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  #11  
Unread January 19th, 2011, 11:21 AM
orbitdvd orbitdvd is offline
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Oh where to begin...

I think arrogance was probably the deciding factor in Blockbuster's fate. When they pushed through the end of late fees wasn't the revenue lost in the first year a billion dollars? Back then I posted on here that Blockbuster needs to circle the wagons by closing a lot of stores and becoming a leaner, meaner outfit. That didn't happen. THEN years later they realized that a lot of people don't care about late fees so like Redbox they brought them back. That pissed off those that had stuck around.

They have spent years squeezing pennies out of their customers and blood out of their employees. They now have in place DMs and RDOs that yell and scream to get results, and even if someone does come on here from corporate to put out small fires, they are not going to do jack shit to change anything overall. With the economy creaking back to life, many of you will realize that you can use your sales skills at far less threatening and more lucrative jobs selling phones, laptops and cars. If BBV does make it through the year, it will be without good help. Inept and uncaring employees will further the downward spiral.

It's over. I do believe that Blockbuster will pull some magic out of its collective ass and survive the February 4th court date, but to be honest it is only a matter of time. Even after the bankruptcy I thought that they would be able to hobble along as a smaller company, but not now. There has been and is too much incompetence with this corporation. I think that the only profitable quarters that BBV had in the recent past where when they were selling off chunks of their company like Rhino Video Games, the movie wing, and others. Anything that is making or can make money they have signed away like the vending machines and Blockbuster Canada.
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  #12  
Unread January 19th, 2011, 02:59 PM
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DavidNewlySL DavidNewlySL is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Antithesys View Post
Cust: I'd hate to see you close. You guys have a much better selection than Redbox.
Me: Yep, that's definitely one of the things we have going for us.
*customer leaves*
*I get back to my 335-piece BSI PRP pull*
wow i wish mine was 335 pieces..we had 1265 at my location
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  #13  
Unread January 19th, 2011, 06:20 PM
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Damien Oujia Damien Oujia is offline
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When did they start going down? I would say when they stubbornly refused to change how they distribute movies to consumers.

Early on in my days of working for Blockbuster I checked out blockbuster.co.uk out of curiosity. They had rental kiosks in the UK. This was YEARS before Redbox was a gleam in anybody's eye. They had the opportunity to branch out with the rental kiosks here in America but REFUSED to do so. Instead they went on with their asinine goal to have a Blockbuster store within 15 minutes of anybody living in the country (and this really was their goal...I recall us having a meeting about it and this coming down from corporate.)

That, and that alone, was the beginning of the end. When they began their massive expansion that no store no matter what they sold could maintain that was the start of the end. Those were the the final days of when they treated employees well and actually had hours to give and have 6-8 people per shift on peak nights like Friday and Saturday. That was the beginning of loss of revenue in stores (when they opened all those new stores in our area our business took a dive.)

We can talk about Netflix and how Blockbuster had a chance to do by mail rentals before then as well but really, it all started with the kiosks. That ignorance extended to by mail. And since they failed to capture the mail business they also really failed to capture the streaming business that Netflix is now claiming as well.

Blockbuster worked themselves into obsolesce. Digital downloads and broadband and a declining interest in DVDs is not to blame. They should have prepared for this, they had an opportunity to prepare for this, and they decided instead to keep on doing "business as usual."
  #14  
Unread January 19th, 2011, 07:52 PM
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DavidNewlySL DavidNewlySL is offline
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Back when netflix became big was when the blockbuster downfall took place..if they had bought them and did the online first..we would be fine now.

We were still extremely busy even with several stores and profiting but netflix took a lot of market share.
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I learned that dreams don’t work without action; I learned that no one could stop me but me. I learned that love is stronger than hate. And most important, I learned that God does exist. He and/or She is right inside you, underneath the pain, the sorrow, and the shame.
  #15  
Unread January 19th, 2011, 08:46 PM
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Damien Oujia Damien Oujia is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidNewlySL View Post
Back when netflix became big was when the blockbuster downfall took place..if they had bought them and did the online first..we would be fine now.
How would we be fine now? Why would customers still want to rent from Blockbuster in store if they were renting from Blockbuster online? How would things be different now for in store if Blockbuster cornered the market on kiosks and online rentals?

I don't think they would have had to file for bankruptcy but they still would have had to shrink the number of stores just to cut costs. The fact is even if Blockbuster cornered those markets the only thing it would have helped is corporate Blockbuster. I get the feeling stores still would be hurting and not as busy.
  #16  
Unread January 19th, 2011, 09:07 PM
itirnitii itirnitii is offline
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If Blockbuster was first to the online game, they might have significantly more subscribers.... think of all the people that left Blockbuster to go to Netflix and never looked back.

