms are very sticky.

[@Krakkokayne]

@@dgb2394 I think they get really excited to see the movie and spill their drinks in there 😂🤣😂

[@gamerboy6787]

I remember Blockbuster Online. My mom took advantage of the program, got her movies, and during grocery shopping trips, my mom and I would return the movie to our local store, and I'd use the free rental on a game. We actually became friends with the store's owner. The gentleman would try his darndest to sell us some snacks every time, but we always declined. It became a running joke among us. Good times.

[@cawheeler27]

Nothing makes me feel older than when I tell people I used to be the manager of a blockbuster.

[@Tornado1994]

I was born in December 1982. I was there when Blockbuster first hit the scene. I vividly remember when they first opened a Location in Santa Rosa in November of 1986 and Remember them popping up ALL over N.California during latter part of the 80s. Blockbuster I recall was mostly more prominent in larger cities and Suburban Towns. For instance, when I lived in Virginia during the Early 90s, in the Town my family and I lived in Chesapeake did NOT have a Blockbuster until August of 1991, so during 1990, My Mom and Stepdad would rent Videos from Videorama and I would rent NES games, Only Norfolk and Portsmouth had Blockbuster Video, again in August 1991, Blockbuster Video FINALLY opened a Chesapeake Location. I remember several things about Blockbuster: Cheap Game Rentals, Bundle Rental Deals on Genre specific Titles, Act II Popcorn, Candy, Snacks and that "Blockbuster Video Members Card" Which allowed you to waive any Late Return Fees for up to 30 days at a time. During the Mid 90s, Blockbuster was STILL very much thriving and I have many fond memories of them being the only mainstream game during 1994-1997. When we moved to Houston in 1993, there were about 4 Locations in town and easy to get to as well as had huge selections. What is unfortunate though is that Blockbuster Video went under because of the EXACT same reason Montgomery Ward did: Failure to Consolidate. Montgomery Ward had refused to convert from a Specialty Store to a Big Box in 1982, while Blockbuster Video FOOLISHLY passed on DVD Rentals in late 1997. Even in '98, at 15 I knew this was a Major Mistake. DVDs had CHEAPER mastering and SKU costs than VHS, Blockbuster would have amassed a HUGE wholesale profit had they said Yes to the WB deal. The last time I stepped foot in a Blockbuster was in Federal Way/Seattle in October of 1998, I told Mom I never wanted to visit a Blockbuster Ever again and a Hollywood Video had just opened up several months earlier. They were ALL in on DVD Rentals.

[@zulimhelstrom6540]

Same 😂

[@Mike_oliver1313]

@@Tornado1994 damn dude you wrote a book

[@Lol_Pig]

​@@Tornado1994tldr

[@Lurch-Bot]

At 0:40 that dude definitely had memes back in his day. 'Kilroy Was Here' is a meme that dates back to WWII. And I don't think that was the first one either. They've just become far more common with the internet. And often stupid. You know this was made by someone who was born this century. So while you're feeling old, you can have a laugh at all the dumb kids who don't know about anything that pre-dates the internet. I used to manage a Hollywood Video.

[@solarflare623]

I once had a teacher that asked me if I remembered blockbuster. I told him I wasn’t even alive back then. Also you forgot to mention the snacks. My dad told me that blockbuster also sold snacks to go with your movie.

[@Chris_Stanley007]

Yes, they sold a ton of popcorn, candy, chocolate and a bunch of other things. We used to play Video trailers throughout the store while people were looking for movies. Every employee had their own endcap in each aisle with their favorite movies. We used to get new releases early on the weekends before they were released the following Tuesday and employees could watch them early so we'd have opinions on new releases if employees asked us. Also, free rentals.

[@zulimhelstrom6540]

I was working at blockbuster right up till the end practically, and rember that we had a manager meeting where we were told that we had to pretty much make up the sales difference from removing late fees with popcorn, candy and soda sales..... This is basically around 60% of our stores income.... Needless to say, alot of us saw the writing on the wall and left the company shortly after...... I miss blockbuster, but hate the higher corporate management.

