http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_Video

So I have some ads on the activities section of craigslist and check out that section every now and then. I just noticed a second location in the triangle has posted an ad that it is closing. I didn't realize they are all closing. That was the first place I drove to without my parents after I got my license. My two younger sisters and I went to Blockbuster to get ready for later that night. Back in those days we had a lot of friends still living in our neighborhood. Our parents would have parties and all of us kids would go to someone else's house to watch movies and play video games. I'm pretty sure I rented Dirt Trax FX for the SNES that day. I don't remember what movies we rented though.

11/16/2013 8:16:12 PM

thats a cool story, sis

11/16/2013 8:30:08 PM

I wish I could easily remove this preloaded Blockbuster app that came on my phone

11/16/2013 8:30:46 PM

^^What used to piss us guys off is that our parents would always return home right when Red Shoe Diaries was starting on Showtime!

Oh cool! They have a gum ball machine for sale!

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/act/4196102269.html

11/16/2013 8:41:31 PM

Blockbuster had horrible business practices, and everybody hated them. My family finally parted ways with them after they accused us of stealing tapes. It was weird because it was movies that we definitely would have rented except we already owned them--like, Tommy Boy, Lethal Weapon, and Cool Runnings. The teenage manager said he had us on tape and that we had to pay a bajillion dollars in late fees and replacement costs. LOL

So yeah...fuck Blockbuster. North American Video for life!

11/16/2013 8:46:58 PM

goodnight sweet prince

11/16/2013 9:42:55 PM

went there after senior prom to rent a movie, and they wouldn't let us rent a movie because of some bullshit about not having the membership card.

good riddance.

11/16/2013 9:55:15 PM

^ What were you going to rent? American Pie?

11/16/2013 10:26:59 PM

There was an establishment named "Rockbuster Video" in an old quarry near Lexington Va, and they were sued by Blockbuster for the name and had to change it. I hope they are still open and are laughing.

11/16/2013 10:31:54 PM

^^The first time I went without my parents I took their card and the cashier said something to me about how it wasn't my card. They still let us rent, but said that was always a big issue when someone turned 16 and took their parents card, since it wasn't under their name. I went to high school with he guy, so I guess he trusted me.

11/16/2013 10:32:07 PM

"In 2000, the company turned down a chance to purchase a one-year-old company called Netflix for $50 million.[30]"

Lol.

11/16/2013 10:43:55 PM

When I was 17 they wouldn't let me rent A Clockwork Orange.

11/16/2013 11:17:38 PM

^5

I dont even remember, that was a long time ago

11/16/2013 11:31:28 PM

11/17/2013 7:33:02 AM

^My thought too!

Quote :

""In 2000, the company turned down a chance to purchase a one-year-old company called Netflix for $50 million.[30]""

Maybe the stock wasn't doing good that week. It's a risk reward situation. You just never know.

11/17/2013 11:43:12 AM

Good riddance. Blockbuster had awful business practices.

I grew up in North Raleigh and remember Blockbuster being the only place to rent movies and games for a while and their prices and late fees were ridiculous.

Then one day another movie shop opens, Moovies (or something like that) near Strickland and Six Forks. They had a better selection, cheaper prices, a more accommodating late return policy and the staff was a whole lot nicer. Of course, it only took a few months before Blockbuster opened a store in the building next to them.

All the other Blockbusters had the same ridiculous pricing and policies, but THIS Blockbuster had unreasonably cheap rates and fees. It was pretty clear they were trying to run Moovies out of business, and everyone knew they were running in the red with those prices, but they had dozens of stores in the area to cover the difference.

It took a while, but eventually Moovies shuttered its doors and Blockbuster jacked its rates way up again.

11/17/2013 12:06:06 PM

^hollywood video on six forks and spring forest

I used to live 1/4 mile from a blockbuster so we would get the unlimited pass and just go back and switch out things a few times per day. it was well worth it because it meant as long as it was during store hours, i had every movie and every video game.

11/17/2013 2:34:13 PM

CARBONATED VIDEO FO LIFE

11/17/2013 3:45:37 PM

^^We lived way out in the boonies when I was frequenting the video stores for Friday and Saturday night entertainment so we didn't venture further South than Strickland Rd. Hollywood Videos did take over the old Moovies building and gave Blockbuster a good run for their money, but by that point I was in high school, our family had moved closer into town and I could spend Friday and Saturday evenings with friends instead of on the couch.

