When was blockbuster sold

The company was sold to Waste Management Inc. In the same year, Blockbuster won a court case with Nintendo that paved the way for the rental of video games. By acquiring British video rental chain Ritz and U. The company declined the offer. Netflix goes public. Carl Icahn begins acquiring shares in the company. This decision ultimately left Blockbuster far behind its online rivals. Its only rival in the United States, Movie Gallery, is liquidated, leaving the company as the only remaining national video rental chain.

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The first Blockbuster opened in in Dallas, Texas. Over the next two decades, Blockbuster became the top movie -rental business in the US. However, Netflix and Redbox started challenging Blockbuster since they had no rental fees. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. David Cook opened the first Blockbuster in One year later, Cook expanded Blockbuster by opening three more stores. In , three major investors took Blockbuster to the next level.

Under new management, the company bought up local video stores and opened new ones under the Blockbuster branding. In the '90s, Blockbuster hit a major milestone when it opened its 1,th store. But trouble was on the horizon in , as Blockbuster's future competitor, Netflix, was founded.

In , Blockbuster made the first mistake that would mark its demise: The company decided not to buy Netflix. In , Blockbuster's other big competitor, Redbox, launched. Despite the rise of Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster was at its peak in But the company started making major changes in the early s that would ultimately lead to its downfall. In the following years, Blockbuster's market value dwindled, hinting at its bleak future. In , the rental company filed for bankruptcy after Netflix's popularity continued to grow.

However, Dish Network announced in that it would close the remaining Blockbuster stores. Today, the Blockbuster franchise has dwindled to just one store in Bend, Oregon, which has been turned into an Airbnb. Loading Something is loading.