[@haydendegrow945]

I remember my hometown had three Blockbuster stores and five Rogers Video (yes, it was owned by the telecommunications giant)... you went to either one if you wanted a rental, and it was sad when both of them went under. See, for some of us middle-class families, a Netflix account was just not possible, so Blockbuster and Rogers were still the way to go for movies... it wasn't until cable TV began being offered at cheaper rates in my hometown that we got to watch movies more often. This was the main reason why my parents gave my sister and I a GARGANTUAN VHS and DVD collection. It meant that we didn't have to go to rent movies all that often... Now though, I kinda miss Blockbuster and Rogers simply for the nostalgia of the concept...

[@Lurch-Bot]

Whenever the premium cable channels had a free weekend, we recorded EVERYTHING. We would also copy anything we rented or borrowed that didn't have copy protection. Our town's main library had an extensive collection of VHS tapes and most of them didn't have copy protection. I would also copy stuff my friends with cable had recorded. I still have most of 'em, plus tons that I acquired over the years. It is nice not having to worry about entertainment when the internet goes out.

[@QuayfariusFluddthe4rd]

What you are saying makes no sense, a Netflix membership cost 7.99 in 2010. It was more affordable than renting.

[@haydendegrow945]

@@QuayfariusFluddthe4rd yeah, but when you grew up in 1990s-2000s lower middle class CANADA, in a region where you only had two companies to chose your TV from, and neither offered cable boxes, my statement still holds true. My family couldn't afford cable until 2009! Renting in the 1990s and 2000s was much cheaper... Seriously, I thought I made my era clear when I mentioned the whole VHS thing

[@dannylittle6766]

Netflix actually started out as a mail subscription service, Blockbuster's Total Access was competing with the Netflix mail program, not their streaming service. Even if Blockbuster bought Netflix when they had the chance, their physical stores still might have closed as they went to streaming only.

[@VisualEnjoyer9756]

Maybe with how people are starting to go back to physical media since streaming services are so stupid with the content that's actually available at certain times and countries maybe if they had bought it and kept it seperate the physical stores could've worked as a "It's not online? Come to the store!" sort of deal. Plus it's cheaper to build your own movie library than subscribing to what? 8 diferent streaming services that may or may not have that ONE specific show you want to binge or that ONE specific movie you haven't watched since you were a kid?

[@THEBACKSTER]

I remember the Movie Gallery my hometown had, I actually miss it, fond childhood memories, and I never forget the smell of that Movie Gallery. Just a side note, can we take a moment to appreciate that darkness is still reading the list of the underwater train finders, despite it being a mile long at this point

[@BrassMaster84]

Yes! Movie Gallery had its own smell (not bad, just very recognizable). I thought it was just my own memory lol

[@avgjoeavglife]

I remember Blockbuster, i liked going there.

[@SnuubScadoob]

So did I, I just didn’t like the late fees…

[@avgjoeavglife]

@@SnuubScadoob Yep

[@theconceptualist8626]

I was born in 2004. I remember a Blockbuster near where I used to live as a kid. We didn’t go in there often, we only went there because the pet store was in the same shopping center. I have had quite a few memories of this particular shopping center. It was on the corner of Moulton Parkway and Golden Lantern Parkway in Laguna Niguel, California. I think the main memory I have of the place was in 2011 when I was 6 and we got my then puppy one of those retractable leashes. My mom gave me the leash and I accidentally dropped it. The dog understandably freaked out at the thing coming at it from behind (because it was retracting the leash), and ran out into traffic onto Golden Lantern. My mom didn’t hesitate and ran after the dog, with traffic coming at her at 40mph. I can’t remember exactly what happened after that because the store clerk of the pet store had run out and bear hugged me to prevent me from running after my mom and the dog (we were good friends with her, so it was okay). Everyone was fine. My dogs name is Penny and she’s now 13 years old, in case anyone was wondering. Im getting off track here. Anyways, that Blockbuster closed around 2011, and the building sat vacant for about a year before a Fresh and Easy grocery store opened there. Ironically enough, Fresh and Easy went bankrupt too… so the building went once again vacant somewhere between April 2015 and April 2016 (I had moved out of the area by this point. I’m using google maps street view for this). In its place was a locally run grocery store, and that was there until 2020 and the pandemic, where the building was once again vacant. It is now occupied by another locally run grocery store. The most hilarious thing is, that the pet store was there throughout all of this and is still there. Idk, just thought I’d put my two cents in. Thought y’all might enjoy the story.

[@rogueish28]

I loved Blockbuster, it had a certain vibe to it... I loved going on a Friday or Saturday night getting a movie and staying in... As convenient as streaming is, I miss going to Blockbuster....

