No tears here for Blockbuster

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Matt Todd

Blockbuster, the once-dominant force in movie rentals, will soon be no more.

The behemoth squeezed out the competition, forcing mom and pop video stores to close their doors because they were too small and didn’t have the finances to adapt or compete. And now Blockbuster is closing their doors because they refused to adapt. This quote from the New Yorker is rather telling:

In 1998, the launch of Netflix marked the end of Blockbuster’s uncontested domination of the DVD-rental market, but, instead of responding with a mail service of its own, Blockbuster, under the guidance of its then-C.E.O., Jim Antioco, decided to refocus on brick-and-mortar stores. The company went bankrupt in 2010.
…
The problem—in Blockbuster’s case, at least—was that the very features that people thought were strengths turned out to be weaknesses. Blockbuster’s huge investment, both literally and psychologically, in traditional stores made it slow to recognize the Web’s importance: in 2002, it was still calling the Internet a “niche” market. And it wasn’t just the Internet. Blockbuster was late on everything—online rentals, Redbox-style kiosks, streaming video.

Clearly there’s a lesson here about being able to change with the times. But for now, all I see is poetry. The way Blockbuster has run themselves into the ground is rather poetic. Don’t you think?

So long, Blockbuster. With your refusal to change, your insistence on inane late fees, and the way you ran the Little Guy out of business, I can’t say that I’m sorry to see you go.

I hope you understand. It’s just business, after all.

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Matt Todd

Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"