11/17/2013 4:01:08 PM

Moooovies! is where we switched to first and then to Hollywood Video. I tried to find a picture of Moooovies yesterday, but I couldn't. Saying that name was way too amuuuusing to me.

11/17/2013 4:39:48 PM

Since no one has done it yet...



goodnight sweet prince

11/17/2013 5:06:27 PM

Blockbusters late fees were unreal. If you were a couple days late, you might as well gone out and bought the movie.

11/17/2013 9:06:52 PM

blockbuster had no late fees after like 2002 ish

11/17/2013 11:54:53 PM

I remember when I would play burnt PS2 games, I went to Blockbuster where I had had a membership for plenty of years, and tried to rent a game with a debit card...they were like "sorry we can only take credit cards" as if they were worried about me stealing a game they couldn't just go ahead and try to charge $50 to my card to see if it took and put a hold until I returned it the next day or something...so I was like "fuck you, Blockbuster"

11/18/2013 1:28:07 AM

Quote :

"I wish I could easily remove this preloaded Blockbuster app that came on my phone"

more like...

remove this peeloaded cockbuster crap

11/18/2013 1:49:38 AM

^^ I read that post in Morgan Freeman voice and it turned out pretty ok.

11/18/2013 1:57:10 AM

$17 late fee since 1998.

I TOLD YOU I'D WIN, BLOCKBUSTER.

11/18/2013 7:54:29 AM

I still have one of the laminated typed blockbuster cards.

11/18/2013 8:41:00 AM

Quote :

"$17 late fee since 1998. I TOLD YOU I'D WIN, BLOCKBUSTER."

Thread winner.

11/18/2013 9:57:55 AM

^^I still have one too

11/18/2013 3:11:39 PM

11/18/2013 3:25:29 PM

You could tell a kid 10 years from now that "When I was a kid my parents would drive me to the Blockbuster or Video Store to rent VHS movies" And theyd have no fucking clue what you were talking about.

11/18/2013 4:34:51 PM

You could tell a kid 10 years from now today that "When I was a kid my parents would drive me to the Blockbuster or Video Store to rent VHS movies" And theyd have no fucking clue what you were talking about.

11/18/2013 4:38:38 PM

phar mor

11/19/2013 9:17:31 PM

didn't realize till this afternoon they cancelled their DVD by mail service as well. I guess I have to send back the movies I have

11/20/2013 10:01:13 PM

Are they still going to have their red box style machine?

11/21/2013 12:41:59 AM

1. drive blockbuster out of bbusiness
2. reduce your movie selection

fuck netflix

12/31/2013 3:43:00 PM

3. Raise rental prices

fuck Redbox

12/31/2013 3:49:01 PM

Quote :

"North American Video for life!"

I worked at one for a couple years back as like an assistant or co-manager or some crap when I first started at NCSU (like 97-99, something like that). The one in Fuquay (gone now) and sometimes at the one in Garner (probably still there) Actually my old boss joined TWW some years later. RYAN SUCKS! ha ha

I was always very liberal with waiving late fees... cause we were far from the only game in town, and I always figured that customer loyalty would bring more in over the long run.

I think DVDs and streaming hit NAV hard. Their whole deal was one wall of new stuff, and the rest was very impressive library of obscure, cult, or classic crap............

and the porn room.

The porn room did like half our business easy btw. This one dude literally rented 4 porns every time he came in (buy 3 get one free) and always brought em back late. I always waived his shit, he was literally our #1 customer with #2 spending hundreds less.

so rad.

12/31/2013 4:15:59 PM

what a difference

1/1/2014 4:14:41 AM

I remember renting VHS tapes and video games for my regular Nintendo when I was a kid from Blockbuster. So this is what getting old feels like?

1/1/2014 9:25:18 AM

I remember in the early '90s my family would rent a Genesis and a couple games like Sonic 1 or 2 and Micro Machines from a video store that has since gone out of business; we never had Blockbuster in the small town where I grew up, and I always imagined it would be more amazing than it probably would have turned out to be (I have never actually rented from Blockbuster).

1/1/2014 9:40:10 AM

i did not have a video game console growing up, but my friend did. we always rented games at the t-town video.

there were two or three different locations around statesville and troutman.

1/1/2014 3:21:40 PM