Why I'm Happy Blockbuster is Filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy: Netflix and Red Box Have Kicked Their Ass - Woohoo!
Blockbuster is Likely to Declare Bankruptcy Next Month After Closing More Than Video 1,000 Stores - Woohoo!
If you, like most people, don't know the history of Blockbuster, you might be wondering why I'm so ecstatic they're finally going bankrupt. Not to worry. The explanation is simple. It's the story of a company that was so obsessed with 'capturing the market' and destroying anyone it saw as a rival, it single-handedly, and at an incredibly fast rate, destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of people without a thought or a care.
Blockbuster was founded in the 1980s in Dallas, Texas. Successful right from the get-go, soon it was opening video stores across the country at the rate of one every 17 hours. Not one to be critical of corporate success, if they do it the honest way, Blockbuster, with its cool concept of video rental would have had my support.
Where Blockbuster lost it was when it began its campaign of targeting existing mom-and-pop video stores by opening new Blockbuster stores across the street or, in some cases, right next door. Once the store was open, Blockbuster ran rental and snack-food promotions small stores couldn't compete with, thus causing the bankruptcy of thousands of small video stores all across America, usually within just a few months. Small business owners, some of whom had been in business for years, soon found their jobs and their livelihoods gone, as well as those of their employees. Some of them were my friends.
Blockbuster, with no remorse, continued its nasty campaign across America, until today, when to find an independent video store still doing business is like finding gold in a pile of horse dung.
Within just a few years of its founding, Blockbuster was worth several billion dollars. In the 90s, the company was sold to Viacom for over $8 billion but then separated from Viacom a few years later.
Sure, the original owners of Blockbuster, immoral business men Scott Beck, John Melk and Wayne Huizenga, got away with billions, and are ultimately not the ones that are losing in this Blockbuster bankruptcy. But, the company they created is going belly-up, which has to be somewhat of a kick in the teeth and proves they couldn't grow a sustainable business out of Blockbuster. No matter how scummy their business practices were.
Plus, even though no longer owned by its original owners, Blockbuster still continued the same business game plan adopted by Wayne Huizenga, Scott Beck and John Melk in the 1980s; that of going after competitors and trying to shut them down.
Several years ago they began an online rental business, just like Netflix's, in an attempt to damage Netflix's business. Difference is, Netflix knows what they're doing, Blockbuster obviously didn't. Now, their latest plan to regain solvency is to set up small video kiosks in areas where Redbox is already operating, with an intent to poach Redbox' business.
Let's hope Redbox kicks their ass. Netflix already did.
Blockbuster, meanwhile, has been de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and, as of Friday, it's stock, once worth over $10 a share, is now going for 7 cents. (The sweet smell of revenge) They're planning on filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.
Woohoo! That lifetime membership of Netflix I bought for my dad last year couldn't have been a better investment.
Sources:
Online rivals bring brutal end to Blockbuster story - The Independent, UK
Published by Cassandra James
I'm a British-American writer currently living in Bangkok, Thailand. I've been writing for Associated Content since 2007 and was named one of AC's Top 100 Writers for 2008, 2009 and 2010. I primarily write a... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentDo you feel the same way about Walmart? How many smaller companies has it hurt. I work for Blockbuster. I really hope i don't lose my job because people have to hate. there are still about 2,000 stores with at least 7 employees on payroll each. Do you care that they will all lose thier jobs? Make sure you ask that Redbox what it thought about the movie you are about to rent. I am sure it will answer you with a smile and help you find just what you are in the mood for that night.
I just finished an entry about Netflix vs. Blockbuster and saw this one. Like J.P., the jobs were the only thing I was concerned about. I wonder how many people made Blockbuster into a career though. As far as Netflix, I'd been hearing about them promoting nonstop but it wasn't until last month that I finally gave them a shot.
I think it's very sad that people are cheering the demise of jobs, being replaced by a vending is pretty lousy, no wonder the economy is on shambles..
Glad to see them go too, for another reason too - the founders were part of the evangelical set who ascribe to the "prosperity gospel" - they believe Jesus wants his chosen to be rich....
I have several friends and family that have worked and managed at Blockbuster. But it is not bittersweet, sorry JP, they are a dishonest, crooked company. It's about time.
Good riddance indeed! I've always been hopelessly annoyed at Blockbuster's policy of no NC-17 movies. They may not be willing to stock something thoughtful like "Kids" or the uncut version of "Requiem For A Dream," but they appear to have no problem stocking exploitive trash like "Stripped To Kill." This was indeed a long time coming. My favorite video store in my hometown got closed down because of them.
I miss the local store where I used to get free DVDs in exchange for doing onlione surveys! Otherwise, it IS and WAS a waste.
My younger sister worked for Hollywood Video and Blockbuster (she was a manager). She quit Blockbuster (for the exact reasons you talked about), and went to work at Hollywood. They went bankrupt too. She went from making $40K a year to working at a convenient store. It's a bittersweet victory. I'm sad to see these store's close, and my sister suffer, but I love NetFlix.
It's a bittersweet victory. An evil company, but thousands of jobs (yes, most were low-paying) will be / are lost now. It's not the economy's either. People in hard financial times still scrape together $4 for a movie rental, which allows them to escape the harsh reality of America's collapsed economy for at least 1 1/2 or 2 hours. The video stores did provide some benefit to people were / are suffering.