[@mityace]

Why physical media? Your physical copy can't be cancelled or changed. Physical copies can be played in the future. If you have a favorite movie or someone like me who's a videogame collector, I'll be able to show a PS2 game especially a marginal seller that may not be able to be downloaded. But yeah, that's not for everyone and I do stream things. I streamed Eureka twice on Prime Video but I want to keep a copy. Also, DVDs and BluRays can be played without an internet connection. But, yeah, renting physical media makes no sense these days. My best case prognosis for DVD and BluRay is as a niche product like Vinyl Records. But, as DVDs and BluRays are digital media there is not necessarily a different experience to streaming. So, they may just disappear some day.

[@Zimmy_1981]

Physical copies show better & sound better. Also can work if ISP is down

[@missouribackwoodsadventures]

We had a video store in my home town too! But you had to be 18 or older to go in, and there was also really dark curtains over windows.. Even tho I’m now 30, I still wonder what kinda videos they rented 😂

[@tractorjunkco9431]

Just ignore the sticky floor. Lol

[@markvogel5872]

Actually if I'm not mistaken the Blockbuster near my place had a section that was behind a door / curtain where we kids were never allowed to go.

[@zulimhelstrom6540]

I'm surprised the video didn't mention this, but one of the things that helped blockbuster was it's more 'family oriented' layout and approach.

[@fishhunthike8756]

I remember when Netflix sent physical dvd movies. You had to put them in a cue and you got three at a time and when you sent one back you got another one. I got some good deals on DVDs when blockbuster closed though.

[@CNYRF97]

27:25 That's the first time I've heard kiosks pronounced like that.

[@jessebowser]

@@CNYRF97 yup, had to rewind to make sure I wasn't crazy.

[@HayLeesHomeMade]

Coysks

[@evangaines2303]

Awesome video, I remember Blockbuster during my childhood when they were still around. We would go & rent movies there on occasions. That was long before streaming services put the nail in the coffin. Well done Darkness.

[@NotMyRealName6]

"You don't have to pay for a disk!" Well, tell that to game companies who charge you the same price for physical and digital.

[@kuebby]

Um, this video completely misses the point that Netflix didn't add video streaming until YEARS after they started. During the period you're talking about at 22:00 Netflix only rented DVDs through the mail.

[@robertmiller3529]

This reminds me of Kodak refusing to embrace digital cameras because it would jeopardize their film sales

[@Winstonmann577]

@robertmiller3529 that's false kodak invented the digital camera

[@Lurch-Bot]

My parents first digital camera was a Kodak and it was one of the better cameras available ca. 2000. I think it was 4 MP which was around the point they started actually looking like photos when you printed them.

[@robertmiller3529]

@emekaobi7572 you are correct, then they patented it and did not produce it, in order to protect their film sales

[@Alexlfm]

@@robertmiller3529No they absolutely did produce it. Kodak partnered with Apple and Chinon (later to be Kodaks digital division after they were merged) on one of the earliest consumer cameras way back in 1994. They produced professional products starting all the way back in 1990. The reality is there was stiff competition and Kodak was not a semiconductor focused company like Canon, Nikon and Sony were. Kodaks real failure was to not pivot into semiconductor manufacturing or medical imaging like the Japanese firms did decades before in the 1970/80s.

[@jvick953]

A coworker of mine worked for Kodak his retirement was tied up in their stock. Boy, that didn't end well he's still working to this day. I'm sure coworkers in the future will laugh when I paid into ssi for 40 years and got nothing.

[@atsf47legit]

I went to the last one in Bend, Oregon this summer. very cool place

[@guerrerodude]

One of Jim Keyes "bright" ideas was to turn Blockbuster into a video rental store with concessions, like fountain soda machines and hot dogs and what not. I think that only happened in a couple test stores. By 2009/2010, we were supposed to upsell consumer electronics, like the Zune and portable DVD players. No one goes to a fuckin Blockbuster to buy an off brand electronic device costing over $100.

