Backroad Odyssey : Travel Stories, Van Life & Road Trip Oddities
Traveling America's backroads, road trip experts - Noah and Noodles - explore fascinating locations overlooked while traveling.
Living out of a van, they unravel the - often shocking - story behind each neglected story or location.
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Backroad Odyssey : Travel Stories, Van Life & Road Trip Oddities
The Last Blockbuster - The Little Video Store That Could
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
One solitary Blockbuster Video location remains ...
The story of this lonesome Blockbuster provides a lens into the larger rise and fall of an American icon.
Noodles and I visit Bend, Oregon to unpack the truly fascinating story of The Worlds Last Blockbuster.
Works Cited:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41948252?searchText=blockbuster+video&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dblockbuster%2Bvideo%26utm_source%3Dgoogle%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A2e2181c12e0dcbf0453e4916fb6bb497
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24411692?searchText=blockbuster%20video&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dblockbuster%2Bvideo%26utm_source%3Dgoogle%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A0ee9160783ad78079a9ef9af1e980484
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/history-of-netflix-15091518
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/09/05/a-look-back-at-why-blockbuster-really-failed-and-why-it-didnt-have-to/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8704802/
https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-of-blockbuster
https://thebolditalic.com/so-i-visited-the-last-blockbuster-on-the-planet-and-all-i-got-was-this-t-shirt-ffc6d2ed414d
https://inspireip.com/blockbuster-failure-story/#:~:text=However%2C%20Blockbuster%20ignored%20customers'%20preferences,and%20ease%20in%20watching%20videos.
https://hbr.org/2011/04/how-i-did-it-blockbusters-former-ceo-on-sparring-with-an-activist-shareholder
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/the-last-blockbuster-netflix-oregon-b1817869.html
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Blockbuster
Speaker 1Cruising down the street . I wonder where this road would lead so many possibilities . Care to share what you think . Oh , noodle Dolls , what do you see ? Back Road Odyssey ? Hues of vivid , blue and yellow surround you , the plastic perfume of countless VHSs and DVDs in the air . Action , comedy , drama these are the many genres littered throughout the maze of aisles in the store Twizzlers Oregon . We're heading back into town to make our grand pilgrimage to the last operating blockbuster in the world . Our grand pilgrimage to the last operating blockbuster in the world .
Speaker 1Blockbuster , a one-time cultural staple , from Bend , oregon , to Fort Myers , florida , sydney , australia , england and beyond , now simply exists as a memory for so many people . And this would continue to be the case if not for where we're going right now . The story of this last solitary blockbuster in Bend is just as interesting as the broader story of this Titanic company's really slow decline . We'll explore both stories today , but for now you know the drill . Let's start simple . What made Blockbuster Blockbuster ? Let's start simple . What made Blockbuster Blockbuster ? How did the signature Blockbuster plastic card earn a spot in the wallets , in the purses , in the pockets of millions ? Where else to start ? But the beginning .
Speaker 1The year is 1977 . Hell yeah , oh yeah . With the seeds of American consumerism of the 80s largely already planted , the time is now ripe for new ideas and new technologies to enter the market . One such technology is the VHS to enter the market . One such technology is the VHS video home system now available across the states . From here on , movies can be sold directly to consumers , who can watch them in the comfort of their own home . That is for a price . Your typical new VHS release in the early 80s cost around $100 . Not entirely practical or ideal . I've got to return some videotapes Patrick Bateman , american Psycho . Enter the video rental store business model which solves the problem of price Walk in , pick a movie , spend a few dollars , take it home , watch it , return it and you are done Easy .
Speaker 1One such video rental store was opened by David Cook in the fall of 1985 . The store's name Blockbuster Video in the fall of 1985 . The store's name Blockbuster Video . Cook's family-friendly video rental establishment , to put it lightly , blows up Just three years later . New stores open and profits soar , and Blockbuster transcends a term describing a film's success . It becomes a destination at its peak . Blockbuster boasts 9,094 stores worldwide with an annual revenue of over $5 billion .
Speaker 1How People forget there were other rental stores . Blockbuster did not invent it . What's the key to Blockbuster's unique success ? If you want to view paradise , simply look around and view it . Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory , 1971 .
