Who shot BlockBuster?
Netflix
>>70581081
came here to say this
Blockbuster shot itself.
>>70581167
Same.
>>70581081
I was about to say this, but saw that you already did.
>>70580932
They shot themselves, too stubborn and greedy to realize it so they blame it on netflix.
what happened to block buster?
i inherited like 3M shares a few years back
Good job guys. Everyone hit the showers, we're going home
They went under in the early 2000s when automated retail companies like Redbox were created.
>>70580932
It was obvious it was going to crash and burn.
Over here you could see HUGE Blockbusters opening up even during the 2000s, when it was already obvious that torrenting and filesharing was taking over.
In fact I was convinced at the time it must be some sort of money laundering operation because nobody could be so retarded as to purposefully lose money the way Blockbuster was doing.
In the end it was adapt or die, Capitalism at its finest.
>that going out of business sale though
I even got the metal display racks from one of them
>>70581431
Ah, yes, Redbox was truly popular in the early-2000s.
You dumbass.
>>70581320
They're gone, famalam.
>>70581485
Damn I remember that actually, I was too young to get anything out of it though. They were selling & giving away everything down to the carpet because they weren't planning on salvaging anything once they shut down.
>>70581244
>>70581304
This is the real answer
>>70581081
>>70581167
>>70581261
Blockbuster at one point in time when they peaked were offered to buy Netflix. They refused thinking it wouldn't be profitable and now look what happened.
>>70582809
I didn't do Blockbuster but I went to Circuit City liquidations, got a ton of Xbox stuff for a quarter to half of their retail value.
>>70580932
Their business model became obsolete. It's like asking "what killed livery stables?".
>>70583023
Speaking of xbox's, I expect in the coming years when Gamestop dies they'll go out of their way to destroy all their product & merchandise in a huge fire for all to see as a final fuck you.
>>70581485
i got the thing on dvd for 50p..
>you gotta be fuckin kidding
>>70583418
I got Inception for a quarter.
>>70580932
Capitalism. And destroyed our lives, yes? As boring as nondegeneracy tries to be, without renting videogames we got shit. Just like arcades. Go back to your screens from 2001
Am I the only one who wished they were still around? I miss that feeling of getting off work on a Friday evening and going to rent a tape.
>shitty selection
>VHS (haaaaaaaa) and DVD being phased out by digital releases
sadly Cockbuster's rental fees seem humble nowadays when Amazon tries to charge you $20 for a 24-hour long streaming portal. But you'd always forget to return shit to Blockbuster so you'd eat a late fee.
I think they had fully shut down before gas prices went crazy expensive, but that would've really sealed their doom.
>>70580932
I remember renting Mario's Time Machine and thinking that it would be the most badass Mario game ever.
>>70583616
Why would you rent a tape when you can find basically any film you want in s few minutes online?
Internet and torrents. Netflix is shitty 2nd place and is for plebs.
torrents, divx/xvid and netflix
>>70580932
>netflix streaming <10,000 titles
>good video store >80,000 titles
>netfilx rentals - we'll send you what we want, when we want
>video store - rent what you want, when you want it
>netflix - pay regardless of usage
>video store - pay only when you use it
After destroying the home rental market, netflix is getting out of the rental business and not buying replacements on many titles. They make so much more money with streaming
For most people, convenience is more important than freedom and choice
>>70583800
I don't pirate.
>>70580932
>Who shot BlockBuster?
In some parts of the country, nobody.
>When the local Blockbusters (RIP) folded, a local man purchased the business and maintained them as video rental stores, which are thriving to this day. I repeat: Sault Ste. Marie still has profitable video rental stores. The Sault feels like an outpost, a distant colony on the edge of an empire, a place where the niceties of life have been sheared off.
http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/dont-call-it-a-technical-recession-ive-been-there-for-years
>>70580932
jooooooos
jeeeeews
Blockbuster tried to compete with Netflix in their last couple of years by going all-digital but it was too late. I remember having a blockbuster app on my phone as late as 2011. It's a company that could not or would not adjust to changing demand and technology. Holy fuck did it crash.
tbhfam I only miss the smell of blockbuster
like plastic casing + slight buttery popcorn + slight feet smell
>>70583344
They already do something like that. When they have used merchandise stocked up that they deem unprofitable or has been on the shelf too long, instead of donating it or auctioning it off, they basically destroy their old stock before throwing it into the dumpster. That's to prevent people from going into the dumpsters and recovering what was once perfectly working equipment.
>>70580932
>rent Legend of Dragoon
>loving the game
>4th disc was scratched to hell
Thank God for digital download.
>>70583972
>For most people, convenience is more important than freedom and choice
That sums up everything you need to know about Web 2.0.
>>70583784
M8 there are still Blockbusters here, there is one 10 mins from my house.
>>70581466
Tormenting and file sharing isn't what killed them it was online streaming. Netflix and others decimated them, normies that drive the economy don't torrent they actually pay for it.
>>70582829
>had the chance to buy netflix
>didn't take it
Wow, I bet the guy who fucked up that deal must pretty shitty right now
>>70580932
modern torrenting.
BlockBuster was dead well before Netflix
>>70583344
A $100,000 fire for $1000 worth of games..
>>70580932
>>70581081
>>70581431
Not just Blockbuster, but Hollywood Video and independent shops.
Wasn't NetFlix either. RedBox was around before and put the nail in Blockbuster's coffin.
What was pretty impressive was seeing a local independent video shop set up a 24 hour store that was automated from 5pm to 8am. It closed 6 months later though.
>>70584012
Why not?