[@kcaviatrix]

Bummer you said the same thing every other KZbinr says. I saw Blockbuster's downfall from the inside. I was the person who got screamed at and threatened that customers would never come back, I am way too aware of what actually happened! Their downfall is 100% related to the fact that they introduced no late fees at the same time as the movie pass. So, there were no decent videos left in the store, but at the same time they pushed a subscription service to people picking up videos. This is similar to the problem of people who love paper books as opposed to reading on a Kindle. Many people actually did prefer to go to the store, pick up a video, and bring it back. Part of my job was walking around on Saturday evenings, corporate forced me to tell each and every single person, regardless of them specifically just telling me that they have the movie pass that there were no late fees. It was like corporate was rubbing in their nose the exact reason why they didn't want to go to Blockbuster anymore. Blockbusters downfall was a mixture of several different things, but the biggest reason they lost most of their customers was because they continually take them off and then rub their noses in it! They should have never bought themselves out from their corporate umbrella.

[@Tornado1994]

They PASSED on DVD Rentals in Late 1997. THAT was incredibly STUPID of them. I vividly remember in October 1998 telling the Store Manager at the Federal Way location how much of a BAD Decision that was for Corporate to be so foolish to pass on DVD. I told him that it was going to Cause a MASSIVE loss of Customers. He agreed with me. I can't begin to even tell you how Upset and Angry Blockbuster made Customers. They lost a HUGE chunk of them over this. But the 2004 "No More Late Fees" Bait N' Switch was the final nail in the coffin. It ALIENATED Their remaining loyal customer base.

[@Starry2000]

@@Tornado1994 Do you ever wonder if a lot of these obviously bad decisions were done on purpose, IE competitors slipping money under the table or even they just didn't want to hold their positions anymore?

[@adammcilmoyl4278]

If Blockbuster was smart, and I can't believe no one in the company thought of this, what they should have done while trying to figure out digital/streaming, is offer a delivery service for their DVDs. Not mail, but direct delivery - 30min or less. Like almost every pizza place was doing at the time. They could have done something like $2 for delivery, or free if you spend over $10 or something. That would have solved the inconvenience problem and probably would have added to sales of extras like chips and candy. That could have bought them alot of time to figure out streaming/digital.

[@lennonrocks100]

I will never forget renting a video game from a rental store and playing it all weekend.

[@SiliconSlyWolf]

Why have physical media over digital? The fact that it can't be changed, removed off your system remotely, or your service to a copy you can't even download terminated. I'd bet a lot of people relying on digital copies of various media now wish things like a Blockbuster was still around. That the market of reprinting old media in physical form wasn't threatened to disappear. I've bought a number of games on my 3DS and Switch digitally, and there's barely enough space for what I do have digitally, and not enough on one memory card to store all my games digitally. And stuff like Netflix is no longer the one stop shop for everything movies and TV shows, and you need like 10 different services for $10+ a month to see everything. And that's assuming stuff like the older Full Metal Alchemist can still reliably be found anywhere as one example.

[@TheMimic12]

The Viacom sale was pretty cynical on Viacom's part because they wanted Blockbuster's capital in order to outbid QVC for Paramount around that time.

[@Starry2000]

I remember we went to a blockbuster trying to rent a couple of movies, and we couldn't because there these multiple different tiers we had to pay for, there were like 5 of them. We all stood there and listened to them try and explain the different tiers as we were trying to understand what we needed to do to rent the movies. We were there about 7-10 minutes and we literally didn't understand what they were saying, what they wanted us to do in order to pay for the movie rentals, there was no clear explanation anywhere that we just read. We literally left about a half dozen movies sitting on the counter and I think they were the most profitable rentals for them based on the color of the jacket - I think. THAT is what actually killed blockbuster.

[@dougsfilmtv9810]

I love going to Blockbuster as a kid and I have a lot of good memories. I remember I brought the last movie at Blockbuster before it closed its doors and the movie I got was Across the Universe. I really want to visit the last Blockbuster.

[@DrRacer78]

26:37 So fun fact about Circuit City for quick off topic second. Circuit City had "sponsor" car in Burnout Revenge, one of my nostalgia games lol

[@threepea1151]

I tell all my teachers in school that Netflix offered themselves to Blockbuster and they declined, and my teachers reactions are like: wtf

[@MrCateagle]

No different as when Ford turned down an alliance with Honda. Going the other way, B. Dalton sold their online operation to a start-up named Amazon.

[@matsv201]

That is pretty common. Newcompanys are whoring them self out, but nobody cares before they are large... Becasue most companies went bust early on, only the exception that don´t.

[@PWigglman1492]

@threepea1151 What school do you go to that your teachers aren't aware of what happened to blockbuster?