From there it's just a snowball effect...

Blockbuster retains a higher market share overall >>
Blockbuster has higher revenues as a company >>
Blockbuster can spend more money on advertising, keeping store inventories on par, remodeling stores and keeping them fresh >>
Stores make more money

Obviously, we can't predict what didn't happen or what further choices Blockbuster would make if they said 'yes' to netflix, but this scenario is plausible. I'm inclined to believe that Blockbuster is so synonymous with fucking things up that even if they bought Netflix -- they still would have fucked that up too.
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  #17  
Unread January 19th, 2011, 09:33 PM
KAWLIGA KAWLIGA is offline
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Come on... someone say it!!!

I'll give you a hint... "KLESPIC"
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  #18  
Unread January 20th, 2011, 12:47 AM
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jeremy piven jeremy piven is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ninja View Post
you Know What Two Companies Are Constantly Contending For The Number One Spot...
Coke And Pepsi...

Do They Still Put Ads Out? Yes.

Why Stop Advertising?! Instead Of Keyes Getting His Bonus That He Doesn't Really Deserve, Advertise!!!

I Could Probably Record Myself Being An Idiot, Dancing And Saying Something Catchy And People Would Remember It And Remember Bbv From It. Ugh

Advertising Isnt Free
  #19  
Unread January 20th, 2011, 02:25 AM
itirnitii itirnitii is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeremy piven View Post
Advertising Isnt Free
Quote:
Originally Posted by ninja
Why Stop Advertising?! Instead Of Keyes Getting His Bonus That He Doesn't Really Deserve, Advertise!!!
You missed a key point to his rant.
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  #20  
Unread January 20th, 2011, 02:30 AM
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AdjectiveZord AdjectiveZord is offline
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One word: Hubris.

Blockbuster went wrong when it's game plan was to become a monopoly and drive the rest of the guys out of town. Mom and Pop stores pretty much began the video rental industry and when BBV came to town, they were still in full swing. Sure those Mom and Pop stores had lousy copy depth and late fees, but they also had the one thing BBV never ever took into consideration: a relationship to their community.

BBV swooped in and killed off the competition to become king of the rental mountain too fast and too clumsily. They didn't look to see what made the stores they replaced popular, they just figured if they drove the competition out of town (or bought them outright) they could force an entire populous of people to rent from them.

However, BBV's fast rise to the top was also it's downfall. Let that be a lesson to you, Icarus, fly too close to the sun and your wax wings are gonna melt. When one town had 3-4 different video stores, Blockbuster had a much better footing. There were things that Blockbuster could offer that the other stores couldn't and negative aspects like late fees were an industry standard.

So when Blockbuster pretty much BECAME the industry, they let their hubris get in the way of their business sense. They figured people would just PUT UP with all of their shitty policy changes, price increases and late fees because they HAD to.

When Netflix came along it grew in popularity mostly as an alternative to Blockbuster. The fact that there was now another choice and the fact that Blockbuster took so long to respond to it was their downfall.

Netflix from the start was basically set up to be the anti-Blockbuster. They heavily promoted the fact that there was no late fees (which was UNHEARD OF at the time), a bigger library of titles and those red envelopes looked like the polar opposite of Blockbuster's blue rental cases. There was no pushy sales at the register either and no add ons or additional prices. From day one Netflix was successful because IT WASN'T BLOCKBUSTER.

I'd go as far as to say that if Blockbuster HAD bought Netflix, it may not have become as big as it is today. Hell Blockbuster Online is nowhere near as popular as Netflix and that's mostly because it's still a product of Blockbuster, through and through. There's still confusing policy changes, price fluctuations and a smaller library of titles. Not to mention the best aspect of having an online account still requires you to come into a store and get harassed by desperate salespersons.

So yeah, if I had to say, Blockbuster went wrong when it tried to dominate the market. My store was the ONLY video store in my town with the closest competition being another Blockbuster, less than four miles away. We had some of the highest prices in our district because of it. Blockbuster, at one point, really tried hard to take choice away from the people. People could bitch and moan about Blockbuster's policies and prices all they wanted to but at the end of the day, if you wanted to rent a movie, Blockbuster was it.

I think Netflix's popularity is the symptom, not the cause. People already hated Blockbuster at that point, Netflix was just their outlet to leave the company behind.
 

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