Hollywood Video
The video rental chain that played Blockbuster's biggest shadow competitor, with blue-and-gold membership cards that lived in junk drawers nationwide. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Oregon, it grew into a national Blockbuster rival — and gave gamers GameCrazy, the buy-sell-trade store-within-a-store. It was the other card to carry, the place that often had the tape you needed when Blockbuster was cleaned out.
Mark Wattles had borrowed money to open a store called Home Theater in 1985; three years later he formed Hollywood Entertainment, the Oregon-headquartered company behind the Hollywood Video chain. The company went public in 1993 and grew into the largest direct competitor to Blockbuster in the urban market. In 1999, it launched GameCrazy—a store-within-a-store where customers could buy, sell, and trade video games, systems, and accessories—which grew to 634 locations by the end of 2006 and contributed 13% of parent-company revenue that year.
By 2004, the competitive pressure intensified when Blockbuster launched a hostile exchange offer of $14.50 per share. Hollywood Video declined and instead agreed to be acquired by Movie Gallery, completing in April 2005 for $860 million ($13.25 per share) plus $380 million in debt assumption. The merger didn't save either chain: Movie Gallery went through Chapter 11 in 2007, filed again in February 2010, and converted to liquidation that spring. The last US Hollywood Video closed on July 31, 2010 (August 8 in Canada), with roughly 1,900 locations at the end. For countless towns, it had been the other membership card in the junk drawer—the reliable alternative when you couldn't find what you needed elsewhere.
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