[@Tornado1994]

It wasn't just "Turning down buying out Netlflix" in 01, it was PASSING on DVD Rentals in 1997. That was a HUGE Mistake.

[@bernielomax4702]

Not only did they deny, they denied and laughed at them. Netflix even offered to sell to them for considerably less a second time as well as handle the online component of Blockbuster 100 percent themselves for Blockbuster and still they were laughed at. Blockbuster was trash and good riddance.

[@zanmaru139]

The only real issue I take with this is that Netflix didn't transition from dvd rentals to streaming until 2007. This video makes it seem like they were always a digital media company.

[@kevinyoung947]

Blockbuster brings back great memories from my childhood born in 89, we had the monthly subscription in the early 2000s me and brother would walk there every other day

[@dyskelia]

I live in Dallas and can affirm that Movie Trading Company still exists

[@ActorBillDRussell]

Hey look I’m right at the beginning of your video 😎

[@PACOJO_NAZOSLOSMIOS]

Well I can say my dad started a video rental business in the early 90s in Venezuela. And the piracy industry was huge. I remember we will go to the market and buy the new movies being showed in the theaters at the moment buy 1 or 2 and then make 6 copies or more depending on the demand for the particular movie. Same with dvds. Thanks to that he put 5 kids through college.

[@Lurch-Bot]

That's not something to be proud of. Personal use piracy is one thing. Commercial piracy is another. It raises prices for everyone who pays.

[@Stothehighest]

​​@@Lurch-Bot a ha, and yet W&D made a billion and Borderland flopped. I think there's plenty of money around. The people who pirate were unlikely to buy in the first place, no sale was lost.

[@CharlesMcCarthyUFC]

There definitely was an amusement park I used to go to it when I was younger called Blockbuster golf and games in South Florida

[@quincywilliams9860]

Duuuuude, Block Party! I lived in Castleton and my friends lived in Fishers. It was the perfect place to hang out. So much nostalgia - thanks ♥️

[@Straswa]

Great video Darkness, I remember Blockbuster. My family wasn't able to go very often but it was very memorable when we did.

[@Tornado1994]

I last Stepped in a Blockbuster in 1998. Anyway, I'm quite surprised that Josh/DarknessTheCurse has transformed into a Ted Talk Channel. Way to go Dark!

[@trevonpernell0814]

1:41 2:55 FINALLY! A photo of Blockbuster's founder.

[@snickerinmuttley1204]

Even when Blockbuster was all over the place, I can remember when Netflix was introduced online, I told my wife these guys are gonna be in big trouble real soon. Netflix made it all so much easier, even when they would ship you a DVD back in the day, I mean who wants to drive to a Blockbuster and deal with the a-holes that are in the store, and rent a video, and then have to drive there again to get it back to them in a few days? it's so stupid, It's just another place among many that got wiped out by the Internet,

[@backtothenorm]

as a teen in the 90s, Blockbuster was the spot for a Friday night

[@obelic71]

Blockbuster never had stores in the Benelux countries Blockbuster tried 2 times to get a foot on the ground in this part of Europe but failed huge both times. This is because we had the first videostore rental companny in Europe who accidently exploded into existance due to an employee of a big electronic company (Philips). in 1979 Philip started its own system (Video 2000) and getting buying VHS/Betamax/Video2000) tapes were dificult / expensive at that time. So an employee of Philips started a video rental from his garage in a small town in 1980. Years before other videostore franchises like Blockbuster started. Philips had also a big library of its own content so they were suprised that a employee of them bought more and more copies. That employee became later the CEO of a subsidary (Videoland) of Philips. Videoland stores were all over the place like Blockbusters . They even had rental points in supermarkets and gas stations. The video rental stores part went bankrupt in 2010 and only the streaming service part remained and is still alive.

[@Trainman3985]

I remembered Blockbuster when I was a kid. Back in the 90s, almost everyone rented VHS and DVDs when they came out. When we see a rare video there. My friends would always try to rent it before the other. Blockatys we used to call them.

[@neohistoryfan1014]

there used to be a blockbuster not too far from my house which I vividly remember going there with my dad back in 2008 and 2009. the space it formerly occupied is now an urgent care facility. Video stores were basically libraries for A/V media only rather than books.

[@Chris_Stanley007]

Wow, Major Video. I remember them. I remember Hollywood Video too.

