It is rare that most corporate offices continue after the demise of a company. In our society today most employees feel as if they have outgrown their workplace but not in case Blockbuster Inc.
Blockbuster Inc. was more than just a workplace but a fun and diverse environment. The relationships and bonds that were established continue on even today. On Saturday, July 2nd, some of the Blockbuster Corporate Office employees gathered together despite the extreme temperatures at Old Settler Recreation Center in McKinney Texas to reminisce about the good times during their tenure at Blockbuster Offices at Renaissance Tower in Dallas and the distribution Center in McKinney Texas.
The former colleagues are committed to making this reunion occur annually and have already started planning for next year event. One of the employee Sharon Westbrook traveled from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to attend the event and to reflect on the past with her former colleagues. During the festivities the attendees took a moment for a moment of silence for former employees that preceded them in death.
Matt Scrow, a former Real Estate Manager bought along some of the memorabilia from his former days as Store Manager. A couple of the former employees actually met their spouses during their tenue at Blockbuster. At the suggestion of Judie Barnard, a former Account Payable Manager stated that she would love to see her former colleagues after she suffered a near death experience last year. Kris Harker and Sonya Paul took Judie suggestion and ran with the idea. The event was shared on Facebook which resulted in a tremendous response.
The first Blockbuster video-rental store opens in 1985, in Dallas, Texas. At a time when most video stores were small-scale operations featuring a limited selection of titles, Blockbuster opened with some 8,000 tapes displayed on shelves around the store and a computerized check-out process. The first store was a success and Blockbuster expanded rapidly, eventually becoming one of the world’s largest providers of in-home movies and game entertainment.Blockbuster was founded by David Cook, he sold part of the business to a group of investors that included Wayne Huizenga, founder of Waste Management, Inc., the world’s biggest garbage disposal company. Later that year, Cook left Blockbuster and Huizenga assumed control of the company and moved its headquarters to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Under Huizenga’s leadership, Blockbuster embarked on an aggressive expansion plan, snapping up existing video store chains and opening scores of new stores. By 1988, Blockbuster was America’s leading video chain, with some 400 stores. By the early 1990s, Blockbuster had launched its 1,000th store and expanded into the overseas market.
In 1994, Blockbuster was acquired by the media giant Viacom Inc., whose brands include MTV and Nickelodeon. In the mid-1990s, the digital video disc (DVD) made its debut and in 1997, Netflix, an online DVD rental service, was founded. Around that same time, the e-commerce giant Amazon.com launched a video and DVD store. Blockbuster faced additional competition from the rise of pay-per-view and on-demand movie services, through which viewers could pay for and watch movies instantly in their own homes. In 2004, Blockbuster split off from Viacom. As of 2008, Blockbuster had some 8,000 stores around the world and was well known for its advertising campaigns, which included the long-running slogan “Make it a Blockbuster Night.” In 2006, the company, headquartered once again in Dallas, had global revenues of more than $5.5 billion.
This weekend gathering is just a demonstration of the forever relationships that were established during the employees’ tenure of such a great legacy of Blockbuster Entertainment. For further details of future events or for volunteer opportunities please contact https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wow.What.a.difference/
https://www.facebook.com/events/244030902646369/252553538460772/?notif_t=like¬if_id=1467499198090421