Blockbuster FAIL

[Steve9347]

link

 

As someone who worked at Blockbuster from age 18-22 as a CSR and Manager while taking care of college, I have a special spot for Blockbuster. As a kid who grew up in the nineties, Blockbuster will always have a place in my heart.

 

However, the writing’s been on the wall for 5 years. They tried to be clever and add Blockbuster Online, but they went about things all wrong. I swear they should have paid me money and promoted me to president. Their downfall was the stupid “No Late Fees” which meant no one brought movies back forever. The heydey (2000-2002) was because you could walk into Blockbuster and the dvd rental turnover was so quick chances are the movie you wanted would be in... They should have cut the cost of renting all movies in the store and made them 1-day rentals (while also promoting their online product), and carrying less quantity so they had fewer to sell at $5 a pop previously viewed. The joy of going to the video store to pick out a flick would have been salvaged.

 

No one wants to pay $24.99 to drive to Blockbuster 30 times a month when they can rent 3 out at a time online from Netflix or Blockbuster for half the price. Blockbuster needed to promote and covet the video store experience, but they never figured it out. As a kid, there was nothing cooler than going to rent the latest NES/SNES game or going to rent a movie. That WAS Friday night. So they turn all of the customers off by charging $11 for a week of a video game that chances are is going to suck. People rented to try things out, and when the prices got outrageous, it turned customers off completely. (At least, I know it did this one.)

Edited September 16, 2009 by Steve9347

[HuskyCaucasian]

OnDemoand and NetFlix completely crushed Blockbuster. They didnt see it coming, they didnt prepare, they didnt fight back until it was too late. Such is life in the corporate world.

 

I bid you a fond farewell. I too shall always have a spot for you in my heart. Oh the days of going to rent SNES games....

[lostfan]

I was a Blockbuster employee once too. I still know my employee number which of course is my de facto membership number by heart. They were a little late to the game on the digital distribution thing. I also could never understand how they made money with no late fees? I used to have to explain to customers that kept new releases like a week overdue that the reason for their late fees was Blockbuster needing to have the movie in the store for it to be rented out. New releases are checked in and out at a pretty high rate and the customer is basically screwing the store over when he/she keeps it. The whole "due by noon" thing was a good idea but there was so much backlash from stupid customers who pretended to not hear you tell them multiple times.

[bmags]

yeah, bye bye video rental stores.

 

An indie video store in Columbia was on cnn.com or something for doing pretty well. But they have a pretty good deal going where professors go to them when they need students to check out a movie. Nobody really minded because everyone loves the place. (Connected to indie movie theatre and bar/bakery)

 

While it was a big part of my childhood, I'm not gonna cry. Just like with record companies, they were so hilariously shiftless and stupid with no vision or idea of what to do next, just clinging to when they were big, that I'm just gonna laugh. HAHA.

[SnB]

there is absolutely no reason to go to a video store anymore.

If you don't have netflix, then you go to redbox. Cheaper and way more convenient.

[RockRaines]

The one across the streeet from me on madison isnt going anywhere, neither are the ones in LP. I think that the suburban ones have seen better days, but walkable city Blockbusters are still going strong. Mine is PACKED every day of the week.

[southsider2k5]

there is absolutely no reason to go to a video store anymore.

If you don't have netflix, then you go to redbox. Cheaper and way more convenient.

 

This.

 

I use Redbox for most everything.

[NorthSideSox72]

I have to admit I haven't reasearched this a lot yet, but, here is what I am waiting for.

 

Since movies take up a lot more disk space than music, its hard to find a blu-ray or DVD player that allows you to save everything to memory (like iTunes is for music). These hard-drive based modules exist, some with a couple terabytes of space, but those still cost 4 figures. But I really am tired of having to keep and store a bazillion disks.

 

So what I'd love, is for a service to essentially host my collection. You buy movies from them, or upload your own, to shared space they host, and your machine just hooks to the internet or cable to go get what you want to watch.

 

I think the problematic part is the stuff I already own. For buying new stuff, I'd bet this sort of thing is coming soon, if it doesn't exist already.

 

Maybe the best bet is to hook up to a service like that when it comes out, then wait for the big disk drive players to get cheaper, to put my disks onto. I can just wait until then to throw out the ones I already have.

