[citation][nom]bustapr[/nom]when theres commonly an easy to walk to local rental shop in most neighborhoods and they have cheaper prices than blockbuster, its no wonder they've been failing for the past decade. I also cant see how the hell a business with 528 stores amasses almost $1 billion in debt. thats almost $2 million per store of 8 low pay employees. just what the hell were those execs doing?[/citation]
back in the vhs day, vhs to rent out cost 80-150$
im not sure if that over price happned with games and dvds but that is one clue, block buster has what, a few 1000 discs per store, and they got what, 100+ of the newest blockbuster that comes out, and how many of those discs really return their value?
you also have to imagine the property value, and the taxes on that, or even rending fee for them...
even stores that are in the red and never hit black serve a pourpose when you are a major player, it keeps brand awareness, and that is more valueble than the money the store would have had if they didnt shut down.
but blockbuster #$^%@ away all its brand name with late fees that were the real bread and butter for the store. they could have just charged you for another rental, but no, more than the cost of the movie as a late fee.
also a 6-12$ price point for renting out videogames... seriously...
block buster could have been a redbox/netflix like company.
have small store where someone comes in, tells you the movie they want, and you get it from the back.
and all the day, they send you movies and mailing addresses close to you so you also pack and mail out movies at the end of the day.
there, just came up with a buisness model that would kick blockbusters butt even back in the day when they were big.
but what really hurts them is that they still till they closed, got exclusivity deals for movies. rent it before you can buy it, or rent it from us, because no one else can yet kind of bs.