How has Blockbuster Video survived against the odds so long in Alaska, and what will its decline mean? Find out on our latest episode of Brought to you by... apple.co/30yoxBn

Gotta admit, going to Blockbuster on a Friday night was one of the best feelings of being a kid!!

The story of Blockbuster laughing at buying Netflix for just $50 million needs to be made into a Netflix movie.

Blockbuster stores smell will forever be engrained in my memory.

Basically Blockbuster failed to innovate and pivot.

I rented a movie right before my local blockbuster closed and we never had a chance to give it back so I ended up keeping it, it was aloha scooby doo lmao

i honestly miss physically going to Blockbuster and walking around to see what i’d want to choose....i’d still prefer doing that today, instead of just watching anything on my phone 😆

When they tore down my local blockbuster, my dad ran over and got their movie return drop-box out of the trash and we used it as our mailbox

This is what happens when you have “old fashioned - traditional” leaders who have no innovation and REFUSED to change.

Blockbuster was so focused on their physical stores, that they fell behind in technology and the internet.

The fact of the video is that Blockbuster passed up a deal with Netflix in favor of a partnership with Enron, and thats just funny.

I remember going in on a Friday or Saturday to rent movies and video games.

Every Saturday morning, my mom and I would go rent 3-5 movies and just binge them all day Sunday. It was such a big deal when DVDs came out!

Kids today will never know the satisfaction of browsing through a video rental store :( I used to love going to Blockbuster as a kid, my sister and I would go down each row and talk about the movies we wanted to see and pick some to rent for the night. It was always fun, not to mention it was even better when parents allowed us to pick whatever candy we wanted to take home, and let's not forget the gumball machines!!!

I find it super annoying when experts refer to the Gen Z crowd as Millenials. Millenials remember a time without the internet. Gen Z does not.

I miss the Friday nights when me and my folks would go from School to Blockbuster and get 3 new movies and popcorn and drinks and just spend the night enjoying it together.

Blockbuster: We're making so much money! Netflix: I'm about to end this mans career

Millennials didn't grow up with CDs and DVDs? I'm a 36 year old millennial, so yeah......I did. -_-

Blockbuster Eras 1985-1996: The Golden Era 1997-2004: The Silver Era 2005-2012: The Dark Era 2013-present: The End

That’s what Jeff Bezos always preaches: “Lean towards the future, not away from it. The future will always win eventually”.

I hated the fact that some games & movies would always be rented so u would have to wait weeks even months

I used to love going to Blockbuster as a kid. I worked at one while going to college and met some great people and very angry customers. I remember asking my manager back in like 06-07 that my roommate got a Netflix account. He would be receiving dvds by mail and what he thought about that. He said that was a stupid idea. What if they lose it in the mail he said. He also said that the idea of going out to a physical store would never go away. I miss them days sometimes.

I miss Blockbuster so damn much. It’s such a comforting space.

They had a good run. Nothing lasts forever.

Business Insider left one key part of the discussion: The CEO shakeup. After a boardroom shakeup with Carl Icahn (yes, that Carl Icahn) replacing John Antioco with Jim Keyes, Blockbuster reshuffled their business strategy. Instead of trying to directly compete the ongoing Netflix competition, Jim decided to make Blockbuster a convenience retailer. After all, he used to run 7-11. With this questionable strategy, along with the inability to restructure their debt due to the recession and numerous bad bets including their bet on Circuit City, Blockbuster folded by 2010.

I'm not even American, I still feel sad tho

Being an ex-employee in 2006, the issue I saw was that I worked at a franchise and then we had a corporate store 20 minutes away. We still had late fees because I guess franchises could do that, but then everyone saw the "no late fees" commercials. So then when people got late fees of $50+ they were confused as hell. They didn't give a shit that we were franchise vs corporate and it probably helped make the brand decline.

7:35 Um Milennial here, we grew up with DVDs and CDs thank you very much. You might be referring to Gen Z, which is a different generation altogether but some people like to lump in with millenials for some reason (people who have not bothered doing any basic research).

We left blockbuster back in 2005 and never looked back. Screw Blockbuster and their exorbitant prices. That's when we got into Netflix and are still customers of them. Blockbuster got under our skin by charging $20+ in late fees returning 3 DVD's a few minutes late. That's when we dumped them. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Customers have memories of which companies are good and which aren't.

If you ever have walked through the doors of a Blockbuster..... you have lived a good life.

UGH MY CHILDHOOD 😭😭😭😭

Ahh..I missed going into a Video store and spending 30mins picking a movie....so many memories.

Kids these days will never understand the struggle

Netflix ‘s been around since 1997😦

The next episode: The Rise and Fall of GameStop.

failure to innovate, that is the same thing that happened to K-Mart and is happening to Sears

Blockbuster management must REGRET passing their opportunity to acquire Netflix 😬

They were awesome in the late 90s and early 00s. I used to rent video games all of the time. Anyone remember when you had to wait 6 months for a new movie to hit Blockbuster? In the 90s it was 1 year!