>>70584103
and the late night sex with the girl behind the counter..
>>70583784
>>70584196
I forgot they still had stores in Mexico. I take it by 2020 they'll close down the last of their international stores.
>>70584227
From what I recall, at the time Blockbuster was offered only 50 million to buy Netflix, but they blew it. I bet the guy responsible for fucking it probably hung himself.
>>70584210
>birating means you're not a normie
99.9% of the media-consuming world pirates. Half of the first world, 95% of the second world, and everybody with electricity in the third world.
>>70581244
>>70581261
to be more specific
late fees
by the time they got rid of them, it was far too late
>>70580932
You used to be able to rent brutal guro hentai from the local blockbuster at one point
Good times
Don't think I'll ever see hentai at local chain stores again
>>70583023
like tears in the rain
>>70583784
Yeah man i remember being a poor kid and renting Earthbound. I was so pissed when my dad returned it while i was at school.
The fall of Blockbuster has contributed to the rise of degeneracy in the USA. With Netflix you can watch whatever commie leftwing lesbo dick orgy crap you want and no one ever has to know, whereas with Blockbuster you used to have to weigh the shame and idgaf factor. I swear it's had something to do with the rise in LGBT propaganda. Nobody would have rented Blue Is the Gayest Color had they actually had to stand in line and look like a degenerate to do it.
>>70581485
>>70582809
>>70583418
Shit wasn't worth it. They covered all the windows with paper. I went to check it out, the line went all throughout the store, was like an hour or two wait
>>70580932
They refused to innovate. They were basically that one employee who figured seniority would protect them and refused to use email.
>>70584210
You clearly have no idea how huge file sharing and torrenting got. Much bigger than Netflix and I can assure you endless normies were torrenting, and the ones too dumb were getting their buddies to torrent the content they wanted.
Poor and Rich alike torrented en masse and with good reason. The content was the same quality or greater than anything Blockbuster had to offer, could be downloaded in the convenience of your own home for not a penny.
It's the same story in 2016 with Netflix minus the convenience of your home part. You can get better quality torrents than what Netflix offers most of the time, and Netflix will never have higher quality than is available from a torrent. Selection is also insanely larger, pretty much any tv show or film in existence can be torrented, and it's usually fast in 2016 compared to years ago (even moreso if you get on a private torrent site like IPTorrents).
>>70584322
I'm not sure how Redbox does nationally but here in Central FL it's really popular for people who want to wait for the DVD sand rent recent movies to watch at home instead of the theater and legally now without having to wait to get it by mail like Netflix does.
>>70584459
You have a source?
>>70581320
Hope you sold that shit.
If bait 3/10. I replied.
>>70583023
>>70584481
The build that the local Circuit City was in is still vacant. Shit is ridiculous.
I remember TRU was having a moving sale, got tons of Wii games for $5. Biggest regret was not getting ten or so copies of RE Umbrella Chronicles, they were $1 and they had about 50 or more on the last day.
I remember when TRU was phasing out the GC, I got 1000 block memory card for $5. Should have picked up three or four.
>>70584683
That being said, Redbox really comes in handy on road trips if your car has a DVD player and your passengers want entertainment.
>>70580932
They failed to adapt to competition and were left behind. Netflix's mail service was more efficient because rather than have lots of copies at thousands of locations, Netflix could have only a few warehouses and mail out the DVDs paying business postage rates(almost nil).
Blockbuster had:
>Thousands of physical locations, costly real estate, building maintenance and utilities, employees and a distribution network to move movies to and between stores.
>any movie on the shelf was losing money
Netflix had
>very few large warehouses on cheap real estate and comparatively fewer employees
>no distribution network, used US Postal Service
>fewer wasted movies because they didn't need to ship 5 copies to every blockbuster
>didn't worry about late fees, just wouldn't send out another movie until the current one came back, subscriber would just get less movie per monthly fee.
Then internet streaming came, again Blockbuster's use of physical locations became even more irrelevant in the new business model.
>>70584683
There are still tons of them in SoCal and I usually see people at Walmart and CVS' renting movies.
Games are probably their biggest appeal. I wonder how big the movie library is though.
>>70581573
Not that guy, and I'm not that certain on the time period, but I think it was Redbox that truly started the death of video stores. Netflix wrote the overall death certificate however.
>>70584849
Redbox is all normie crap though. Latest Ice Age and Fast and the Furious and that's about it.
So this thread's ok, but ones about fake geek girls, today's church experience and Taco Bell aren't? Those are as /pol/ related, and they required less leaps than this one.
Fucking mods, I swear. You're so damned retarded.
>>70584612
I go by what i see in my life, the majority of people i know who are over 30 buy everything. Amazon, Netflix, hulu streaming. I even try to help them out with easy to use shit like popcorntime and they want no part of it.
>>70584118
They don't want that used merchandise ending up on eBay or at a mom and pop store selling it as competition. Dirty cocksuckers.
>got custom robo, diddy kong racing, super smash melee, and a shit ton of walkthrough guides for 15 bucks
Was worth it senpai.
Wasn't until a few months ago they finally knocked down the Blockbuster building and built a Ralphs gas station in its place. It still had the Blockbuster sign on the building.
Great times hanging out there every weekend though
>>70584103
You couldn't have described that better. I can smell it now.
>>70583972
Thank you. Netflix is absolute shit. People just use it for TV shows, not movies. My sister has Netflix but still goes to Redbox for new releases (IF the box is working and the movie is available).
