home entertainment movie rental

Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) is one of the largest chains of video tape, video game and DVD rental shops in the world. It is headquartered at Renaissance Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas, and has locations in twenty-nine countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Brazil, Peru, Taiwan, Italy, and formerly, Spain.

History

Blockbuster opened its first store on October 19, 1985, and with Wayne Huizenga at the helm it soon grew into a multi-billion dollar corporation. It was sold to Viacom in 1994, at a price of $8. 4 billion. :: Movie Tavern ::. During the 1990s Blockbuster bought out their major UK rival Ritz Video and changed the name of all the stores to their own, which made them the number-one video rental store in the country by a wide margin. In 1999, Viacom spun off Blockbuster as a separate company with the issuance of a new IPO. [1][2]

Blockbuster has lost significant amounts of money in recent years: $1. 6 billion in 2002, almost $1. 0 billion in 2003, and $1. 2 billion in 2004. Turnkey DVD Movie Rental Business Opportunities from Zone 3.

In December 2004, Blockbuster announced it wanted to do a hostile takeover of Hollywood Video, its major U. S. competitor. [3]. In response, Hollywood Video agreed to a buyout on Monday, January 10, 2005 by its smaller competitor, the Dothan, Alabama-based Movie Gallery.