Not sure how you came to the conclusion that the last Blockbuster rental was in 2013... we had the second last BV store in Morley, Perth, Australia which closed in March 2019 and I believe there is one more store in the US left after that.

I remember when they got into music, and had a selection of INSANELY overpriced CD's. $20.99 for ONE CD, back in 1998!? You out cho' got damn minds! The same CD's were usually at BestBuy or Target, on sale, for $12.99-$14.99. At max, it was $17.99 full price. Talk about price-gouging.

Why does she always sound like she’s reading off a script she’s hasnt read once

I’d gladly go back to a time where Netflix didn’t exist and Blockbuster was still at the top.

Blockbuster will always be our first love. We'll never forget you blockbuster.

Funny. I actually worked at one for just a summer back when I was in high school. Good times. Too bad the company is gone.

It’s GenZ that grew up without the physical copies (mostly). Millennials grew up with Blockbuster and physical copies. It’s annoying when people regularly mix up the generations...

i didn’t know netflix was a dvd rental

There's still a Blockbuster in Bend Oregon.

Funny thing is that we still say 'Blockbuster' when a movie is a hit LOL

I worked at Blockbuster. When i knew it was the end was when the District Manager called a staff meeting to express their feelings about not winning first prize in our area. What was First Prize? A DVD player.

Blockbuster is so classic, I'm glad I got to experience it in my lifetime so much for the kids these days

Uh... millenial here, 1992, we did grow up with DVDs and CDs. When I was in elementary and middle school, I had VHS still.

This reminds me of Extravision, which was basically the Blockbuster of my area. The store closed down about 5 years ago and I still miss it.

Block Buster: *Having good sales* Netflix: _"Peace was never an option"_

I went to my hometown's Blockbuster in the final days before they closed for good. You know those plastic backer cards with the movie cover printed on them? Well they had HUNDREDS of those left and they were selling them 20 for $5 or something. The workers ended up giving me and my friend about 100 for $5 since they had so many left and were just trying to get rid of them. I still have the cards, I made a movie mural on my wall with them at one point.

Rip to my childhood memories I rember taking my roller blades to the blockbuster down the street from 1999-2002 and I rember the owner of the blockbuster gave us free VHS videos because they were going out of business in 2007😭😍♥️💁🏻

Holy moly I freaking remember that Netflix commercial!!!!!!

Kids of today’s generation will never know the frustration of having to rewind a movie to watch it again

Wow..I totally forgot Netflix used to be by mail.

I still remember getting my mom to rent Battle Tanks Global Assault on the N64 4-5 times in a row for me as a kid

Man I sure miss that store,it was going out of business just as I had graduated high school,visiting the store one last time at that age,I wasn’t just saying goodbye to a once mighty store,i was saying goodbye to my childhood.

I'll never forget those memories going to blockbuster every weekend as a kid my parents rented me movies Wii and DS games

Blockbuster's "No More Late Fees" campaign was also a scam. They simply extended the amount of time they would go without charging you by a week, and reduced the fees leading up to a month, at which point they would surge significantly. That was the final straw for a lot of people on the loyalty fence.

Before Redbox and before Netflix there was Family Video in our area. Blockbuster muscled out a lot of their customers by requiring a social security number on their "application" to open an account. Family Video only required your phone number... obviously the better choice.

Blockbuster: "Be kind and rewind"

I still have my membership card. It's a great fit and weight to act as a hotel keycard for keeping the room power on when I go out (e.g for recharging my stuff while I have breakfast downstairs)

I miss the Blockbuster stores. There was more video options in Blockbuster than there are on Netflix

I loved Blockbuster Video as a kid. I remember going with my mom or someone else to pick a game while they rented a movie on VHS. I was still gaming even as a child. In my teen years I would go to Blockbuster whenever I could to rent a game for the weekend. One time during a summer vacation, my mom got me a Blockbuster membership card and even got me a games freedom pass. I could rent games for 30 days. Every day I would ride my bike to one of my local stores to pick a game and return it the next day to rent another one. Since I had more than one console, I could get a GameCube game one day, a PS2 game the next, and a game for the original Xbox. A lot of my childhood memories were me behind a TV with a controller in my hand. And Blockbuster Video.

I legit remember watching both Blockbuster commercials in the early 2000z and starting seeing Netflix commercials back when you rented videos from them

What made my childhood boils down to 4 things: comic books, Star Wars, Nintendo and Blockbuster

Blockbuster was the physical version of netflix back in 90s lol

Blockbuster was my very first job when I was in high school. It was at it's peak at the time. We stayed open until midnight and 1am on weekends. I loved that job and so grateful to not work fast food. Worked my way up to manager before leaving

I can't wait to tell my son that his uncle worked at a blockbuster and then proceed to explain to him what that is haha! I have some wonderfully fond memories, especially because my brother worked there, it was his first job ever and he loved it. I was sick once and he brought me finding Nemo DVD and a little Nemo toy. Going there with my aunt to have a sleepover at her house, ahhh I miss those days

I grew up in a small town in the UK. At the bottom of my street there were some shops and as I grew up Blockbuster was one of them. By the time I turned 12 in 2010, it had turned into a Costa Coffee Shop.