Speaker 1Let's start with this . Okay , so , where most video rental stores had limited copies , especially of new releases , blockbuster has everything all the time . And not only that , they stayed open longer . You had three-day rental periods rather than just a single day . Stores were family-friendly . There was no weird beaded door in the corner of the room . But , importantly , blockbuster also claimed a unique revenue share model with movie studios . Rather than having to pay full price for each really expensive VHS , later DVDs , blockbuster would dish out 40% of each rental to the studios . Let's say this so Blockbuster rents out 100 copies of Dead Poets Society in 1989 at $2 each . Blockbuster keeps $120 . The studios keep $80 . And this revenue share model means a uniquely cheaper supply of videos , which enables more copies of your newest releases and , finally , enables increased profits to Blockbuster stores .
Speaker 1Perhaps the greatest key to Blockbuster's early success is this Streamlined and confidential technology . That is right . When we picture Blockbuster today , we think archaic , unadaptable , static . But from the start , blockbuster used and embraced new technology . From the start , blockbuster used and embraced new technology . They had a unique computer software system that made renting videos from any Blockbuster around the world faster . Checkouts were faster , information was more easily stored , age restrictions automated . It was simpler , it was more convenient than any mom and pop-pop video rental store in the world . And going off this , I'm going to make a controversial statement . You might want to sit down . Blockbuster Video was once the pinnacle of efficiency . We're parked outside the Blockbuster right now . It's pretty surreal . It's like going back in a time machine to sit here and to look at those bold , brick-like letters .
Speaker 1I remember so vividly the thrill of being able to physically touch , physically search through all of these different movies , tv shows as a child . For me it was always kind of this bright spot in the series of family errands that we had to run . Right , we'd go to the grocery store , we'd go to Walmart , walgreens , and if we made a stop at Blockbuster it was all right with me because it was fun , it was an experience . And right here , right now , I feel like I'm in the back seat again with my siblings waiting to go in and rent . I don't know the Lion King Noodles . My dog wasn't even a glint in her grandparents' eye when this happened .
Speaker 1But here's my question now From dinosaurs to to Zumba pants , to Vine , to Seinfeld , all these things , all things end . So how did Blockbuster right , with all its wealth , with all its influence , all its power , how did it meet its demise ? Its demise ? Family , religion , friendship these are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business , mr
Blockbuster's Rise and Fall
Speaker 1Burns .
Speaker 1Season 8 , episode 21 of the Simpsons , cook leaves the company in 1987 over disagreements with former waste management business mogul turned Blockbuster CEO , h Wayne Huizenga . What are these disagreements ? Most simply put , cook wants less debt , which slows company growth . Huizenga wants to take on more debt , which stimulates growth . Under Huizenga , blockbuster's Napoleonic conquest of the video rental space truly begins . Blockbuster stops at nothing until you , your cousin and your mother's uncle lives within the proximity of a Blockbuster store . Need a new location ? No problem , take on more debt with the banks , as long as you're physically growing . It looks good on paper . According to Zynga , in time it's estimated a new Blockbuster location opens every 17 hours . And here , right here , is where the seed of our friendly little Blockbuster that could in Bend , oregon , which still operates today , is planted to grow at the rate desired by Blockbuster Video .
Speaker 1Blockbuster will franchise ? Pretty simple really . Franchisee finds a piece of land he likes , gets a lease usually 20 years takes out a construction loan , throws up a building and off he goes . Ray Kroc , the founder 2016 . It's worth exploring just what franchising is for a minute . A franchisee is a person or business that pays a fee to a franchisor Blockbuster in this case . This payment allows the franchisee to operate a business under the franchisor's brand and systems . Now for Blockbuster , this means the right to use their coveted standardized computer systems . Franchisees would also have the right to use products , brands , materials and trademarks for a set number of years .
Speaker 1Agreements between franchisors and franchisees can be different from company to company . For Blockbuster in 1988 , when Blockbusters were popping up like weeds , you paid an initial fee of $55,000 to operate under the Blockbuster name , then a quick $30,000 for proprietary software , a fee for maintenance and continued royalties and a bit more here and there . It was a lot by franchising standards , but it seems to have been worth it in those early years . Monthly revenue by 1989 was , on average , $65,491 per month per store . Let's not get bogged down by all of the numbers . All of this is to say there was a reason to start a store or convert a store under the Blockbuster name , expensive as it was , as we will soon see with the story of the last remaining Blockbuster .
