Blockbuster

Blockbuster rents hit movies, classics, and not-so classics, as well as video games for most popular modern game console systems, as well as VCRs and some game consoles.

They currently have over 6000 stores around the world. Based on a franchise system, each store more or less makes its own rules as long as they stay within the corporate guidlelines setforth by the parent corporation, Blockbuster Inc.

The folling information was gleemed from www.blockbuster.com:
World Headquarters
Blockbuster Inc.
1201 Elm Street
Dallas, Texas 75270
214-854-3000

Blockbuster operates a store within a ten-minute drive of virtually every major U.S. neighborhood.

Each Blockbuster store carries approximately 10,000 to 14,000 videos.

• The serial number is indicative of the store number (digits three through five) and the number of the tape (last three numbers.) The tape 339282581389004 is the fourth tape of whatever movie at store 92825.
• Late fees do not carry from one store to another. If you have a balance in the downtown store, rent at the one up the street. Unless you owe a large sum of money, it'll slide.
• The cameras only cover the counter, the breakroom and the door to the bathroom in any given store.

There had been reports of Blockbuster doing its own internal censorship which are apparently false. Instead, like Wal-Mart, they pressure film companies to release "clean" entertainment and refuse to stock things that aren't in line with their political agenda.

The censorship in question here isn't the same as government-ordered censorship, but it's censorship all the same. America prides itself on free speech and freedom of the press, so it becomes an interesting ethical dilemma -- none of us has the right to tell Blockbuster what they can or cannot do, but because of Blockbuster's market penetration, they're able to decide (particularly in rural areas) what videos people can and cannot rent.

*Happiness is the only one of these films I've personally tried to get. It sparked a conversation with a friend who is a Blockbuster manager, who confirmed the corporate policy of not carrying certain films. The others come from the friend and multiple reports on the net -- msg me if you've been able to find any of these films at your local franchise.

Apart from being a major movie rental chain (see writeups above), the word blockbuster has three other meanings;

The earliest use of the word comes from World War II, and was used to describe a large aerial bomb, large enough to lay an entire city block to waste.

Additionally, a blockbuster can mean a real estate agent who sells a house a house in a "white neighborhood" to an unwanted minority, such as a african-american family, thus "busting" the block. As above, the symbolic meaning is that the block is destroyed, as the value of the houses in the neighborhood are expected to fall. This usage of the word is not more or less extinct.

The third and by far most popular sense is something that is large, important or popular, such as a movie, a play, a piece of music or a book.

The name Viacom chose for their video store chain is quite telling, for they are indeed Block Busting. I wonder if they chose the name with this in mind.

This tactic has also been employed by Starbucks. Pity isn't it, that these huge corporations have the resources to go deep into debt for a while to open up enough locations to saturate areas and drive out local operations, then close down the extra stores and be immensely profitable due to their newfound monopoly status, all the while leaving empty storefronts in their wake. But hey, it's all fair in a 'free market.'

Every sport has had its share of blockbuster trades. An example would be the 1989 NFL (American football) trade that sent star running back Herschel Walker from the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikings. In return, the Cowboys got 5 players, a draft pick, and six conditional draft picks.

Other sports have had similar types of deals.

Blockbuster trades often drastically alter the makeup of one or more teams and create intense reactions from fans of all teams involved. Afterall, they often involve a team's star player or multiple players for whom a team's supporters are used to cheering.

In addition, it should be noted that there are two categories of Blockbuster stores: corporate, and privately owned franchises. The private franchises retain the Blockbuster name and color scheme, but have fewer rules to obey. There is a Blockbuster somewhere in Rhode Island, for example, that carries uncensored, soft-core porn.

For general information, Blockbuster is no longer allowed to use the term late fee as it can be considered harrasment. All employees are required to refer to fees garnered due to laxness in returning as Extended Viewing Fees, or EVFs. They are also not allowed to let people into the bathrooms because bathrooms are the one place where there ae no cameras. Unless someone is caught on tape stealing they can't be prosecuted. This makes it so that if someone goes into a bathroom with 10 tapes and comes out with only a bulging jacket, Blockbuster can't do a thing about it.

Also as a side note, if one does not pay their EVFs after an extended period of time they are sent a note. The bad thing about this system is that the letters are sent from the corporate headquartersin Dallas, Texas. This is bad becuase one can pay their EVFs and then get sent a note a week later from Blockbuster demanding money.

There is also a problem with people putting items into the drop box that just do not belong there. for example, I have had to clean up a half of a peanutbutter and fudge pie from the drop box. Whip cream on movie covers makes for a sticky mess. We have also had a dead fish, several joints and my favorite, a lit cigarette. Luckily the only thing that burned was the drop box itself.