Could Blockbuster be poised for a comeback? Inquiring minds want to know right after a cryptic concept was found out on the brand’s formal site.
If you head above to Blockbuster.com, you’ll see a one sentence just beneath the telltale “Blockbuster” brand: “We are doing work on rewinding your film.” The cell version of the web page has a unique information: “Be kind whilst we rewind.”
For individuals born immediately after the flip of the century, the teasing concept is a callback to the “Be variety, rewind” glory days of the storied video rental chain, exactly where numerous of us folks whiled away a great number of several hours browning isles lined with VHS bins.
Blockbuster’s web page is not the only indicator of activity from the all-but-dormant brand name, with Blockbuster’s on a regular basis current Twitter feed cracking wise about this month’s economical turmoil. “New organization notion: We’re heading to come again as a bank and use VHS and DVDs as currency,” the modern tweet reads.
So, what’s the offer? Is Blockbuster about to awake from its extended slumber?
Ahead of we get as well thrilled, we really should take note that the “new” information on the Blockbuster web site may possibly actually have been up for months, with 10television.com courting its arrival again to November.
The Blockbuster brand is now owned by Dish Network, which scooped up the identify back again in 2011 for $320 million.
That may perhaps sound like a whole lot, but back in 1994 when physical video clip rentals were being even now a thing, Blockbuster was valued at a staggering $8.4 billion, with the enterprise working much more than 2.800 brick-and-mortar locations all over the world.
The global variety of Blockbuster stores is now (famously) down to a single location in Bend, Oregon. That shop served as the inspiration for a limited-lived series on Netflix, which was at the time David to Blockbuster’s Goliath.
For now, there is no sign whether the messages on Blockbuster.com are just for enjoyable or really the start off of a new venture–hopefully a thing a lot more imaginative than just another cookie-cutter streaming site with a recognizable old identify.
