Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> February 27, 2002

John Antioco – Blockbuster Inc (bbi)

JOHN F. ANTIOCO is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blockbuster Inc., the world's leading provider of rentable home entertainment with $5 billion in annual worldwide revenues and almost 8,000 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. Blockbuster is a publicly traded subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies and a leader in production, promotion and distribution of entertainment news, sports and music. Mr. Antioco began his career in 1970 as a Management Trainee for the 7-Eleven convenience store chain. During his 20 years at the company, he held a number of senior management positions, including Senior Vice President of store operations for the 8,000-outlet-chain with responsibility for all operations and marketing. In 1990, Mr. Antioco became the Chief Operating Officer of Pearle Vision a retail eyeglass chain, then a division of the British-based Grand Metropolitan PLC. Within two years, Mr. Antioco was recruited to serve as Chief Operating Officer for Circle K Corporation, the nation's largest operator of company-owned convenience stores. During his six-year tenure with Circle K, he engineered the company out of Chapter 11, was named chairman and CEO, and organized a management-led leveraged buy-out for $400 million, creating a highly successful 2,500-store privately held chain. In 1995, he took the company public with an initial public offering (IPO), and in 1996, less than three years after the LBO, oversaw Circle K's merger with Tosco Corporation with the company being valued at $1 billion. In 1996, Mr. Antioco went on to accept the position as President and CEO for Taco Bell Corporation, a division of PepsiCo, the nation's largest quick-service Mexican restaurant chain with 7,000 outlets in the United States and annual sales of approximately $5 billion. During his tenure with Taco Bell, Mr. Antioco reversed three years of negative sales trends through the introduction of a new menu, a new ad campaign and new franchising strategy. In 1997, he joined Blockbuster Inc. as Chairman and CEO and led the financial turnaround of the company, introducing numerous marketing and operational initiatives. Under Mr. Antioco's direction, Blockbuster underwent a successful IPO in August 1999 and has completed its fourth consecutive year of same-store sales increases. Mr. Antioco is now overseeing the company's evolution from a retail-only powerhouse into a leading provider of all forms of home entertainment. Mr. Antioco holds a degree in Business Administration from the New York Institute of Technology. He has been named to Entertainment Weekly's list of the 101 most powerful people in the entertainment industry and has received the DeMateius Humanitarian Award from St. Vincent's Services. He serves on the Board for the American Film Institute and on the National Board of Governors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, an organization he has actively supported since 1991, serving as Chairman for the 2000 National Conference. Profile
TWST: Could we start out with a brief overview of the history and

evolution of Blockbuster?

Mr. Antioco: Blockbuster, which started in the mid-1980s, was one of the

first video superstores.