I remember Blockbuster back in the SNES vs PS1 days, I realized I got the wrong console when everyone was renting their PS1 games to make a copy of it. Even then it was growing strong, what killed them was the "not for rent" because the entertainment industry said Blockbuster only bought from them once in bulk and kept renting it out which like the used game industry "is worse than piracy".
>>70580932
Itself. It refused to adapt to the digital market that Netflix owns now.
>>70584612
Well quality depends.
Are you going to download that 20-30gb blu-ray, or that shitty yify rip?
>>70580932
Redbox and Netflix
>>70584935
It's pretty big depending on which location you go to. Some machines in popular locations are often sold out of the sought after movies. Probably the most difficult movie for me to get on Redbox was the LEGO Movie, had to drive to 4 different locations before finding a machine that did have it.
>>70584966
You haven't looked deeply enough into the collection, look past the first few pages for each genre before you hit the grayed out "out of stock" options, you'll find some gems every now and then. Plus they bring out older movies every now and then, especially if it's a prequel, original version, or related to a movie currently playing.
>>70583616
>Friday night
>Friends over
>Mom takes us to blockbuster, get party games for the N64
>Pizza, pokemon, and pogs as far as the eye can see
>>70584521
I don't know famola I think the blame for degeneracy is a changing social climate not Blockbuster's fall from grace.
>>70584612
Lol the only thing normies torrent is music. They don't have the patience for torrenting movies. I honestly don't have that kind of patience myself.
>>70580932
anyone else have the mod chip for burned discs in their ps1's ?
>>70581304
>>70581244
what the fuck are you guys on?
if blockbuster were open today, would you or anyone you know go there to rent movies for $4/each when you can just get it on netflix or pirate it?
the answer is no for you, and everyone else. if they don't get money they go out of business
>>70584476
No, Netflix came to them asking to bed bought.
The internet and shitty employees and customers. Worked for Cockluster for year and it was definitely the worst people I have ever been around. Angry crackheads on the NYC subway were nicer than some of these people. We had one retarded nigger who smelt like a dead animal covered in feces who would just sit in the bathroom for half his shift and stink that shit up or he would take the movie cart to the back of the store, sit down and take a nap. My manager was always drunk. My assistant manager had to be at least 350lbs. and was always stealing snacks. Had one guy that they never would fire no matter how many times he would curse out and threaten customers. Also the amount of times I've had movies throw at my head because some customer said they didn't watch the movie (they had 7 days at the time to keep the rental) and I couldn't give them a free extension - which I promptly blocked their account from being able to rent. The only good thing was that I could rent 5 games a week for free and that it was a fond place for childhood memories because renting was the major way of playing games back then, instead of buying shit outright for $50 fucking bucks, which not many 6 year old kids could afford.
>>70585145
I get they do it to keep a competitive edge but it sucks. They let good vidya equipment go to waste and go the extra mile to make sure no one enjoys it. It's a real shame because I hear stories of old and rare games being found in dumpster dives, but they're all useless and effectively worthless since gamstop scratches all the discs of unsold used games. They cut the cords to controllers and stuff but those can be repaired with a little know how and being able to find the correct pieces but I'm sure they deter even that, probably collect the cords in box somewhere to throw out separately, dirty pigs. But the disc based games, they can never be recovered.
>>70581081
Many will say this, although isn't Netflix a countermeasure the growing popularity of internet and torrent downloads during the early 2000's? I'd argue that the internet and easy access led to the decline of the video rental store.
>>70581320
Well, you could probably buy a ham sandwich if you sell it all now...
>>70585005
Shut up you mad faggot. We're actually having a legitimate and productive discussion, don't shit it up.
>>70585646
I haven't downloaded any movies in months, have a pretty big backlog. Haven't downloaded lots of tutorials and music
>>70584210
Spotted the underage b&.
1987 here, I assure you that by 2000-2007 everyone was torrenting and filesharing. Kazaa, Emule and Napster were all the rage, even the uber normies that never touched a computer were buying CDs from the ones that did.
Filesharing killed Blockbuster.
Online streaming came just for the final death blow.
The reason they destroyed their stock was because of legal issues. If they got caught letting people just take the products, which Cockluster paid the licensing fees for, they would get lawsuits out the ass. Unfortunately it's a shame that a lot of that stuff got destroyed and even worse I had to do it even though I tried to steal what I could when no one was around.
>>70585660
Yes, the kind that required you to put a spring under the lid?
I went to buy it at a flea market.
>>70581081
/bread
>>70584849
>not using your 2001 9 inch box tv stuck in between the two front seats and watch vcrs on them
>>70585666
It's more of the nostalgia of simpler and more social times when there were actually good films being made.
>>70586203
Oh god I just realized that all these underage B&'s don't understand how cool it was to be able to get a cheap mod chip and easily game on console with it.
That's why many of us jumped to PC gaming: Mod chips became too complex/not worth it.
Feels weird watching North America die before your very eyes...
>>70586203
yeah m8.
im fairly certain the 3 day renting or w/e allowed me to have every single game just about
>>70585896
I'm surprised Netflix is as popular as it is right now. Doesn't seem like they have many movies or shows and it's easier to download the shows you do want to watch.
>>70586244
Shit man do you remember the Sony Watchman? Used to watch the horse races with my grandfather on that thing.
>>70585896
Blockbuster and other rental stores still existed in the late 00s so no, not really. Most people only torrent music (and there was a noticeable decline in album prices at that time too). Whereas Netflix/Redbox killed rentals stores rather quickly.
>>70585405
I never understood this. Please tell me how yify rips are as bad as people make out? I can't tell the different between the blu-ray and the blu-ray rips. Am I just a pleb?