 

[Kyyle23]

I wonder how much effect the constantly changing portable media has also affected this. They had to get rid of all of those videos, now DVDs, Hi-Def for a minute, now Blu-Ray. They are losing money trying to keep up

[bmags]

I have to admit I haven't reasearched this a lot yet, but, here is what I am waiting for.

 

Since movies take up a lot more disk space than music, its hard to find a blu-ray or DVD player that allows you to save everything to memory (like iTunes is for music). These hard-drive based modules exist, some with a couple terabytes of space, but those still cost 4 figures. But I really am tired of having to keep and store a bazillion disks.

 

So what I'd love, is for a service to essentially host my collection. You buy movies from them, or upload your own, to shared space they host, and your machine just hooks to the internet or cable to go get what you want to watch.

 

I think the problematic part is the stuff I already own. For buying new stuff, I'd bet this sort of thing is coming soon, if it doesn't exist already.

 

Maybe the best bet is to hook up to a service like that when it comes out, then wait for the big disk drive players to get cheaper, to put my disks onto. I can just wait until then to throw out the ones I already have.

 

I'm pretty sure Apple TV is going to work like this in some ways. Not hosting entirely but renting and such.

[Brian]

Told stories on here before about my years at Blockbuster. It's too bad. Lots of people work full time at those stores.

 

When I left Blockbuster, I was pissed at my situation there and rented at Hollywood Video for years. Well, they closed Hollywood Video in Gurnee so I went back to Blockbuster.

 

It was funny when I went back there because I told the girl that I don't have a card but remember my ID number when I worked there in high school. I gave it to her, 1608, and she was like, "That's not it, ID numbers are 5 digits." I told her I was hired when that store opened so you probably need to put a zero in front of it. She did and t worked.

 

Wonder if the Gurnee store is closing. It's in an ideal spot by Gurnee Mills.

[lostfan]

I wonder how much effect the constantly changing portable media has also affected this. They had to get rid of all of those videos, now DVDs, Hi-Def for a minute, now Blu-Ray. They are losing money trying to keep up

Well shedding inventory is a pretty normal part of their everyday business operations. Let's say you get 200 copies of Transformers 2 from distribution, those go out to rent, and the first couple of weekends they're 100% rented out. Over the next few weeks less people start renting it. Those, you put into shrink wrap and sell or you send back to distribution (no idea what they do with it after that) since you don't need 200 copies on the shelf anymore.

 

When DVDs first came out the store would have, say, 150 VHS and 20 DVDs since everyone didn't have a DVD player yet.

[lostfan]

I have to admit I haven't reasearched this a lot yet, but, here is what I am waiting for.

 

Since movies take up a lot more disk space than music, its hard to find a blu-ray or DVD player that allows you to save everything to memory (like iTunes is for music). These hard-drive based modules exist, some with a couple terabytes of space, but those still cost 4 figures. But I really am tired of having to keep and store a bazillion disks.

 

So what I'd love, is for a service to essentially host my collection. You buy movies from them, or upload your own, to shared space they host, and your machine just hooks to the internet or cable to go get what you want to watch.

 

I think the problematic part is the stuff I already own. For buying new stuff, I'd bet this sort of thing is coming soon, if it doesn't exist already.

 

Maybe the best bet is to hook up to a service like that when it comes out, then wait for the big disk drive players to get cheaper, to put my disks onto. I can just wait until then to throw out the ones I already have.

I started that networking thread a few weeks ago and this is what I've been doing. I've been ripping my DVD collection to digital copies and building libraries of TV shows.

 

They don't cost as much as you think they do. You can get some like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16833124345

[NorthSideSox72]

I started that networking thread a few weeks ago and this is what I've been doing. I've been ripping my DVD collection to digital copies and building libraries of TV shows.

 

They don't cost as much as you think they do. You can get some like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16833124345

OK, I'm seeing you can get a 2 TB U-ATA HDD for about $250, so that's $500 for two of them. And 4 TB should do the trick. So that would be spending $700 total. Better than the full-on units for purpose I've seen, but still more than I am willing to spend.

 

Thanks for that though, seems like things are headed the right direction. I'll probably sign onto some sort of digital service (as long as it allows me to buy and OWN movies, not just rent), then eventually get some sort of media hub/storage like that.

 

[jasonxctf]

that's what they get for not renting out pornos.

