Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

I thought it was mainly to drive sales of DVDs. They let Blockbuster rent early because the studios made more profit on Blockbuster rentals than on Netflix, but I think increasing sales was the main motivator.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Hmm. I'll have to look around a bit and see if I can find some info. I was sure it had something to do with Blockbuster...

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

With the loss of Hollywood Video and hopefully soon with Blockbuster, what are the chances of a rise in independently owned stores? Or more Family Video stores (better service, but I never had the opportunity to rent something from them)? Not everyone rents by mail or subscribes to cable movie channels. And Redbox kiosks have a limited selection.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

I haven't seen any indie stores popping up here where BBV and Hollywood stores closed. So I'm not holding my breath. It's not the most lucrative business to get into right now, but I do know there are individual BBV stores that actually turn a profit (though it goes into the black hole that is BBV corporate) so I think it could be done. But how many are going to take the leap and actually give it a go?

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Yeah, I often bought the previously viewed dvds, but around 2004-2005, more of them had scratches so I stopped buying used from BBV.

I remember how excited I was when we had a BBV open near our house. The workers there were always nice and helpful. Pretty cool store back in the day, but I think its time has passed. It's been years since I've rented a dvd.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Another one closing here in a few weeks. 2 down, 2 to go.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

I'll miss the used stuff that popped up at a third part store for 25% the price Blockbuster asked.

Other than that, I'm glad to see this company go. I've never encountered such incompetence than I did when I rented there a decade ago. I could sum it up best with the story of why I quit renting.

I rented a PS2 game, beat it and returned it two days later, well before the due date. I tried to return it in person because I had trouble before with stuff not getting checked in on time. I ended up leaving it in the return slot.

I go in a week later and rent a DVD only to be told I owe them for the missing PS2 game. I asked what happened and they said I returned an empty case. I left the store and called the general manager the next day who didn't seem too shocked at what happened, apologized and offered me 20 free rentals. I asked him to just ensure my account was closed and never went back.

Not too long after, I found out from a friend who worked for a brief stint that the store managers would tell employees if they wanted a movie or game, to take it from something returned in an outdoor drop bin or through the slot on the outside of the building and just mark it as the customer returning an empty case. The trick was, don't do it very often, otherwise it looks suspicious. The higher ups suspected it was going on, but did nothing because the store managed to get people on bogus late fees all the time and it was too much of a hassle to fire a store manager.


I do miss Hollywood Video. Never had a problem there and their used stuff was always a great deal.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

In Portland, at least, a local shop has been and always will be king.

http://www.moviemadnessvideo.com/

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Apologies if this has already been posted earlier in the thread, but I didn't see it:

Blockbuster tells Hollywood studios it's preparing for mid-September bankruptcy
http://lat.ms/bedfxS

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Chapter 11? Deckchairs on The Titanic, anyone?

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

So the brand new senior vp might be stopping by my store Friday. Should be fun.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Well, harassing employees to sell more candy and writing them up and firing them for failing to do so should help turn this around.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

ah it's kinda sad. but still, hoping for a big DVD sales.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

No kidding. These execs who decide these things are just so out of touch with customers wants.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

I read 500-800 more stores will be closing once chapter 11 is filed. So you can count on some sales somewhere.

I hope to score me some decent shelving units for my DVD/Blu-Ray collection. BBV has some nice tall wire shelving units that would look great and fit in my apartment rather nicely.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

what is chapter 11?

btw id love too to buy me some of their shelves. I've been thinking about that.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Chapter 11 means they restructure but stay open. Chapter 7 would be complete liquidation.

Ironic, isn't it, that Jim Keys came from 7-11 and he took Blockbuster's only two options to chapters 7 or 11.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

witty.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

My view is Blockbuster isn't just dying, it committed corporate suicide.

Back in the late 1990s when DVD was new and before it was a successful format, Blockbuster could've gotten a similar rental deal over DVD releases to what they already had with VHS releases. But Blockbuster got greedy and tried to get an even better deal. So the companies who created DVD instead didn't include Blockbuster in their plans for the format.

This blog details it more as the #4 Bad Move by Blockbuster

There should be a book written on how Blockbuster got control of a particular market and then completely blew it.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Another thing that Blockbuster completely blew...

Back around a decade ago I was curious to check out foreign websites of American companies. I checked out blockbuster.co.uk to see what they were up to...and they had RENTAL KIOSKS. This was a decade ago. In the UK. I didn't follow up on them to see how well they did, but bottom line here is they had the Redbox sales model LONG before Redbox had it. It would have been super easy for them convert those kiosks to accept US credit cards and bring them on on over here. Squash Redbox before Redbox ever had a chance to think of doing something like that.

