History of Blockbuster
Founded in 1985, blockbuster is a giant in the video and game rental world. This young company was given the breath of life by David Cook who actually started out as a computer software supplier to Texas’ oil and gas industry. When that industry went sour in the mid 80’s Cook’s company went down the drain with it and so he was left to brainstorm something new. His loved ones gave him many suggestions but the one that caught his eye was the idea of launching a video rental business and so David went to work on it and the first store opened up in Dallas in 1985. The company grew quickly as in only four short years Blockbuster stores were opened up in London and Canada although Cook had left the company in 1987. In 1992 Blockbuster bought out Sound Warehouse and Music Plus and two years later Blockbuster was obtained by Viacom. Needless to say Blockbuster has grown a little since then and has over 8,000 stores operating worldwide. Even with all this success brought about by their hard work and strategic operating Blockbuster was challenged by a brand new company that was established in 1998. The name of this bold and intimidating competitor is Netflix. Unfortunately for Blockbuster, in recent years a substantial portion of their revenues have been seized by Netflix, a purely online rental company. In response to this catastrophe, Blockbuster was forced to enter in the online rental business not only to compete but to maintain its very existence. The war between Blockbuster and Netflix is now fully engaged.
Links:
http://www.blockbuster.com/corporate/companyOverview
http://thomashawk.com/2005/11/netflix-presents-at-lehman-brothers.html
-Ronald M. Paraison
Founded in 1985, blockbuster is a giant in the video and game rental world. This young company was given the breath of life by David Cook who actually started out as a computer software supplier to Texas’ oil and gas industry. When that industry went sour in the mid 80’s Cook’s company went down the drain with it and so he was left to brainstorm something new. His loved ones gave him many suggestions but the one that caught his eye was the idea of launching a video rental business and so David went to work on it and the first store opened up in Dallas in 1985. The company grew quickly as in only four short years Blockbuster stores were opened up in London and Canada although Cook had left the company in 1987. In 1992 Blockbuster bought out Sound Warehouse and Music Plus and two years later Blockbuster was obtained by Viacom. Needless to say Blockbuster has grown a little since then and has over 8,000 stores operating worldwide. Even with all this success brought about by their hard work and strategic operating Blockbuster was challenged by a brand new company that was established in 1998. The name of this bold and intimidating competitor is Netflix. Unfortunately for Blockbuster, in recent years a substantial portion of their revenues have been seized by Netflix, a purely online rental company. In response to this catastrophe, Blockbuster was forced to enter in the online rental business not only to compete but to maintain its very existence. The war between Blockbuster and Netflix is now fully engaged.
Links:
http://www.blockbuster.com/corporate/companyOverview
http://thomashawk.com/2005/11/netflix-presents-at-lehman-brothers.html
-Ronald M. Paraison
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