>>70584230
most consumers don't have the knowledge to torrent. They knew what limewire was but not that it was a torrent
>>70586244
Born too early to wonder what it’s like to watch TV in the classroom.
>Born too late to wonder what it’s like to be a >60’s kid in high school and enjoying the blissful freedom.
A race war will have to suffice.
>>70586321
used to get a slushie everytime i went here
qq ;_;
now theres just a big ugly walmart with a paneras bread across the street from it
The Internet is destroying the West.
Upvote if you agree.
>>70585896
netflix was initially a mail order dvd rental service, it only started streaming like 10 years into it
There are still blockbusters in central Oregon. Like 4 or 5 of them I think.
>>70585666
Where I live there is still a video rental store. There are redboxes everywhere. Some people just like going to a store to rent a movie.
>>70586529
Hardly noticeable difference in quality but it's there. Some people just want the highest quality possible. I'm fine with watching most things on my 32 inch 720p lcd tv with okay sound quality, don't need to see everything in super high definition and with a professional sound system.
>>70586574
I think they are referring to bootleg film selling. If they actually think a significant amount of people download movies they're fucking retarded.
I have grown quite cold due to my constant /polling, but this thread man
>>70586723
they license the name but the business is dead they are independently operated
>>70586203
>>70585660
>>70586295
I tried that spring thing, rarely got it to work.
Bought this a long time ago, probably in 2000. You actually needed the original PS1 with the I/O port. It was basically a GameShark, boot up with an offical game disc and put in any codes, then replace the disc with a burned one.
Flashcards are fucking great. Still have my GBA flashcard, but need a computer Windows 98 or XP and a printer port since the software was never updated.
Still at it though, have a PS3 and 3DS with CFW. Don't play as much as I used to though
>>70586678
Malls can rot for all I care, they were one of the worst symbols of suburbanization.
>>70584457
>I take it by 2020 they'll close down the last of their international stores.
There's still one in my suburb
They survive because this suburb is full of rich old white people who are too stupid to into internet
>>70586321
>>70586653
Malls are pretty much dead now too. Full of stores that have cheap shit you can get anywhere else and stores that really could be in their own building or in a strip mall.
>>70586678
Sears sucked. Its basically a store for household appliances and clothes that no one wants to wear. It has such a sterile and boring feeling to it. No one wants to go there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5087isMudEs
>>70585405
>>70586529
>>70586769
I always thought it was the audio that took up the most space. Downloaded Die Hard with two commentary tracks and it was 12GB. Probably 4GB with just the movie audio.
These guys came to Canada a couple years ago.
Now there abandoned stores all over Canada.
There is even a website for them.
>>70586921
The dinosaur that was Blockbuster would finally breathe its last breath when their last customer base, the baby boomers, begin to die out en masse. It's pottery.
>>70587189
Forgot pic
>>70584196
Do they still have hollywood video there?
The internet basically destroyed retail media stores, Blockbuster, Tower Records, Hollywood Video, etc. all went the day of the dinosaur once people figured out how to torrent or order it online. I remember around 2005 on Limewire, you could pretty much find everything, assuming it wasn't packed with viruses and malware.
>>70580932
no one wanted to rent a movie for a week
family video is still around because they understood the market
>>70587065
It's sad to see Sears today. Reading its history it was once one of America's most powerful companies.
>>70582829
If I recall correctly, wasn't blockbuster even in the mail rental market for a time?
>>70587065
Nobody wanted to work at Sears either. You were forced to sell shitty protection plans for crap that doesn't last anyway. And you don't need a protection plan on good tools.
So not only was the selection and prices shit, but so was the service because nobody wanted to be there.
>>70586898
>Westfield Corporation is a shopping centre company with retail destinations in England and the United States.
>Founder Frank Lowy
>As a 13-year-old Jewish boy, Lowy had never known about the loss of his father, Hugo Lowy, who was beaten to death at Auschwitz concentration camp while protecting Hugo's younger acquaintance, Myer Lowy.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business-old/property/holocaust-truth-set-frank-lowy-free/story-e6frg9gx-1225952919237
There were many reasons the Westfield mall was attacked in Kenya.
>>70584210
Normies don't often torrent but they do stream all the time at shit like letmewatch this
>>70581081
>>70581244
These
>>70587249
God damn Canadians are hardcore. They can fuck up a stopsign with a snowball.
>>70587353
I think so, I remember them doing some kind of mail delivery service.
>>70580932
I used to work there. Netflix shot them, along with the Jew fees. And they were hardcore about making us get the fees. I saw a kid get fired his first day for blowing off about $50 in fees in a night. $50 was a really low amount of fees for a whole busy night. It was usually about $300-$400 a night in fees. I swear, no one hardly ever returned their movies on time. Was a fun place to work. I got all the candy and soda I could steal. And could just take home as many movies as I wanted. I got to work late, so my parents could not give me shit for sleeping all day. It was a proper teenage job. And I learned about a ton of different movies. I read the synopsis of every film I would put away. People could walk in, and give a vague explanation of a movie they were seeking, and I usually knew exactly what they were looking for, even if I had not seen it.
>>70587161
Depends on the audio codec. I know a little about anime fansub encodes and if you use FLAC over AAC then you bloat your files by about 50-80% because of the audio.
>>70587189
>>70587249
They had no idea what they were doing in Canada
I stopped shopping there when they dropped the Confederate flag
>>70587278
Companies still have yet to adapt to the internet.
block buster isn't dead they have blue box which is block buster
>>70586321
Brands die all the time anon
>>70587794
tell me aboot it
>>70587671
That's why jews at the MPAA and in the music industry keep pushing to make piracy double extra super illegal.