Speaker 1To continue , we need to understand the following fact there is a small but critical difference , especially with Blockbuster Video , between company-owned stores and stores owned and operated by a franchisee For Blockbuster . On average , early on , about half stores were company-owned , meaning the company was financially responsible for that store , and about half were franchised . Its fate tied roughly to the franchisees . I'll just chime in quick for those interested To operate at a one to one ratio half company owned , half franchised is a wild thing . Remember to open up all of these company stores . Half franchised is a wild thing . Remember to open up all of these company stores . The accumulation of debt was all but necessary . You sleep yet , trust me , I majored in cinema , arts and science .
Speaker 1At no point in your rambling and coherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought . Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it . I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul , the Principal , billy Madison . And may God have mercy on your soul , the Principal , billy Madison . We've never been better . Over 9,000 stores 5.9 billion in revenue , 80,000 employees and counting . Investors of Blockbuster Video must have boasted this statement aloud during the summer of 2004 . Surely , as they were saying this , they would not have also mentioned that currently the company is also $1 billion in debt .
Speaker 1Four years prior , in 2000 , a small DVD mail-to-home startup called Netflix approaches the titanic business entity with an offer For 50 million dollars buy us and we'll run your online operations . The founder of this company , of Netflix , reed Hastings , is laughed out of the room . In retrospect , it's easy to see how foolish this was , but why say no Before you say anything ? It was not the debt . They had in their possession over $100 million in ready cash to spend on whatever they wanted from a recent IP deal . Let's go back in time . The year is 2000 . Go back in time , the year is 2000 .
Speaker 1Netflix ships DVDs directly to your house and charges no late fees . Why go to a physical location when you can receive the movies you want from home ? Simple , easy , convenient Blockbuster Video boasts thousands of physical locations , but doesn't ship DVDs to your house and charges late fees . Which would you choose ? Like me , you must be wondering why , blockbuster ? Must you continue down your crumbling road ? There are so ? So many reasons . Let's start with this . Blockbuster depends upon its late fees . 16% of its profits come from them . Also , large companies are often slow For Blockbuster , for example , its shareholders and leaders are reluctant to pivot in any way , especially to invest in untested methods of making money .
Speaker 1It had worked for so long for Blockbuster , why change ? One example of this is Carl Icken , an activist investor , later Blockbuster CEO . He was opposed to the idea of turning the company online . Ceo , he was opposed to the idea of turning the company online . He was adamant that the time-tested business model of brick-and-mortar stores would be more successful . In other words , he wanted to stick with a business model that was turning out more and more to not really be efficient , not really work at , not for much longer . Then , the nail in the coffin . When Netflix launches its streaming service in 2007 , with superior software , flexibility and limited debt , it was by then much too late to pivot or to catch up . The elephant cannot catch the cheetah . Change is inevitable , except from a vending machine . Ferris Bueller's Day Off , 1986 . I'll ask again why did Blockbuster fail ? Here's the SparkNotes version .
Speaker 1They had an inability to pivot quickly Once it paved the way for new technology and it was small enough to pivot when it needed to After 2004, . Even beforehand , if we're being honest , they were simply too big , too outdated , riddled with debt and too beholden to shareholders to change . They had an outdated business model , it turns out . Paying for brick and mortar buildings customers no longer were willing to travel to , and selling products that people increasingly didn't need or want from those buildings wasn't exactly a recipe for success Outside competition in a changing industry . So actually buying DVDs became more popular as companies like Walmart , best Buy , target and others sold DVDs , really at a loss to get people through the door . They also , as we've kind of talked about , undervalued younger , quicker , more streamlined upstarts like Netflix and Redbox . They had bad , or , let's say , delusional , leadership much of the time . Carl Ecken , especially his insistence of not doing much of anything , wasn't great , and shareholders and a general feeling of hubrisness filled the rank and file . We're big enough that we can't fail .
Speaker 1Finally , what made Blockbuster Blockbuster in the first place ? It's debt . When the 2008 financial crisis hit , companies not built exclusively on debt struggled , but tended to survive . More often , blue and yellow stores down the street built on really a house of cards , a treasure trove of debt , essentially couldn't carry on . I declare bankruptcy . Michael Scott , the Office Blockbuster Video declares bankruptcy in 2010 . Many hoped this would be a time to reset and rethink what Blockbuster is and could be , but it's fate , it seems , was already written in stone . One year later , dish Networks buys the remaining company-owned stores , along with Naming Rights . The final corporate-owned Blockbuster store closes in 2014 . The remaining franchise stores fight on bravely renewing naming rights with the new owner , dish Network , until slowly , one by one , they vanish , becoming memory .
