It's Friday and when I was a kid. This meant a trip to Blockbuster if I was lucky. How come Blockbuster is not considered an important part of Texas history?

Yes, Blockbuster Started in Dallas Texas

So I saw this today and it blew my mind. Blockbuster started in Texas? How come I never knew one of the biggest stores of my childhood was founded here? I literally looked up most important Texas companies and Texas Monthly actually did a bracket of a bunch of them a few years ago. The standard ones were there. Buc-ee's, Blue Bell, Dr Pepper. Then you had Half Price Books on the list, Blockbuster had WAY more of an impact than that.

First Blockbuster Located at 6464 E NW Highway  Dallas, Texas

Nowadays the original Blockbuster is now an Applebees restaurant. Back in 1985, this location transformed the way movies were rented in America. The problem with your standard video rental store was they typically only had one copy of the movie. Maybe a few more if it was something popular. Wanted to watch the big new release? Blockbuster always guaranteed plenty of copies of your favorite movies. The first blockbuster opened with 8,000 tapes ready for folks to start renting.

Surprising, Blockbuster Was At Its Peak in 2004

It's crazy that Blockbuster went bankrupt in 2010 only six years prior they had their best year ever. In 2004, Blockbuster had over 9,000 stores open and made 5.4 BILLION dollars in profit. Streaming and Redbox hit Blockbuster hard over the next few years and not willing to adapt to new times would force them to close their stores in rapid succession over the next few years.

One Last Blockbuster in the World and It's in Oregon

You probably still hear about the last remaining Blockbuster in Oregon. Independently owned, making the majority of their money not off of rentals, but merchandise. Yeah, you can still rent movies, but the majority of sales come from shirts, hats, shot glasses. All with that iconic Blockbuster blue logo on them. An Oregon brewery even made a last Blockbuster beer which they sell in the store as well. Beer and a movie? Where was this back in the day?!

So Remember Texas, Blockbuster is a Part of Texas History!

So many precious memories of Blockbuster on a Friday night. Whether if it was renting a movie or if I was lucky enough getting a video game for the weekend. It was a time I will never forget. Texas should be more proud of being the original home to Blockbuster. Yeah, they went bankrupt, but don't act like you didn't enjoy roaming the aisles back in the day for the perfect rental.

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