The Life of BlockbusterHistory and BackgroundThe origins of Blockbuster date back to the mid-1980s, when the VCR (VCR) was the new hype and families across America were turning rapidly moving towards movie rentals as a form of home entertainment. David Cook, who previously founded David P. Cook and Associates, Inc. to provide consulting and IT services, saw an opening in the growing movie rental business. Eager to start a business, he decided to make Blockbuster the movie rental Wal-Mart offering a wide variety of movies to customers in a family-friendly environment with notable buildings and bright lights. From there, Blockbuster's growth exploded, attracting outside investors and national attention. To facilitate the growth trends displayed by Blockbuster since its inception, David Cook contacted H. Wayne Huizenga, a former colleague, as an investment opportunity. Huizenga saw the opportunity and also invested his time and money in the expansion of Blockbuster. To summarize the extent of growth of Blockbuster stores between the years 1980 and 2002, gross revenue increased from approximately $75,000 in the 1980s to over $6,000,000,000 in 2006. Since inception from several stores in the 1980s, the number of Blockbuster stores reached up to 5,803 by the end of 2004. Additionally, the company has expanded to 29 countries, including countries in North America, South America South, Europe and Asia. It is estimated that more than 43 million American households are Blockbuster members. Blockbuster's twenty-year journey has not been without its bumps, valleys, roadblocks and detours. Blockbuster has faced legal criticism from Netflix, a major online competitor, and the Free Trade Commission for attempting to host... middle of paper ... trend is to fight an inevitable paradigm. The tricky part is balancing the rate of store closures without losing the possible sales each store could accumulate. Finally, Blockbuster needs to take care of its debt, which currently stands at $1,317,900,000 in current liabilities and $2,548,000,000 in total liabilities. These are dangerous numbers that weigh on your business. Blockbuster could liquidate assets or issue additional stock to shed some of the liabilities. By getting rid of so much debt, Blockbuster would improve its credit and make strategic decisions without worrying about its cash flow situation. In this article, I analyzed the past and present situation of Blockbuster. Under the right circumstances and execution, Blockbuster can once again regain the video rental powerhouse status it has enjoyed throughout the years 1990..