Today in Pop-Culture History (October 19th, 1985): Blockbuster Video Opened Its Doors!

On October 19th, 1985, the iconic video retailer, Blockbuster, opened its doors! The store, which originally specialized in the rental of VHS tapes, and later expanded to other forms of media, was founded by David Cook. The store quickly became a pop-culture icon of the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, and at its peak in 2004, employed 84,300 people and operated 9,094 stores internationally. Unfortunately, fierce competition from streaming services such as Netflix and the Great Recession from 2007-2009, caused the decline of Blockbuster, which filed for bankruptcy in 2010. In 2011, its remaining 1,700 stores were bought by Dish Network, and by 2014, the last of the company stores were closed, ending an era. Today, one franchised Blockbuster retail store still exists, and is located in Bend, Oregon.