I worked at the Hastings in Bryan, college station, and stephenville. I hated stocking rentals. It never ended.

Hastings had staying power until the owners bought a failing chain in the east cost and tried to have those just movies. That is was tanked the company.

Dad and I were driving through Amarillo and saw the Hastings avenue and it brought back old memories

True Anomaly said:

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There's a documentary on Amazon Prime called "Netflix vs The World" that really is a nice companion piece to a Blockbuster documentary- there's a ton about the war between Blockbuster and Netflix, especially when Blockbuster tried to buy them

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Blockbuster had a chance to buy Netflix in 2000 for $50 million and decided not to.

Worked at blockbuster as soon as i turned 17(you had to be 17 because R movies) from spring 97 to 00 (left for college in 98 but came back and worked part time in summer and holidays).

Loved that job and the five free movie and game rentals per week.

I gotta watch this...

Looking forward to watching this. Did they talk about the Blockbuster/Enron partnership around broadband? Great idea but too early for both.

Cactus Jack said:

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Going into Hastings for the last time before they went out of business was a sad moment for me. Bought a whole bunch of movies. Workers looked miserable.

Never had the same emotional attachment to Blockbuster (although I went there a lot more) and can't pinpoint the last time I went inside one.

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yeah. i moved away from San Angelo in '09 but would still go in with my kids to look at books and games when we wanted to waste time when visiting my folks. in it's waning days, it was a sad sight.

something that just hit me that i didn't even think about was that i had asked my (now) wife out on a date and she had something to do that night but said "maybe. i'll call if i get free." i was wondering around hastings looking at books when she called (on my giant nokia brick) and said she was good to go out. a dumb anecdote, but i'll always remember that.

obviously we have way more content and methods to get movies now than we ever had back then and it's way better than trying to be the first person to grab it at Hastings or Blockbuster, going and asking if there were any copies in return bins, settling for something else, finding new comic books, but there was just a strange nostalgia to it that i don't know that will ever be matched.

c-jags said:

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Cactus Jack said:

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Going into Hastings for the last time before they went out of business was a sad moment for me. Bought a whole bunch of movies. Workers looked miserable.

Never had the same emotional attachment to Blockbuster (although I went there a lot more) and can't pinpoint the last time I went inside one.

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yeah. i moved away from San Angelo in '09 but would still go in with my kids to look at books and games when we wanted to waste time when visiting my folks. in it's waning days, it was a sad sight.

something that just hit me that i didn't even think about was that i had asked my (now) wife out on a date and she had something to do that night but said "maybe. i'll call if i get free." i was wondering around hastings looking at books when she called (on my giant nokia brick) and said she was good to go out. a dumb anecdote, but i'll always remember that.

obviously we have way more content and methods to get movies now than we ever had back then and it's way better than trying to be the first person to grab it at Hastings or Blockbuster, going and asking if there were any copies in return bins, settling for something else, finding new comic books, but there was just a strange nostalgia to it that i don't know that will ever be matched.

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Too bad "Hastings and chill" wasn't a thing back then

Ranger #007 said:

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https://bendblockbuster.com/

I looked up their website last night. I might need a hoody at some point.

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https://bendblockbuster.com/product/blockbuster-sunglasses/

imagine if those were also blublockers!

Ranger #007 said:

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https://bendblockbuster.com/

I looked up their website last night. I might need a hoody at some point.

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I went there last summer! It was awesome. The second you walk through the door you're taken back in time 25 years.

Average Joe said:

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TXAG 05 said:

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Ranger #007 said:

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It's really crazy to think that company started, grew to be a huge company, and then imploded and went out of business in only 25 years.

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Technology changed too fast. The internet and streaming has all but destroyed physical media. I'm sure for most people under a certain age, the concept of going to a physical store and picking out a movie to watch is something they may not be able to comprehend.

Like others have said, there was nothing like going to Blockbuster and hunting down the right movie or game. Scrolling through Netflix just can't compare.

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People forget that Netflix was disc rentals first before the streaming platform. They created a new market and Blockbuster (and other movie stores) never adapted.

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As the legend goes, blockbuster declined a chance to buy netflix for $50m. They didn't just not adapt, they had terrible leadership who couldn't see past their nose while netflix and redbox slowly but surely buried them alive.

4 years after not buying netflix, they were fighting to buy hollywood video.. the EXACT-SAME-CONCEPT as they were. It was that year they decided to introduce disc by mail.. far too late.

This thread gave me all the feels. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old lady, kids today are missing out on having the choosing of the movie be part of the whole movie watching experience. It was just so exciting. And when I got old enough to be given mom's card and go in alone with my friends? Too much fun for words.