>>70587574
Yeah, they did a mail service, but it fell on it's face. While I worked there, Netflix only had mail movies. DVD's had just became a thing, and blockbusters were stocked almost completely with VHS. The new stuff we would get at the time, would be half VHS, half DVD. Old stuff was all VHS. I think that may had been what helped shoot them along with Netflix, and the fees. Was that during all that, they were also shifting their entire stores over to DVD. Then, they cut corners, and had a shit selection in comparison to their VHS days.
I used to have to take out bags upon bags of tapes, and smash them in the dumpster. Sometimes my friends would meet me behind the store, and we would toss them and hit them with a bat.
Former Blockbuster manager here
they shot them selves by refusing to change with the times.
they had the opportunity to buy netflix but rejected it because "it is a fad". their PoS and inventory system had not been updated since 05(i was there 10-12). the search system was fucked. you had to know exactly how they imputed the name of the movie or it would not show up for you. So like The Silence of the lambs was in the system as Silence of the lambs, The. Title was the only way to look something up. So if a customer did not know the name of the movie but knew the director/actors we would have to use our phones to look it up. Then their ordering system was fucked as well.
the store i worked at was in a very rich area. no one wanted the shit tier snacks we had there because they had better at home. people wanted more healthy things. but corprate had contacts set up so we had to get X amount of candy/soda type each week no matter if we needed it or not. the amount of movies and games were selected by corporate as well.
>get 250 copies of Transformers 2
>only about 50 of them ever got rented.
>get 1 copy of Black Fish/Searching For Superman/The Cove
>it is constantly checked out and alot of people want those disks
then yes late fees were 100% retarded at the prices they were set at.
"These plans used to work in the 90s I dont understand why they are not working now. You are all not trying hard enough!" that was from the last conference call i was on said by the regional manager.
>>70584012
>>70584383
it robs the jews of income
Somehow there's still some open here in this free pirate haven. I know our internet can be pretty bad but it can't be bad enough to actually pay money to rent a movie.
>>70587794
RIP Woolies :(
The way pirates gets treated, must be how blacks gets treated for selling drugs which is why nothing changes.
>>70583418
I got a couple of unused BLOCKBUSTER BALLOONS, one yellow and one blue!
This is now a nostalgia thread.
>>70587323
>that Sears catalog at Christmas time
>>70588018
>"These plans used to work in the 90s I dont understand why they are not working now. You are all not trying hard enough!" that was from the last conference call i was on said by the regional manager.
Well at least capitalism did its work. The management was probably a load of fat boomers who had no idea what the internet is.
>>70588018
High five ex Blockbuster Co Worker, brother. I was there in 2001, and 2002. Just a CSR, though. I wanted to fuck my manager in her ass.
>>70587249
What happend.
>>70588018
>"These plans used to work in the 90s I dont understand why they are not working now. You are all not trying hard enough!"
>These plans used to work in the 90s
I wonder if your regional manager realized the answer to his question was in his own statement.
>>70588179
i still have a montgomery ward dehumidifier from like the 70's running in my basement
>>70584481
I was so happy when they finally died. Fuck but they were the most annoying place ever, and their original store floorplan with no windows, pinched off corners for videos and games, and the big square in the middle was so fucking unfriendly. And I never forgave them for DIVX.
They shot themselves.. Way too overpriced. Competition came from no where and months later they went 'huh?! where`d ma sales go?!'. Idiots.
Man, I used to go to Hollywood Video instead of Blockbuster, and I remember them being open 24 hours for most of the year.
I didn't think much of it as a teenager, but looking back, I find that weird as hell. Who is even going to come in and rent a movie from 2 am - 5 am? I imagine they had some drunk fucks come it at that time.
"Can you, hiccup, show me where the, hiccup, foreign section is?"
I'd be like oh god, who the fuck is coming in here at 3 am? Hopefully it's not that one tweaker guy again. I feel bad for the college students who took those graveyard shifts.
you're not gonna be the next esti
>>70587249
>>70587189
Is this an "American brand tries to go international and bombs" thread?
>Walmart open in Germany by buying out someone and rebranding
>Force their staff to smile and act all close and yank like
>German customers hate it, staff hate it
>make staff do this weird yank warm up shit to begin shifts
>staff leave en mass, company collapses.
>>70587846
K-Mart was weird. Was not sad when they closed down, really. I think there is one left in Atlanta area.
>>70588836
Fuck, I just remembered this while reading you message. I remember Hollywood Video. My gf worked there while I worked at Blockbuster. Fuck there used to be a lot of Video rental stores.
>>70588377
They were.
>>70588570
no. He was a Gen X drone who had fully been brainwashed by corporate boomers.
>>70588454
You missed good times closing stores down.
Last day we were open i threw a party there. No customers came in besides the stoner rich kids. No fucks given. beer was drank herb was burned and coworker bitches were fucked. We all made out like theives thou.
>3 months before we close down we get the notice that we are closing
>i call everyone in all 4 of us
>tell them whats goin down. give them each a huge ass box we get the candy crates in
>tell them to fill it with shit they want for them selves. last day everything is 1 cent
>>70588858
That warm up thing is odd. I've seen it before. It's not really a yank thing, but more of a Walmart thing.
>>70589146
Forced smiling is weird though
>In Germany, Wal-Mart stopped requiring sales clerks to smile at customers — a practice that some male shoppers interpreted as flirting — and scrapped the morning Wal-Mart chant by staff members.