[@GLxGL]

Like Encyclopaedia Britannica - a company managed by people that just kept burying their head further in the sand. Love how execs still kept pocketing millions right until the end while the whole thing crashed and burned. Ps have also been to the last blockbuster store!

[@Doll.The.Solver]

This is amazing, now I finally know what happened to blockbuster, thank you darkness the curse 🥰👍

[@jenniferawelch]

Great video, but you failed to show the timeline of Netflix evolution from dvd by mail to streaming. I think that is important. When the same was offered to blockbuster I don’t think there was any streaming

[@Martialartfruituser]

Sadly...I never had a Blockbuster. All I ever had was some mom and pop movie rentals (Complete with little discs that told them what movie you wanted) and hollywood video. However, I can appreciate the memories of places like this and how much fun it was to come in and smell out some popcorn as you look around. Thank goodness for Tubi.

[@markvogel5872]

Wow this one had me surprisingly nostalgic sending me on a trip through the 90s.

[@jmgirard7]

As an 80s kid, we mostly rented from local shops or recorded off HBO. In the 90s we used Hollywood Video. When my ex-husband and I first got together, the area we lived in only had a Blockbuster or the grocery store that didn't have many options. The night I went into labor, we had rented a couple of movies and I remember joking about late fees with the cashier. Yeah, the late fees were not a joke. I had a c-section and so that had become more of a priority than returning the movies. We fought for a month for them to wave the fees and finally we gave up and paid. We boycotted Blockbuster after that.

[@stephen5078]

I actually lived down the street and used go to that blockbuster amusement park a lot as a kid, it was called “Blockbuster golf and games” in sunrise, Florida. I remember them tearing it down early 2000’s and now there’s an ikea there. That place was pretty awesome as a kid in the 90’s.

[@zachsmith1676]

one time when with my dad we rented a movie and a video game, we returned them the next day for the movie and on the return date for the video game. a couple weeks later we got a notice saying we had to pay a huge amount in late fees for the movie and video game, we went to the blockbuster we rented them from (and returned them to) and they had to drop it as the cashier whom we asked about the bill also happened to be the one whom dealt with us when renting and returning it, she called the manager over and told him how we had returned it weeks earlier... he was confused and said that we didn't have to pay it and made note in their system that the "late fees" were invalid as they were returned early/ontime... needless to say we decided to just buy the games/movies rather than renting them from then on

[@DinsdalePiranha67]

Blockbuster died by its own hand.

[@dunkelmonkey]

The irony of there now being a Netflix show about the last Blockbuster store in the US struggling to stay in business ....

[@DontTrip-lu5hm]

Who remembers Hollywood video and Game crazy?

[@Tornado1994]

I Do. I miss them so much.

[@leec440]

I have quite fond memories of this blockbuster you speak of oh yes. It was from the time before. I remember the mom n pop video stores that were everywhere too

[@guerrerodude]

21:00 I really hated telling customers a "restocking" fee was not the same as a late fee. YEAH.... THEY WERE THE SAME THING!

[@mattstakeontheancients7594]

Didn’t have a block buster near us as a kid but a similar store called Movie Gallery.

[@esmooth919]

18:11 I can tell you the last time I bought a physical video game. Just last month, I bought a copy of Octopath Traveler 2 for the Nintendo switch at less than half its original price, because Black Friday prices. For those who don't know, I'm still team physical.

[@bobbykirbos336]

I wonder if that last store in Oregon has anything on Beta...

[@othername1000]

Went to Blockbuster once. Movie went back a day or two late. Blockbuster actually sent a collections agency after me, for a movie back one or two days late. Within a week or two, before I ever even stepped back into the store to rent something else. I learned my lesson. Blockbuster was scum. I paid it, and never, ever went back. Family Video were not a a-holes, I rented there for years and years; in several different locations. They actually lasted up till the pandemic. Cuz they weren't douche-t'rds.

[@Rubster760]

Fond memories and sad reality of how fast time passes.

[@Rubster760]

@@XCambodianBuddha I was even thinking about when they made a special section at the grocery stores as well. It’s crazy how we can access all them movies, games, music or any information with one single device.

