When Blockbuster first opened its doors in October of 1985, David Carrera was first in line. Well, one of the first — customer number 2,027, to be exact. He still has his membership card from the original store in Medallion Center, where he would browse the mammoth selection of VHS and Betamax tapes as a teenager.
“Back then, of course,” said Carrera, 54, “renting videos was the entertainment of the day.”
Over the next three decades, Carrera went from being a Blockbuster customer to working in the stores — shelving new titles, doling out recommendations and enjoying free rentals — to becoming a corporate IT employee. At Blockbuster’s peak, he helped manage the computer operations for 6,000-plus stores out of the company’s McKinney office. He met his wife while working at the Blockbuster call center in Lake Highlands. “The level of camaraderie and family that you had with the Blockbuster family, it’s infectious,” said Carrera.
Even as the advent of streaming services and video-on-demand spurred layoffs, downsizing and outsourcing, Carrera hung on. When Dish Network, which bought Blockbuster in a 2011 bankruptcy auction, announced in late 2013 that it would close all remaining company-owned stores, Carrera wasn’t quite ready for the end credits to roll.
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Click here to read more from our media partners at The Dallas Morning News about how Carrera is helping 30 Blockbuster franchises around the country stay open after corporate support was cut off