Instead Blockbuster decides to pursue some asinine goal of having a store within 15 minutes of everybody in the United States (I don't know if there is an official record of this anywhere...I worked for them and I knew that this was what they were saying in their meetings, though.) They expanded to 7000 stores in seemingly no time. So instead of bringing over low overhead rental kiosks to supplement the areas where there were no Blockbusters immediately close by they built new stores. I don't know who was responsible for that decision at BBV corporate but I am willing to bet they got some fat bonuses for that "brilliant" idea. For all I know they got rid of the kiosks in UK as well and Redbox is all the rage over there...I don't know. Or care. This company isn't really worth the effort it takes for me to research this stuff.

What I think is the biggest shame in this (and in any corporate store model that fails) is that there are individual stores out there that are turning a profit. They are making the brick and mortar rental store work. And they have Blockbuster over the door outside. There are store managers and staffed stores within this company that make money for the company. Squandering it away on Tivo deals, trying to get into the kiosk rentals at this point, digital media, online rentals, pickles, etc, BBV corporate becomes this black hole for these profitable stores. And it's a shame to see those hard working folks facing losing a job because they are attached to this dinosaur of a store model. They had an opportunity to do online rentals before Netflix and failed. They are never going to be the leader in streaming digital media. They are never going to be the leader in rental kiosks. They are never going to be the leader in online rentals. They are the LAST of the main brick and mortar stores because if they fail the successful stores out there will close, not be franchised out or sold and turned into mom and pop stores. The ONLY thing this company can now look forward being the leader of is the brick and mortar rental system, dying such as it is. Until they can focus just on that -and they won't- they are doomed to failure.

I would dare say 90% percentage of any companies failure is due to their own doing in failing to adapt to changing times and letting competitors come along and do it better. They pass on the opportunities to change and think because they are so big and mighty they can make more demands, leaving room for the competitor who doesn't need to make so many demands to make the new way work. It always fails.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Even longer than a decade ago Blockbuster tried kiosks in Plano, TX (don't know about the rest of Dallas) with VHS tapes. They couldn't have held very many tapes at all, but I never took a close look at one and only saw them in passing. It just couldn't really be successful until DVD. But who knows if Blockbuster could have even made it work. Their late fees lost the brand a lot of customers.

EDIT: It took some googling, but I am glad I wasn't imagining things!

http://www.cspnet.com/ME2/dirmod.asp...0226E187A50575

150 is actually quite a few tapes, but when you break it down to new and recent releases not so much.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Blockbuster was also late to the DVD market. I bought my first DVD player back in 1998 and looked around for rental places. Not Blockbuster, which didn't carry DVDs at all for the first few years that DVD was out. So I instead ended up at small, local Laserdisc rental places that were getting into the new standard. And then I heard online about a brand new website that rented DVDs so I joined it in 1998. It was called NetFlix.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

I walked into BBV last night for about 90 seconds. Long enough to check out the BOGO game sale, which consisted of crappy PS2 titles. The 3 employees literally did not want me to leave. I made a quick sweep through the store, and was about to hit the door, and was asked if I needed help, i politely replied I was good, and didnt find what I was looking for.

Then I'm out the door, and they keep talking to me. I'm literally outside holding the door open, trying to leave. They asked me if I saw any news crews outside, filming about the other location closing. I reply no, and they launch into a story about when another location closed earlier this year, the news lied about why it was closing (netflix) They asked me if I saw that report. Again I replied no, and was lying since I was interviewed for that report in Bestbuy, talking about how I buy DVD's :lol:

After more awkward chitchat I was able to escape.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

I wonder how this will effect their kiosk biz? It is booming right now. I would guess someone will buy that part.

Re: Buh-bye Blockbuster
 

Hate to quote the entire post but I agree with you 100%. The nearest BBV from me downscaled in 2003 to allow room to build a Baskin' Robbins/Dunkin' Donuts. Everytime I pass by it I see at most ten people in the place. I recall a few months back that it was just me and the only employee that was on the clock. I browsed for about 10-15 minutes then I left and walked home.

BlockBuster has a dead business model. People are not going to get sucked into renting from a B&M store. Netflix has a businees model that will last for years because renting movies online is way better than going to a B&M. Likewise with VOD. Video-On-Demand has continusly grown in the last few years. BBV needs to realize that they are hanging on from a tread in today's society.