Streaming is amazing, but we're literally spoiled for choice now and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

I don't know that kids are totally missing out on the experience of choosing a movie.. we've had movie nights with neighbor kids, and they have fun and often interesting discussions when it comes time to pick a movie while looking at the netflix screen. yes, you're not in a store, free to browse the aisles with a tactile component, but there is still a choosing process, and there is anticipation when it comes time for everyone to get comfy in their places before it starts.

What kids definitely do not have today is the experience of looking through an album's liner notes/lyrics/pictures while listening to it.

Streaming music has nothing like that.

Yes.... but Netflix will never tell you it's sold out.

I had a friend that worked there, he got me a membership when I was 16. I worked at the movie theater up the road, it was nice finishing work and then picking up a movie on the way home.

wbt5845 said:

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There is a podcast called Business Wars that traces the war between Blockbuster and Netflix, and to a lesser extent HBO. Really fascinating.

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This was a very interesting and in depth series that I'd also recommend as it went through many interesting concepts, including the bravado of Blockbuster and technological advantage Netflix had when Blockbuster tried to match concepts.

I moved to Alaska in 2014 and we had this blockbuster for 4 years or so until it closed in 2018. Rumor was that this was the last operating blockbuster. It was awesome! We were so sad when it closed. We went every weekend to get our movies. It still shows up on Google street view.

9136 Mendenhall Mall Rd
https://maps.app.goo.gl/S6i95UM3CStYgUQc9

Wow, and a Papa Murphy's attached. Great model there.

tamuags08 said:

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Wow, and a Papa Murphy's attached. Great model there.

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pretty sure the store of focus in the documentary (bend Oregon) had a papa Murphy's attached as well.

A couple of the last Blockbusters to close by my house did as well (the Papa Murphy's are still there).

What's funny...I haven't gotten a pizza from them since the blockbuster closed. But it was routine to grab a movie and pizza for movie night at the house.

they hung on too long, they should have changed business models.

I remember around 2011 or so they tried to do Redbox-style kiosks, but that didn't make it either. They had the inventory to go to-to-toe with Netflix back when they were mailing discs, such a missed opportunity.

In the same vein, can you imagine if walmart had jumped on the online sales bandwagon back in 2000? They had massive inventory spread out all over the country. They would have destroyed Amazon.

Documentary was great. Interesting to hear the blockbuster side of their demise. I assumed it was all about Netflix, did not know about the other issues.

Drifter. said:

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The documentary was interesting. We were more of a Hastings family though!

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Well blockbuster didn't have a band and keg of Milwaukee's best on Friday afternoons

TexasAggie_02 said:

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they hung on too long, they should have changed business models.

I remember around 2011 or so they tried to do Redbox-style kiosks, but that didn't make it either. They had the inventory to go to-to-toe with Netflix back when they were mailing discs, such a missed opportunity.

In the same vein, can you imagine if walmart had jumped on the online sales bandwagon back in 2000? They had massive inventory spread out all over the country. They would have destroyed Amazon.

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very true. If it was properly managed, they would still be around in some form.

I actually did some design work for their kiosks and it would have been better than the redbox kiosk, but the project never really took off like it should have even though we actually did deliver the first few design models.

Growing up, I thought it would be cool to work at one and I eventually did in between the semester break one winter and it was cool at times and tedious at others. I worked during the holidays and I remember spending New Year's restocking movies, not too much fun at the time. I worked at one of the busiest stores in Houston and the time went by real quick, but it was a poorly managed store. I didn't get paid until a month later because the manager was late in turning in my paper work. Whatever, I didn't work at Blockbuster for the paycheck, I worked there for the experience. The 2 or 3 weeks that I worked there were enough for me.

TexasAggie_02 said:

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they hung on too long, they should have changed business models.

I remember around 2011 or so they tried to do Redbox-style kiosks, but that didn't make it either. They had the inventory to go to-to-toe with Netflix back when they were mailing discs, such a missed opportunity.

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It was explained pretty well in the documentary. They were even with netflix early on, but BB had large debt and no capital for customer acquisition for the fledgling dvd by mail model. Netflix was cash heavy, so they won that simple fight.

It wasn't because they ignored the opportunity or hung on too long to b&m.

Always went to Hastings in College Station in the 1990s. Hastings was the greatest store. Music, movies, and books. I loved it.

Moved to Dallas in the late 1990s anc was shocked that every corner had a blockbuster.

Mine was next to a Papa Johns and in the same shopping center as KFC and Burger Street. It was glorious.

I wonder if we'll see similar stories about best buy And Barnes & noble in the next decade...

Pre pandemic both of those had done a pretty good job of righting the ship.

Best buy still seems to be doing well. No idea about b&n

Spent the night camped out at Hastings for tickets to The Police Synchronicity Tour. Must have been around 1984. They even brought out a keg for us to stay hydrated over night. Great Times!