[safety1st]

What's funny about all this Blockbuster nostalgia is that back in the day they were actually the bad guys. They were the big homogenous corporate chain that drove all the independent stores out of business. One of their key differentiators was to overstock Hollywood blockbusters at the expense of indie films, art films, cult classics etc. and to make sure that the indie stores wouldn't be able to get their hands on the big titles when they first came out.

Blockbuster always had the least interesting inventory of the rental places in our neighborhood and their employees tended to be less knowledgeable, but because they were the only place that was guaranteed to have the latest box office hits, they drove the other stores out of business. Their homogenization and crapification of the video rental industry is what created the opportunity for Netflix's rise -- NFLX's original DVD-by-mail catalog was vast and movie buffs could finally get their hands on the obscure classics they were no longer able to find locally.

[EricE]

Yup - it's my first thought whenever I see these nostalgic accounts of Blockbuster - "What? People are pining for the bad guy again?!?"

[jrnichols]

the dim back room of the local video store with the curtain over it is what kept some of our local ones in business as long as they did. yes, that porn selection was quite profitable.