>>70587794
>Woolworths
>dead
They are pretty big in straya
>>70588858
only boomers and preps like that shit in in america. everyone else hates that shit but our boomer bosses have us by the wallets.
>>70589146
>>70589221
Oh and this gem
>“They didn’t understand that in Germany, companies and unions are closely connected,” Mr. Poschmann said. “Bentonville didn’t want to have anything to do with unions. They thought we were communists.”
>>70589140
Sounds like the last days of Rome
>>70580932
Torrent sites.
>>70586678
There was a mall here of which literally the only thing left is the Sears. Apparently they owned the building or something, so the rest of the mall got torn down, and it was rebuilt into a strip mall. It had opposite sides on the upper and lower level, so it's actually two strip malls back to back. And there's a Target in what used to be a corner of the typical massive mall parking lot.
As far as dead malls go, that one didn't do so bad.
>>70589140
My manager was a cunt, and young. And she liked to play favorites. Like especially at this one guy who worked there as well. And she didn't like me because I always called her out on her bullshit. One time I made them both cry during working hours. Because I was clowning on them, after they had both done it to me. When I asked them
>why are you guys being bitches?
They said
>Because when we make fun of you, we just say stupid shit. You just tell the truth.
I doubt I would've gotten shit. Damn I was cool back then.
>>70587323
>K-Mart goes into bankruptcy
>a few years later, K-Mart buys Sears
WTF
>>70586420
You're missing part of why Netflix killed Blockbuster then.
Netflix didn't used to stream ANYTHING.
They mailed out DVDs from warehouses - instead of renting from a store, you chose your movie online and it was express mailed to you and you just mailed it back whenever you were ready.
No late fees, that was the big gimmick and it worked because Cuckbuster was charging shitloads for late fees.
It worked because you subscribed to a monthly plan of 1 to 5 DVDs out (it was like $11.99 for 2 dvds), you would just queue up what you wanted to watch, Netflix would mail out the DVDs and a prepaid mailer to send them back - once Netflix got the DVDs back they mailed out the next thing on your queue.
Blockbuster was charging ~$6 for a new release movie as an overnight rental, so Netflix for $12 a month was cheap as shit and like I said - no late fees, ever.
>>70589441
Are you in San Antonio, TX?
>>70589407
That was the idea.
"Fuck it this place is coming to an end soon. Let the bacchanal commence!"
I know it is greek not roman fuck off.
>>70589595
You can declare yourself bankrupt, if enforced by courts means you no longer have to pay any debt off. They do this because it gives enough time for companies to start drug dealing before they can recuperate.
Get rich or die tryin' - Mohammed
>>70589632
i liked the atmosphere inside of blockbuster
it would have been a COMFY job imo
i mean, what did it really entail?
>>70580932
Can someone telly me why Netflix is still popular? I can understand why It got popular, but for the last 3-4 years it's selection has been absolute bargain-bin shit.
>>70586678
>>70589441
Our big out of town places are doing alright but the highstreets here are dead. They used to have real shops, now it's empty shopfronts, greggs the pasty seller, phone shops, betting shops and payday lenders alongside poundland and maybe a clothes store or two.
>>70581081
I'd say this and Redbox.
>>70590016
You forgot the great boom of muslim run mobile phone shops that lasted a week or two and were shit
>>70581485
I got most of my dvd collection from 3 store blowouts.
I managed to score a total of 300 movies (mostly blockbusters) for $150.
>>70589981
My wife and her children are used to spending family time together watching TV. Cable is shit and expensive here, so Netflix is the best alternative (save for pirating) whatever you want to watch.
H Wayne huizinga sold out his stock in Blockbuster before it tanked, lucky bastard.
Even had a blockbuster park near me in sofla (arcade/mini golf/ go carts and shit) that also didn't last long...
Related: had a bud who had unlimited rentals there, was copying PS2 games, would make 4 runs a day, 2 discs at a time... Made the trip once, was embarrassing to say the least
>>70589814
It was a great job. You arrived, and if there was no one there, you just made sure the walls looked nice. If there were people there, you checked them out. And then at night, right after close, you checked in movies, and had to rewind all the damn VHS. Time fucking flew while I worked there. On a busy night, all you would do is check people out, and before you knew it, it was closing time. If the manager was not around, you could put whatever movie you wanted up on the screens. That was the worst part. The damn trailer TVs. Sure you could put your own thing on, but most of the time you had to listen to the reel. And it was garbage sometimes. I remember Dude where's my Car came out while I worked there. And still to this day, have not seen the movie, because I had to listen to the trailer so many times.
>Dude, what's my tattoo say!?
>Sweet!
Tattoo says sweet...
>What does mine say!?
>Dude!
Tattoo says Dude...
Repeat like 10 times.
Was fun overall, and laidback. Got free stuff all the time. And you were usually in a shopping center, so meals were easy to get, and within walking distance.
>>70590016
Or the even worse place that uses comic sans
>>70590201
Do you get those weird stands in the middle of the town with some paki selling phone cases and shit jewellery?
>>70589146
Its based on a Korean factory chant.
Walmart is a weird company.
>>70587323
Take their failings to heart.
They refused to adapt to the times. That is what happens to things that refuse to change their ways to suit a new environment.
Best Buy is only around because they suck the manufacturers cock. like there is more Samsung branding in the stores then there is Best Buy branding. Hell you walk in to one and i could see how you might think Best Buy is a Samsung Store.
>>70581320
lol
>>70590338
>My wife and her children
>>70587930
I was talking about retail. But Hollywood is retarded as hell too. They're finally realizing fighting piracy isn't working and cut their anti-piracy budgets. Theaters are a thing of the past when we have instant streaming.
