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Website: http://www.blockbuster.com Blockbuster is a leading global chain offfering movies and video game rentals, with over 7,100 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Most stores are company-owned but some are franchised. Company-operated stores are open 365 days a year generally from 10 a.m. to midnight. Over 2,000 stores are located internationally. In August, Blockbuster sold Xtra-vision Limited (Xtra-vision), its 186 store entertainment retailer in Ireland, to Birchhall Investments for up to $45 million in cash. Total revenues for 2008 were $5.29 billion, compared to $5.54 billion in 2007. The company's net loss was $374.1 million in 2008. Blockbuster is facing significant competition from movie-on-demand cable services, rental kiosks and online rentals from Netflix. The company has closed several hundred stores over the past two years and is planning to close up to 1,000 stores by 2010. History Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation was incorporated in Delaware in 1982 and entered the movie rental business with the opening of its first store in October, 1985. On September 29, 1994, Viacom acquired Blockbuster. In August of 1999, Viacom took Blockbuster Inc. public with an initial public offering of approximately 18% of its stock and Blockbuster made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange as "BBI". In 1998, Blockbuster opened a state-of-the-art distribution center in McKinney, TX, just north of the company's Dallas headquarters. The 850,000 square-foot facility supports all company-operated stores in the United States. In October 2004, Viacom divested its remaining interest in Blockbuster and it is now a fully independent company. Benefits - Free Video & Games Rentals &
discounts on merchandise Updated September 15, 2009 |