[@jaspal666]

Yeah. Blockbuster offered to send movies via mail. I’d get a movie in the mail, rip it, return to a Blockbuster store for a free DVD rental. And I’d rip it. What a wild time! Also hypothetical. 😂

[@johnbishop4641]

I was born in 2023 and I can't believe that watching movies through streaming was sooo much work compared to accessing them via the microchip in my head!! note: this comment will make sense 20 years from now -the baby Troll

[@Lurch-Bot]

Already makes sense. Ever hear of Neuralink? Won't take 20 years for this to become reality.

[@trdriguez43]

😂😂 😂 A part of me can't help but hope I am no longer here by the time this comment makes sense 😩

[@andrewkaye2108]

A congratulations to David Cook, for realizing that Video rental sales would eventually peak and got out at the right time. Very smart. I can just imagine him, looking into his company years later and shaking his head with Blockbusters bad decisions and especially their stubborness to clinging on to physical media rentals. Though I will say, if the people running it after him had quickly invested in a digital format and parted with the physical stuff, they might still be around today. You gotta adapt, or like in the case of Cook, get out before you take heavy losses. Im in generation groups on FB and people on there wax poetic about the wonder and magic of going to rent movies at a BB. I think a lot of that is nostalgia, For I would not be surprised if after sending thst post on FB, that they turn to Netflix to watch a show. Lol

[@master2uall88]

Wow I actually learned something new today they had a blockbuster music store? I never in all of my 50 years and moving around to pretty much every one of the American states have I ever come across a blockbuster music store that is completely blowing my mind. I don't think there was very many of those because of how much moving around different states I have done I never ran across one so they must have been very limited on both doors

[@davidlewis5189]

South Square Mall in Dirham, NC had one..

[@5600block]

Late fees owed, drove away repeat business and blockbuster took loans out against the late fees and then couldn't pay them back. Thats what officially ended them. I listened to more than half of this and didn't hear that articulated in an understanding, simplified way. They would have failed as long as other options existed.

[@fruitydudexD]

27:25 kiosk lol "kee-osck" not "koysck"

[@smartman123]

love the 80 s and 90 s commercials very creative

[@micoasters]

6:47 when Nintendo is brought up with a year (to quote Scott the woz) “something stinks”

[@gottabe884]

In the Midwest town I went to college in had a Family Video. They closed all their stores around 2016. I guess Blockbuster never wanted to buy them out.

[@Tgogators]

It was a hot franchise. In or around 1991, there was an average of 4 opening every week in the US.

[@davidhewitt7315]

My town didn't have one. The nearest was 24 miles. We had Movie Gallery.

[@patrickfutato6555]

You somehow neglected to mention that until 2007 Netflix was not a streaming media company. They were a mail order physical media company. So when Bloclbuster chose not to buy them in 2000, and throughout much of this video, they weren’t being stubborn about digital media, they just didn’t see mail order as a threat to in store rentals.

[@GlockenWhale]

"koisks" is fire and i think we should be pronouncing it like that

[@MsTwilightSpeaks]

Blockbuster was a big part of my childhood, every Friday after school heading to the video store renting low budget movies 😂

[@JD-gk7eh]

The complaint over late fees was always wild to me. There's literally no other rental industry that doesn't have some sort of late fee or established timeline for how long you get to borrow something. If you rent a car, you don't get to pay for 2 days and then say "Oh, I'll bring it back eventually. Meanwhile, I'll keep it in my driveway in case I need it again for the next 3 years." If you rent a hotel room for a night, you don't get to stay 2 extra days for $0. That people couldn't grasp the concept that you rent a movie for $X for Y days and if you want more than Y days, you need to pay more is wild to me.

[@Starry2000]

I don't actually think the late fees were truly the problem. The 7 different subscription tiers that encompassed certain movies, at certain times, that no one could explain which also blocked you from renting anything was probably the final nail in the coffin.

[@JD-gk7eh]

@@Starry2000 For the pre-mailing era? They didn't have subs then. People complained about late fees for the "$4 for X days, bring the thing back to the store" model. That was something people complained A LOT about, that they had to pay another $4 if they didn't bring it back soon enough. The new releases were usually 2-days so you needed to bring it back the day after tomorrow or else you paid a fee. People seemed to find that too difficult and didn't like the terms of the rental.