>>70590475
VR will kill theaters too.
>>70590016
The thing about malls is they had/have big indoor air-conditioned common areas. That's actually kind of important in Texas where it gets 95F/40C in the summer. The kids would hang out at the mall, even if they didn't buy much of anything. Once the neighborhood and kids started to turn bad, nobody wanted to shop with all those bad kids hanging around.
Strip malls are only air-conditioned in the stores themselves because it's a row of stores facing the parking lot. It's a bit harder to hang out there delinquently. It also removes the cost of air-conditioning a common area.
>>70590381
Yeah, we often have the multi-cultured markets, but there is always someone inside a shopping centre/precinct selling absolute shit. They always have brown skin, no exceptions
>>70589981
there's no competitor and women can't into gaming.
>>70584457
they are dead
the one in my city had a liquidation sale a while ago
>>70581485
I have two :D they are gun racks in my walk in security room.
Wish I could have gotten the big sign
>>70590475
I definitely don't think theaters will be dying anytime soon. You'll never get decent quality until well after the movie premieres It's one of the few things "to do" left. Too many of you guys think internet addicts on 4chan is representative of the real world.
>tfw can't wait to see Warcraft in theaters
>>70590475
I think business over the last 5 years has finally gotten around to realising the internet isn't some young person's thing for emailing friends. Maybe the boomers got their heads out of their asses, maybe a generation of managers changed, I don't know, but they seem to finally be trying.
>>70590633
Yeah we have indoor malls here too, they're just not as important since going over 27 degrees C here is very rare.
The best type is one we have which isn't enclosed or air conditioned but has a kind of near-roof to block wind and rain. Rain is the problem here.
>>70580932
Blast Corps
Doctor Pepper
Raisinettes
>>70585666
You do know the founder of netflix was struggling at the height of blockbusters power and offered his business to their board and was laughed out of the meeting right?
Blockbusters shortsightedness and refusing to adapt fucked them.
>>70589814
It was pretty chill at least at the stores i worked at.It was the end when i was there and everyone knew it was coming a light year away. We opened. checked in the 10 dvds. took care of the old man that came in every morning for water while out on his morning walk. watched movies while changing movies from rental to sale til a customer came in. one in about every 2ish hours. there was no need to stock things because we already stocked those 10 disks. only Tuesdays we had to work more due to new items coming it.
most of the time everyone came in high as fuck. i gave no fucks.
best part was ruined by a nigger thou.
we used to get free pizza from the pizza place next store as along as we kept their advertisements on our counters.
this fuckin jig who worked there for 2 week would go in every day even on his days off and get a extra fucking large.
aye fuck yall crackas we lootin' yo shit n aint a damn thang yall can do
>>70589318
Different company, retard.
>>70590398
Interesting, I picked up that it seems they seem to sell more Samsung TVs and appliances than anything else.
>>70591278
>>70591460
because the employees while not pushed to sale one brand over the other. unless they are paid for by said brand ____ Expert/Apple Master(such a lust for pretentiousness?!)
They are provided with more training on Samsung products "Provided by our vendor partners"
>>70589352
And the whole Sunday deal in Germany probably confused the shit out of the American Higher ups
>>70590016
>everythings a pound
>3 for £2
wat
>>70592024
£1 each or 3 for £2
>>70585666
Devil trips speak the truth
>>70592024
>>70592188
>>70590016
I remember I was in Poundland once, and they had some items on a shelf behind, like a blender, a toaster and some other cheap shit. The premise was if you spent £1-3, you'd be eligible to buy the toaster for £5, if you spent over £10 you would be eligible for something else. Was very strange I tell you
>>70592188
>What if you just want two, can you buy three and then get a refund on one for a £1.
>Then get two for a £1 and do that twice and get 4 for £2
wat, No im not jewish
>>70592502
Fuck i think i just haxed poundland.
>>70592502
>wat, No im not jewish
Poundland is, I've worked in one when I was a teenager, they're fucking awful
>>70587249
I was leaving Target when they entered Canada. I'm not sure how they managed to fuck it up so badly.
>>70592696
Poundland is a jew?
>>70587794
>Brands die all the time anon
Why won't wallmart die?
>>70585660
>anyone else have the mod chip for burned discs in their ps1's ?
I still have my modded ps1 . still works too.
>>70592794
Shekelworld is the jewish poundland
>>70592794
The management are penny-pinching fucks and the whole thing runs on the tiniest profit margins. They try to avoid giving refunds by basically any means they possibily can and the staff room in mine was shit.
I agree with some of the other anons in this thread. I mean, it's probably just the nostalgia goggles, but those old Blockbusters were the shit when I was growing up. They played a huge role in my childhood.
>Get off school Friday afternoon in elementary school
>Go home, mom says grandpa is going to be picking my brother and I up
>Grandpa is the freaking man, he picks us up, takes us the Blockbuster by his house
>Lets us pick a video game to rent (that was one of my favorite things about Blockbuster--video game rentals)
>Also buys us each one of those small bags of that popcorn they would sell that was so salty it made your lips sting but was so, so, so delicious
>Get back to grandpa's place, play that video game all night, regardless of how shitty it was, only breaking to eat dinner with grandpa and grandma
>Once it got late at night, grandpa usually went to bed early, stay up late (like 11 pm lol) with grandma watching TV
>Sleep over
>Wake up, each the pancakes that grandma made, continue playing rented video game, or hang out and do random stuff with grandpa outside
>Mom and dad finally come pick us up Saturday afternoon
>Don't want to go home, just want to stay and chill at the grandparents all weekend long
>Do this about once a month for the entirety of my childhood
Man, I miss those days. A lot.
