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Blockbuster Video has a live website, sparking comeback rumors

Yahoo Finance's Dave Briggs and Seana Smith discuss Blockbuster, a video game and movie rental service, possibly making a comeback.

Video transcript

- All right. Now a bonus story you might have missed and a store you might miss dearly is Blockbuster Video making a comeback. The movie rental retailer has a live website. Yes, blockbuster.com. The company ceased most of its operations in 2014. But fans believe the website could be evidence that Blockbuster might be making a comeback.

Earlier this month, the company joked about reopening in a tweet saying, quote, "new business idea. We're going to come back as a bank and use VHS and DVDs as currency. Time to go visit your mom." The tweet was a joke. But three days later, Twitter users realized Blockbuster's website was once again active. And if you check it right now, it reads, "we are working on rewinding your movie." There was once more than 9,000 stores. It remains just 1.

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- Just one store in Bend, Oregon. And you talk about the fact that there was 9,000 stores at one point. That really points to the fact that Blockbuster is so recognizable. That nostalgia play has always been able to kind of play into it when we talk about this one store and the fact that it still exists today. And this one store, most of the sales-- I mean, all of its sales really comes from the merchandise within it. But the fact that people are going out and spending merchandise that says Blockbuster really tells you the strength of this brand. I don't know exactly what is going to happen with Blockbuster. I mean, if you were to get an actual VHS or DVD right now, I wouldn't have anywhere to play it.

- That's the problem. You'd have no DVD player, even in your home. Maybe in your car. That may be the only place we still have DVD players. But I still do feel very nostalgic for it. So many great memories of bringing my kids to the movie store, walking up and down the aisle, and buying some popcorn and candy. You probably don't even have those memories.

- No, I do.

- Not with your kids.

- Of course I do.

- No. No. Not with my kids. No.

- I guess you would back in high school.

- Yeah. I was gonna say, actually, it's so much easier now with the kids. You just put them right down. You put up all the selections on the screen. They pick one out. And you hit Play right away.

- It is.

- But I do remember going to it as a kid. Lots of fun, especially Friday night and Saturday nights when you got to pick out the movie. I get it. And then all that hype around the ad that aired right around the Super Bowl. That actually drove a lot of the sales at this blockbuster store in Oregon. And it was a funny commercial.

- Yeah. It was an Instagram ad that got them more than 120,000 views on that. But let's be honest. They will forever be the business story about failing to make the turn, about failing to adapt and see what's coming. Remember, they could have bought Netflix for $50 million, $50 million back in 2000, and cornered the market. Oh, man. I don't know if there will ever be a greater example of a business that failed to make the turn.

- Yeah. I'm trying to think of one right now. Nothing comes to me at the top of my head. But, certainly, it is just remarkable the fact that they didn't see it, the fact they didn't see that shift. And you talk about the valuation of Netflix right now. That is a decision that a lot of people, those executives, I'm sure, certainly regret. But there is a documentary up right now. And Blockbuster, the focal point of it is also that one store in Bend, Oregon. And the success of that documentary speaks to the fact that this brand is just so strong.

- I know you were looking for the number. Market cap-- $146 billion of Netflix. Could had that for $50 mil. Ouch.

- That was a good deal at the time.