[smalls2598]

As a kid, there was nothing cooler than going to rent the latest NES/SNES game or going to rent a movie. That WAS Friday night.

Hell yea. Get home from school, eat dinner, then ride bikes to rent a video game. And if it sucked, then head back and say that it didn't work and get something else. Then stay up all Friday and Saturday night playing. Ahh, the good ole days....

[Flash Tizzle]

When DVDs first came out the store would have, say, 150 VHS and 20 DVDs since everyone didn't have a DVD player yet.

What the hell did Blockbuster do with the VHS tapes they had left over when stores permanently switched their inventory to discs? I can swear it was building for years, and I sat around thinking, "they're probably going to have a huge sale of vhs tapes for cheap," and when the moment arrived, all the tapes just disappeared. Who exactly could they sell the VHS tapes to that would be better than the consumer? Assholes.

 

It is sad in a way. If only for nostalgia, not because I care that a greedy entertainment giant made no attempt to adapt to the market. My parents signed up the first day the Blockbuster in Palos Heights opened in 1992. I'm fairly sure I've rented over a thousand videos/video games from that location. However, I've also ripped that place off a ton. I want to say ten years back, I realized one day when searching for posters (in the dumpster behind the store) that Blockbuster threw out a HUGE number of coupons into a large clear trash bag. They'd have coupons for everything from "free popcorn," "free soda," "One free movie," "rent one, get one free," to large discounts on other food items. Obviously, I alone didn't cause Blockbuster any harm, but I like to think I was a factor in slumping business at Palos Heights.

 

All that needs to happen now is for that f***ing video store on Ogden Ave, half a mile East of Harlem in Berwyn, to go out of business. They have, without question, the largest inventory of VHS tapes I've ever seen. They have many tapes that haven't been released on DVD yet. I remember going online a few years back, purposely trying to find titles of hard to find VHS tapes so I can test to see whether they had it in stock. Of the 6 videos I searched for, the store had 5. Damn porn is keeping that place going.

Edited September 16, 2009 by Flash Tizzle

[Flash Tizzle]

Hell yea. Get home from school, eat dinner, then ride bikes to rent a video game. And if it sucked, then head back and say that it didn't work and get something else. Then stay up all Friday and Saturday night playing. Ahh, the good ole days....

Or when you'd hide a video game somewhere in the store if you didn't have the money at the time. I was good for that.

 

 

[Steve9347]

What the hell did Blockbuster do with the VHS tapes they had left over when stores permanently switched their inventory to discs? I can swear it was building for years, and I sat around thinking, "they're probably going to have a huge sale of vhs tapes for cheap," and when the moment arrived, all the tapes just disappeared. Who exactly could they sell the VHS tapes to that would be better than the consumer? Assholes.

I was actually working during this transition. They were boxed up, shipped to corporate, and the disposed of.

[Soxbadger]

Or when you'd hide a video game somewhere in the store if you didn't have the money at the time. I was good for that.

 

I loved that trick.

 

Or the greatness of finding an awesome game that was hidden by some one else.

 

For the old vhs tapes, maybe they sold them to some 3rd world country blockbuster equivalent?

[Kyyle23]

I would always find a game I really wanted, and a game I never heard of and rent both. I almost always ended up liking the unknown better

[joemg311]

I still go to blockbuster once in a while when I have no idea what I want to see just so I can browse. If I know what I'm looking for there is no reason to leave the house to get it. I just picked up a box on ebay for $30 that hooks up to the tv and has a sd memory card slot and usb port. I will soon be able to plug in a flash drive or external hard drive to my tv and watch all the stuff I download on the tv instead of the computer without dealing with buying/burning dvds.

Edited September 16, 2009 by joemg311

[lostfan]

I was actually working during this transition. They were boxed up, shipped to corporate, and the disposed of.

Yeah, when I was there this was something that was happening gradually. They didn't just go cold turkey off VHS and phased it out, but yeah when we had too many copies of a movie we'd try to sell what we could in the store, then the rest would just get shipped back to Texas or wherever the hell and what they did with it I never knew.

[Brian]

I was actually working during this transition. They were boxed up, shipped to corporate, and the disposed of.

 

Ha. When I left Blockbuster, we had a stand of about 20 DVDs you could rent. It quickly exploded soon after I split.

[Texsox]

Add a few thousand more to the unemployment numbers.