>>70592908
Haha, thank you for the information. It is hard to identify the jew when it hides its claws
>>70592964
>stay up late (like 11 pm lol)
Libertine!
>>70592964
dem feels, are they both still alive?
>>70592833
MERCA loves it cheap shit in one stop shopping.
like I avoid going to walmart unless im looking for a game that is sold out else where. have not had to do that in like Metal Gear Solid 4 thou.
>>70592964
Right in the feels. Man i miss my grandpa
>>70580932
Does anyone else feel like because NO blockbuster, netflix is a complete monopoly on the streaming online market?......and no, HULU is no way equivalent
>>70592971
I wasnt joking, my family owns 6 of these stores. Honestly im jewish.
>>70592964
It is the vantage point you had.
You did not have to deal with the shit they put you through. if i remember right back in the 90s they required a credit card to start a membership.
>>70580932
Everybody accumulated some horror story about dealing with Blockbuster. Blockbuster was SHITTY about late fees, then they tried to push some program that was about "no late fees" but you'd find out that it just meant they'd charge you for the whole video or some restocking fee, it was SLIMY as FUCK. EVEN AFTER Blockbuster came out with a mail DVD program that was actually a little bit better than Netflix (you could return the DVD to the store and pick out a new one from the store immediately) they still ended up losing, and I think it's just because everyone had some bad experience with Blockbuster and wanted to stick it to them.
>>70583972
>>70584156
>For most people, convenience is more important than freedom and choice
Bruh.
>>70593347
>Honestly im jewish.
Shalom.
>>70593347
You should rename to 'Shekelshop', much more aural appeal
>>70593306
Netflix actually has a pretty shitty selection outside of old tv shows and their original series'.
Amazon Prime's been getting much better movies than them lately.
>>70584322
>Hollywood Video
I loved that place. No children will ever more know the joy of wandering a video rental store in search of a hidden gem. The smell of fresh plastic and slightly dirty linoleum, the exotic variety of candy and junkfood, the excitement of new video games being cycled into stock.
I'm glad these'll be a unique experience. Modern children are little faggots and don't deserve anything good.
>>70592964
Yeah, living close to your grandparents was always the shit. I remember renting Starship Troopers when I stayed at my grandparents once.
>>70593347
Why do Jews go on /pol/?
>>70593704
Hulu also has shit like Seinfeld and Southpark and other good obscure shows you can't find on netflix.
Netflix knows this which is why they try to create original shows, but 85% of the time they fall flat.
>>70585145
They do it so no one files a lawsuit against them for negligance if someone gets injured by one of the products thrown in the dumpster
>>70583616
Actually miss this, one of the best things about block buster. Luckily my home town still has a movie world
There's a video rental place in my city that's doing pretty damn well, still. They only carry foreign and indie films that you can't get on Netflix, though.
Maybe Blockbuster should have shifted to a better selection.
>>70593601
Shekelshack?
Come on down goys, i mean guys to the shekelshack and do the shekelshuffle everything only 2 shekels.
>>70583972
>For most people, convenience is more important than freedom and choice
oh fucking please.
you have more choice now of getting the movie you want when you want then any brick n mortar store could.
the tons of streaming sites. payed and free.
besides there are torrents sites out the ass.
not only that but if you want to own some obscure movie it is just a google search away.
>>70583616
I keep that feeling on life support by renting DVDs from my library. It's all a bit easier because I have things queued on their website and just go in to pick them up, but sometimes I just also browse the racks and pick things out that seem interesting. Then I go to CVS and buy candy.
>>70581485
I was one of the last two customers in the store at the local one that was going out of business.
They sold me one of their cash registers for $4
>>70592964
Blockbuster and feel
>>70593854
I actually do have ashkenazi in me im not shitting.. Still have my foreskin and i love bacon......and i dont really have 6 stores...
i have 7.
Blockbuster still exists in Australia, believe it or not.
>>70586653
Jesus christ, you remember Hills? You truly are olde
>>70593704
Someone the other day recommended me amazon prime, i'll have to check it out
>>70593903
dude last time i checked seinfeld was on Netflix, and southpark has free full episode streaming from the southpark website, maybe a few advertisements but nothing crazy
Blockbuster was a huge part of my childhood.
I remember when Pokémon snap came out, pretty much the only place you could print the pictures out was this kiosk at a blockbuster.
There is a jumbo video by my house that's been there forever. Used to go there as a kid too, rent a game and sleep over at my buddy's house just up all night playing dynasty warriors 3 or whatever the fuck we wanted to rent. That jumbo is still open, and its fucking awesome. You can tell it makes most of its money off of games and merch, but the movie selection is huge, its like 3 dollars CAD to rent a movie for a week, new releases are 6 CAD for three days, ditto for games, and the late fees are a dollar a day. Not that they ever bother charging you said fees, but you can just call them up and tell them you want to keep the rental another week and they will just charge another week to your account.
For twelve dollars I can rent a game for a month.
Suffice it to say I give them all the business I can, preorder my games through them etc, because I want them to live forever.
>>70593347
another day another shekel
>>70594543
So does Woolworths too right?
Have you guys just entered the year 2000?
>>70594446
>i mean 8
>how did you know i had 9 stores?!
>HELP ME! SOME WILD GOY IS TRYING TO ROB MY 10 STORES!
>>70594714
Woolworths is a major supermarket chain here. It's not related to the British Woolworths.
>>70594714
Doesn't HMV still exist over there? They closed a lot of stores here.
