Changes

==History==

==History==

===1985–1997: David Cook era===

===1985–1997: David Cook era===

Blockbuster's early beginnings can be traced back to another company, Cook Data Services, that was founded by David Cook in 1978. The company's primary goal was to supply software services to the oil and gas industries throughout [[Texas]], but it was not very successful.<ref name="Cook Data"/> Sandy Cook, David's wife, wanted to get into the video business, and her husband would soon study the industry and future prospects. Using profit he made from the sale of David P. Cook & Associates, the subsidiary of his company, he decided to buy into a video store franchise in Dallas known as Video Works. When Video Works would not allow him to decorate the interior of his store with a blue-and-yellow design, he departed the franchise and opened the first Blockbuster Video in 1985 under his own company Blockbuster Video Inc.

Blockbuster's early beginnings can be traced back to another company, Cook Data Services, that was founded by David Cook in 1978. The company's primary goal was to supply software services to the oil and gas industries throughout [[Texas]], but it was not very successful. Sandy Cook, David's wife, wanted to get into the video business, and her husband would soon study the industry and future prospects. Using profit he made from the sale of David P. Cook & Associates, the subsidiary of his company, he decided to buy into a video store franchise in Dallas known as Video Works. When Video Works would not allow him to decorate the interior of his store with a blue-and-yellow design, he departed the franchise and opened the first Blockbuster Video in 1985 under his own company Blockbuster Video Inc.

The first Blockbuster store opened October 19, 1985, in [[Dallas]], Texas, with an inventory of 8,000 VHS and 2,000 Beta tapes. Cook's experience with managing huge databases proved helpful in driving innovation within the industry. Following early success from the company's first stores, Cook built a $6-million warehouse in [[Garland, Texas]], to help sustain and support future growth that allowed new stores to open quickly.

The first Blockbuster store opened October 19, 1985, in [[Dallas]], Texas, with an inventory of 8,000 VHS and 2,000 Beta tapes. Cook's experience with managing huge databases proved helpful in driving innovation within the industry. Following early success from the company's first stores, Cook built a $6-million warehouse in [[Garland, Texas]], to help sustain and support future growth that allowed new stores to open quickly.

In 1987, the company won a court case against [[Nintendo]], which paved the way for video game rental. Also that year, [[Waste Management, Inc co-founder Wayne Huizenga, who originally had reservations about entering the video rental industry, agreed to acquire several Blockbuster stores. At that point the number of stores counted 19, and attracted Huizenga's associate John Melk's attention due to its efficiency, family-friendly image and business model, and convinced Huizenga to have a look at it. Huizenga and Melk utilized techniques from their waste business and Ray Kroc's model of expansion to rapidly expand Blockbuster, and soon they were opening a new store every 24 hours. They took over many of the existing Blockbuster franchise stores as well, and Huizenga even spent much of the late 1980s acquiring several of Blockbuster's rivals, including Major Video.

In 1987, the company won a court case against [[Nintendo]], which paved the way for video game rental. Also that year, Waste Management, Inc co-founder Wayne Huizenga, who originally had reservations about entering the video rental industry, agreed to acquire several Blockbuster stores. At that point the number of stores counted 19, and attracted Huizenga's associate John Melk's attention due to its efficiency, family-friendly image and business model, and convinced Huizenga to have a look at it. Huizenga and Melk utilized techniques from their waste business and Ray Kroc's model of expansion to rapidly expand Blockbuster, and soon they were opening a new store every 24 hours. They took over many of the existing Blockbuster franchise stores as well, and Huizenga even spent much of the late 1980s acquiring several of Blockbuster's rivals, including Major Video.

[[File:Blockbuster-Store-Exterior-.jpg|thumb|right|The exterior of a Blockbuster store in Mankato, [[Minnesota]]]]

[[File:Blockbuster-Store-Exterior-.jpg|thumb|right|The exterior of a Blockbuster store in Mankato, [[Minnesota]]]]