Blockbuster CLOSES – Video Store OUT OF BUSINESS – The End of an Era

By Geno McGahee

The end was inevitable. The last standing video store has collapsed and we are now saying goodbye to BLOCKBUSTER, a company that once owned the market. As a guy that grew up in the 1980s, it is a sad moment. I would often walk the neighborhood and visit various video stores in town, seeking out horror titles that I had not seen. There was something that was rather neat about going inside and perusing the titles, speaking with other customers, and speaking with the clerk. There was a community aspect and now, it is gone.

Going out and picking up two or three movies on a Friday night for the weekend is now replaced with finding the film on a streaming site like Amazon.com or Itunes. It is far easier and more convenient, but if you grew up when the video stores boomed, you feel the loss.

I worked at the Video Station in the early 1990s and the place was packed every weekend. Every Monday, the cases of new films would arrive for their Tuesday debuts and there would be a line at the door that Tuesday morning. It was hard to see that such a successful business would go under at that time, but times have changed.

When Blockbuster and Hollywood Video made their way into town, it quickly ran all of the mom and pop shops out of business, but the strange part was that the mom and pop places we had featured better selections and cheaper prices. They could have competed but they were afraid of the competition. So, everyone in town shifted over to the big boys and the industry moved forward.

Netflix was creeping into contention and was actually up for sale a few times, but Blockbuster elected not to buy, a decision that I’m sure that they regret…almost as much as the “no late fees” promotion. When high speed internet became commonplace and Netflix featured live streaming for a very cheap price, the writing was on the wall. Hollywood quickly crumbled, but Blockbuster was hanging in there.

Another stake in the heart was Redbox. They were and are everywhere and you can rent a film for just over a buck, which is about 25% of what Blockbuster was charging. Several different promotions were used as lifelines but the ending was coming and everyone knew it. With Redbox, Hulu, Amazon, YouTube, Netflix, and many more, the on line experience has become the thing and streaming is currently chasing DVDs and Blu Rays out of the game entirely.

There was once a strip mall that I used to visit that featured a video store and a Boston Market. Most of the stores are now darkened, empty places, and a Goodwill remains. Another video store that used to do great business is also gone and that real estate has been up for grabs for years. There is a video store graveyard and I often drive by and think back to the joy that these places once brought.

I am now streaming every new movie I watch, but it is still a sad moment that an era is now officially and definitively over. Blockbuster can rest in peace along with the many others that have fallen over the last ten years.