Speaker 1I'm in the blockbuster now . I feel a bit strange recording . There are people all around . I'll make this brief . Then we'll go out and we'll talk all about it . So just describe what I see quick the old technology , the old computers , all of the aisles with the different genres . You know the snacks . I've always thought it was weird that they had a pickle on the way out . I don't know if anybody else noticed that . It's so fun being here , but I've got a question . Okay , blockbuster once had over 9,000 locations , all relatively standardized , all looking more or less like where I'm at right now , and many of them franchised , just like this store and in similar towns .
Speaker 1How did this small blockbuster store in Bend , oregon , survive when so many did not ? What's different about this store . I didn't hear no bell . Rocky Balboa , rocky V the year is 1991 . How did this one store survive ?
Speaker 1Well , first off , you have to have a community willing to come by and rent movies , which Bend seems to have in droves . You have to have devoted management willing to put in the work and make connections with people that come to your store , which in a lot of ways is derived from the family business aspect of what was once Pacific Video . That ma and pop store mentality seems to have survived throughout the years . And , in my view , maybe most importantly , as these blockbusters start to close , you become a lot more relevant , right when there's 20 left , when there's 10 left , when there were just two left and then they became the last blockbuster . There's a lot of power in being the last of anything . Rarity in this case , becomes your greatest asset . Many of the store in Ben's current revenue comes from simply selling blockbuster merchandise inside the store , not to mention another key to their continued success is the millions of dollars in free advertising . Anyone that goes to the last Blockbuster is not going to pass up an opportunity to take a picture of the last Blockbuster , as long as their licensing agreement with the current owner of Blockbuster's name , dish Networks , keeps being renewed . The last Blockbuster will continue to survive . What is dead may never die Theon Greyjoy . Game of Thrones , season 2 , episode 3 .
Speaker 1I'm back in my van , got a cool new Blockbuster hat . Noodles couldn't join , sadly . I'm sure she would have loved to , but that was cool . It felt like a comforting hug from the 90s . I didn't rent any movies For many reasons . I don't have a DVD player in my van and I'm not from or around Ben Oregon all that much . From a lot of the research that I've done , it seems like people still come and rent videos , which is awesome , which is awesome . My guess is you'd have to be a local . But it's comforting in a weird way to know that this archaic practice is still around somewhere , if not nearby me , and I think that's what's so special about this location .
Speaker 1It's not just a museum , not solely a nostalgic merchandise store . It's a living and it's a breathing blockbuster , something that , when looking back at the roller coaster story from one store to thousands and then one again , is , in my view , reason enough to stop and to enter the last blockbuster here in Bend Oregon . What , if anything , can we learn from the blockbuster story ? To never get too comfortable . Change is important . I don't know , sitting here in 2024 , 39 years after its founding , 20 years since its peak and 14 years after the company declares bankruptcy , I don't know if there is , or even can be , an answer . Blockbuster was and continues to mean so many things to so many people , either in memory or thanks to a small , family-owned store in Bend , oregon . In person . It's Noah here .
Speaker 1Thank you genuinely for listening to Backroad Odyssey . My dog Noodles , and I appreciate it . So Bend , oregon , is one of my favorite towns to visit , even if it didn't have the last blockbuster . Would I recommend you going to Bend just to go visit the last blockbuster ? Probably not . Probably
Blockbuster's Last Stand and Merchandise
Speaker 1not .
Speaker 1But I'll say this if you're in Bend , if you're an outdoorsy type or if you just enjoy the town in itself , to be there and to not go to the last blockbuster is a missed opportunity , because it really is now , with no blockbusters left , a unique experience . It feels surreal walking through those aisles and there's great merchandise . I got a cool hat out of the experience . So , regardless , I hope you enjoyed this episode . I hope you enjoy Backroad Odyssey If you appreciate all of the work and research that goes into each episode . Taking a minute to write a review of the show really , really helps us continue to put the work that we'd like to into each episode and do the research that we also . Would like to Really appreciate your continued support of the show . With that said , be good to each other . We're two next .