[@Starry2000]

@@JD-gk7eh We were customers throughout Blockbusters existence and they always had late fees, rewind fees, etc. What I'm saying is that the byzantine, 8 different tier thing was the last time we ever interacted with Blockbuster. We had a stack of movies in hand after spending an hour in there, and were literally blocked from renting them because we had to choose a tier or something and some movies were only covered by one, the others by another. We literally kept asking them to rephrase this and just wound up staring at each other. We put the movies on the counter and left after about ten minutes of the group of us quite literally not knowing what we needed to do to rent the movies.

[@Jabo2531]

The late fees sucked ass, for a 3-5 dollar rental and wasnt for the price of the physical media. it was usually double. so that 3-5 dollar video was like 40 bucks. I noped out of blockbuster after that.

[@quincywilliams9860]

I get your point, for sure, but the Blockbuster fees were truly draconian.

[@jasonhearn9110]

I had friends who worked at blockbuster. One was a manager. I firmly believe they had a hand in bankrupting blockbuster. They were robbing that place blind. Doing returns on merch and taking the cash. They literally had closets filled with movies and games they had stolen.

[@wadmodderschalton5763]

Also, movie piracy led to Blockbuster's downfall, kinda, where there was many video pirates recording in the theater with their camcorder to create inferior CAM or "Theater-Recorded" bootlegs of major movies, and pressed onto a VHS tape, VCD or DVD-R disc. Since the start of the 2020s, the CAM bootleg movie trend has since declined as the COVID-19 pandemic hindered the movie theater business early on this decade, and it probably resulted in the Theater Recorded Bootleg trend to become obsolete, as most movies are now available for streaming just months after being shown in theaters (and between 2020-2022 during COVID-19, being released on streaming the same day as the theatrical releases), hence there are very few bootleg recordings of newly released movies being released these days.

[@harrisonallen651]

I’m going to miss renting Thomas dvds that I didn’t have as a child

[@windingtwilight]

If some crazy investor ever decides to simply rebrand blockbuster into some sort of retro video/record and gaming store and actually stuck to that business model for archival purposes, they would have a somewhat- be it niche- successful business. Not just in terms of nostalgia for casual customers who would rather buy 1-5$ videos to own in a world where buying or streaming digital media that you never actually own is 3-20$ but to also more hobby based customers for high end collectible games and media. In the end it would simply come down to good will of quality product and knowledgeable staff, you’d already have the brand and store interior look that people would be familiar with. For rebranding they could go with Blockbuster Retro, Blockbuster Revival Store Blockbuster Throwback Store, Blockbuster Authentic Store, Blockbuster Vintage or simply; Blockbuster Video.

[@thechickapedia1175]

If I’m not mistaken, blockbuster was originally Major Video (I keep wanting to say it was like captain video first?). Source: a fuzzy memory of a Blockbuster employee training vhs in 2001 😂

[@Tornado1994]

Major Video was an affiliate of Blockbuster until it was brought out in 1987.

[@haileyshannon7548]

The last time I went to Blockbuster 1. It was expensive 2. The sold more collectibles and memorabilia than movies.

[@jimc.goodfellas]

Take it from me, once Netflix came out with the whole dvd thru the mail thing, nobody I knew went to Blockbuster anymore after that

[@sunmarsh]

They should have leaned hard into kiosk and mail rental while playing catch up with streaming. They should have bought GameStop and converted their failing movie rental stores into game stores with an entertainment twist like an arcade and VR.

[@lucasdude]

ngl i really miss being able to rent movies in this way. this is how youd find some.. interesting movies. it was also nice to be able to rent a game & see if i liked it before purchasing it

[@Lurch-Bot]

Must be something wrong with my GPU. It says 1080p buut...

[@jalen2024]

born in 01. i remember watching the old TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the uninitiated) movies from the 90s from Blockbuster then a Hollywood Video opening across the street and they kept cutting each others prices much to our benefit!

[@CCK1972]

So Blockbuster had the Dave and Busters concept before Dave and Busters was popular?

[@Rangernewb5550]

My only memory of Blockbuster was my friends mom renting us a PS2 copy of the Cat in the Hat game.

[@TonJohnson]

I worked at a blockbuster, during my school days.

[@noahkirkland5844]

I miss the smell of Blockbuster 😢

[@seanmas7599]

That was my first business i know close to that closing in 2012.

[@anthonydanielkiewicz8774]

I'm 31 and absolutely still have and prefer VHS and DVDs all day baby

[@justinsinger2505]

Imagine if in 2024 you log into netflix and under that splash screen is just subsidery of Blockbuster.