Significant loss of revenue occurred during the late 2000s, and the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2010. The next year, its remaining 1,700 stores were bought by satellite television provider Dish Network, and by 2014, the last 300 company-owned stores were closed.
Blockbuster grew from a single store in Dallas to a chain of 9,000 locations over two decades. But mistakes, such as declining to acquire Netflix when it was just a startup, led the company to go bankrupt and close almost all of its stores. Recent website changes have some speculating about a possible comeback.
After years of growth in the late 90s and early 2000s, Blockbuster faced a series of challenges as streaming became more accessible which would lead to the company going bankrupt and closing all but one of its stores.
Blockbuster has not confirmed a possible return but the Superbowl commercial and reactivation of its website have social media users talking. "Our 2023 New Year's resolution was to reopen Blockbuster but it seemed like a lot of work so we quit.
But the city has always been filled with movie lovers, according to Ken Tisher, who owns the Blockbuster on Revere Avenue with his wife, Debbie. “For those who don't know, Bend is a huge movie town,” Ken said in the 2020 documentary “The Last Blockbuster.”
He was chairman when Rave sold 32 of its theaters to Cinemark in November 2012 for approximately $240 million. John Antioco has and continues to hold board positions with multi-national retail companies and was also a member of the board of governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
In 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. As locations around the world closed, the location in Bend held on and became the last remaining store in operation in 2019.
But Netflix pivoted to streaming and Blockbuster chose not to, a business decision that ultimately lead to their downfall. The Blockbuster brand was sold to satellite TV company DISH in 2011 for $320 million, according to Variety.
While the physical media business has been in freefall over the last decade, THR is reporting that DVDs and Blu-rays might be making a comeback similar to those experienced by CDs and Vinyl Records.
The company failed to recognize the changing preferences of consumers and was slow to invest in digital streaming platforms. By the time Blockbuster tried to catch up, it was too late, and competitors had already established themselves as dominant players in the market.
They were flat-out rejected. John Antioco, CEO of Blockbuster, deemed Netflix a niche business and said “the dot-com hysteria is completely overblown,” according to a 2019 book Randolph wrote about Netflix's beginnings.
Blockbuster competitors include Outerwall, Redbox, Cummins-Allison and The Best of Netflix. Blockbuster ranks 1st in Employee Net Promoter Score on Comparably vs its competitors.
Blockbuster, colloquially known as the Last Blockbuster, is a video rental store in Bend, Oregon. In 2018, it became the last Blockbuster store in the United States, and in 2020, it became the world's last remaining retail store using the Blockbuster brand.
On January 5, 2021, the company announced all remaining 250 stores would close. It was announced the chain would become an online web-store only, offering new and used video sales along with Family Video branded merchandise i.e. t-shirts, coffee mugs and tumblers, hats, gym bags, key chains, water bottles etc.
Blockbuster's inability to adapt to the changing market conditions, poor customer service, high rental fees, and inability to understand and adapt to client preferences resulted in its downfall.
DISH Network acquired the assets of BLOCKBUSTER in April 2011 through a bankruptcy auction. We recognized that the entertainment landscape was changing, and we believe that Blockbuster will continue to evolve its online delivery.
Instead, this modest store in Bend, Oregon is literally just a stereotypical Blockbuster store like those you remember from the '90s, with aisles and aisles of DVDs sorted alphabetically by film genre, plus a bargain bin of old movies for sale, and a section of movie candy. The walls are still yellow.
"We even sell the Blockbuster laminated membership cards," says Harding, who also rents out the store on Airbnb for nostalgic sleepovers. Income from sources besides movie rentals now accounts for about 80% of the income, Harding says. "We definitely sell way more stuff than rent movies now."
Starting August 17 at 1 p.m. PST on Airbnb, Deschutes County residents can call dibs on (aka book) a totally rad, yet intimate slumber party at the world's last BLOCKBUSTER store by requesting to book one of the three individual, one-night reservations that will take place on September 18, 19 and 20.
Located in Bend, Oregon, this rental has everything: a sofabed, free snacks, a VCR and a big TV. Yes, you can sleepover at the world's last Blockbuster video store.
DVD Rental Central would eventually become Blockbuster Online. On or around October 14, 2004, Blockbuster was spun-off from Viacom. Online DVD subscriptions were introduced on Blockbuster.com, also known as Blockbuster Online.
Still, there was one last special moment to commemorate: the final rental. And that movie was (drumroll, please)..."This is the End," a 2013 comedy about the apocalypse. It was the perfect kiss-off to a voyage that began with the first store opening in 1985.