Too long, didn't watch? Netflix happened

Going to blockbuster or Hollywood video on a Friday night as a kid was the best feeling.

Yeah but who here remembers BLOCKBLISTER?!?! Not the movies they were asking for but the movies they needed! 😂

I worked at the main warehouse for a few years when it was Sound Warehouse, a music store like Tower Records. They were just beginning to get into the VHS thing. That's where the blue and yellow began. It was just a family owned and operated place at the time. Bit of trivia I guess.

So nostalgic I always remembered during summer vacation when we would get ready to go on our trips going their with my family and picking out movies.

Blockbuster simply shot itself in the heart.

There have been so many stories done on this spectacular failure and yet I suspect we will see more. It is one of the most interesting cautionary tales of this era. Plus I think anyone who remembers those late fees experiences a bit of schuedenfreuden-esque (sp) dopamine kick just remembering how they made you suffer.

Now blockbuster over here looking at Netflix in 2022 like “yea sucks to suck don’t it?”

Anyone remember "Make it a blockbuster night"

I still got some spiderman vhs and snow white from Block Buster that i havent return to this day, they mine now. LOL

I only went to blockbuster once when i was a kid, it was a franchise here in Montevideo, Uruguay. I remember going in and seeing an endless sea of movies and me, growing up on small, independent video rental stores, was amazed. Never went back since i lived in a different city and we only went there because we were staying in town for a couple of days before going back home. I went with my dad, i dont recall what we watched, i have a vague memory of maybe being Pirates of the caribbean or maybe the first harry potter, i know my sisters got a barbie one.

What about those 711 Redbox things? They still around Were they fit in the competition storyline?

Blockbuster: we are famous Internet: im about to end this man whole career

Her voice cadence matches her body movements, and now I can't unsee it.

I’m a millennial and when I was a kid the internet was expensive and scarce so I watched vhs videos a lot and listened to CDs a lot. I still remember all the frequent blockbuster advert on the telly. Got the generations mixed up there! Millennials are all full adults now...

Um... I’m a millennial and I grew up with VHS, DVDs, CDs. Very much hard copy media. Don’t know what you’re on about around the @7:25 mark there mate.

I love how every family had their own blockbuster time and day ritual some friday nights others saturday night mine was miday on Saturdays nothing more satisfying then walking around picking movies and buying the blockbuster pop corn and Icecream i miss the days of blockbuster

Feb up with not having a block buster please come back on line and let order copies in dvd format

I'm a millennial and used DVDs and CDs for a large part of my life but it's so easy to adapt when you're relatively young. It seems completely natural now to stream everything but my parents can't wrap their heads around it 🙄

I remember coming here excited as hell and getting one of those big popcorn jugs that had the microwave popcorn on the bottom and you put it in the microwave and all that popcorn filled the tub 🙏🏽🤤

Man I miss the video shop

What happened was that many people (including me) finally got tired of being charged late-fees that we didn't owe (since we turned the videos in on-time before the deadline.) And it happened _constantly._ I even saved my receipts, with the return-time stamped right on it, and they charged me anyway. They kept that up for so long that, eventually, people just stopped doing business there. And it was right around that time that Netflix was just getting started & the rest is history...

I just heard in an interview a while ago, a random guy was working on netflix said they were also talking about how many "blockbusters" we gonna shut down. That guy was in the first 10 employees of netflix. So they discussed the same thing around 2 decades ago. So the rise in technology will shut down tonnes of 'blockbusters' in varoius fields and a few industries or companies will rise up by replacing them. Probably majority might be through the virtual world.

There is actually only one thing that killed Blockbuster and that was eliminating late fees at a time when they needed the revenue the most.

*sigh*. i miss renting videos. back in university (2003ish) after a tuesday evening class I'd often run into the Blockbuster on Wellington street in Verdun to check out the new releases on DVD, then get home and order a pizza and I was all set for the night. i don't miss the late fees, though.

the meteoric rise and availability of decent and ‘cheap’ bandwidth to the consumer was another massive factor why people could consume digital content at home. The convenience factor seems to have replaced the joy of going to a movie rental store. Consumer’s repurpose that time spent in a similar way that working from home is now a reality. Sometimes impossible to tell the future. Look how the various physical media wars went. Betamax, VHS, Minidisk, CD, DVD, Blueray, Videodisk or even cassette and vinyl records

I'm looking to buy either a Blockbuster video case or membership card. I will pay thousands for either of those