There was nothing novel about Blockbuster other than scale. VHS-on-demand started in the 70's (but didn't really get rolling until the 80's) with mom-and-pop v

There was nothing novel about Blockbuster other than scale. VHS-on-demand started in the 70's (but didn't really get rolling until the 80's) with mom-and-pop video rental stores (which Blockbuster itself started as in 1985) which grew into small local/regional chains. Blockbuster became a roll-up of the smaller chains and most successful mom-and-pops and specialized in raising prices and maximizing revenue via late fees.