Although the history of home video rentals is still short, Blockbuster Video was able to make its mark on the industry almost immediately. Blockbuster went into business at the same time when rental videos were first being released. Over Blockbuster's first quarter-century of existence, it was forced to adapt several times. As technology changed with formats and players, Blockbuster has changed along with them.
Early History
The early growth of Blockbuster Video came quickly in the mid to late 1980s. The first Blockbuster Video store was opened in Dallas in 1985. Thanks to the success of this store, the store began to offer franchises the next year. After the company's founder, David Cook, left the corporation, the company moved its headquarters to Fort Lauderdale in 1987. The first international Blockbuster Video franchises were opened in London and Canada in 1989.
Significance
Blockbuster Video was established on the premise that people would prefer finding videos at a large, national chain instead of at small, local stores which might have a limited selection. In its earliest days, Blockbuster Video served as a place that people could visit and choose from a wide variety of movies from different genres. Smaller stores were not able to compete, and Blockbuster began to essentially slowly put the other stores out of business.
Size
As of 2009, approximately one out of every four videos rented in the United States were rented from Blockbuster. Blockbuster has been able to accommodate so many people because it has been an aggressive builder. More than 6,500 Blockbuster stores dot the United States. This means there is roughly one Blockbuster Video for every 50,000 people in the United States.
Adjustments
Blockbuster has not achieved its success without needing to make a number of adjustments. Although Blockbuster started as a video rental store, it soon saw there was also a market for video game rentals. Soon after video game rentals became part of Blockbuster Video, the DVD technology became more prevalent, therefore Blockbuster started to provide DVDs and videos.
One of the biggest adjustments Blockbuster has made in recent years was the adaptation to allow users to rent movies through the mail and even rent movies to watch online.
Benefits
One of the main benefits that Blockbuster has always boasted of is its accessibility to people who wanted to use it. Regardless of whether a person wanted to rent a Blu-Ray disc or a Wii video game, Blockbuster has sought ways to accommodate its customers and potential customers. The physical Blockbuster stores still have an advantage over other forms of video delivery.
Renting from a Blockbuster store is more convenient than renting online because you can have immediate access to the movie you want by renting at the store instead of waiting on the mail. Similarly, renting at the store still has some advantages over downloading a rental online because some people simply do not like watching movies on their computer screens and do not know transfer the movie from the computer to the TV.
