Editing Pueblo Supermarkets (section)

==Blockbuster Video Franchise==
On June 27, 1990, it was reported that Pueblo International had inaugurated its first video store "Blockbuster Video" on Campo Rico Avenue in [[Carolina, Puerto Rico|Carolina]]. The store was a subsidiary of Pueblo International, which had purchased the franchise for Puerto Rico and the [[United States Virgin Islands|U.S. Virgin Islands]], for an undisclosed amount, from the [[Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation|BLOCKBUSTER Entertainment Corporation]] (BEC), which was the largest video-movie rental chain in the world at the time. At the opening ceremony, then Pueblo International president David Morrow said that with the first store the company began a successful chain of video stores in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Pueblo had entered this business because they understood that the Blockbuster concept was the future in the video rental industry, the executive also indicated. Marrow would not publicly indicate the amount of money that was paid for the franchise, he said that Pueblo would also pay, as part of the agreement, a royalty on sales volume to Blockbuster Entertainment. The store, which was built at a cost of $250,000, measured more than 6,000 square feet and had more than 10,000 videos in 30 categories. Filiberto Berríos, then general manager of the chain of stores, said that Pueblo had plans to open two more in the metropolitan area, have nine in operation by the end of 1991 and 22 in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands by 1992. Morrow explained that the second store would open on Piñeiro Avenue in [[Río Piedras, Puerto Rico|Río Piedras]] and the location of the third was reserved because it was still under negotiation. When asked, the president of Pueblo ruled out that the chain was going to compete directly with the video clubs that Pueblo already had developed in some of its stores and Pueblo Xtras. "We have 11 video stores operating in our stores and we expect to open another four this year, so we will continue to expand in that area and we do not anticipate closing any of the video stores that are already in operation”, Morrow said. Elvin Santiago was named manager of the first store, which would have a total of 28 employees.<ref>{{Cite web |title=El Mundo 1990.06.27 — Archivo digital de El Mundo |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/elmundo/?a=d&d=mndo19900627-01.1.39&srpos=1&e=-------es-25--1--img-txIN-blockbuster--------- |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=gpa.eastview.com}}</ref>

=== Closure ===
On June 3, 2013, it was reported that Blockbuster had spent some past three months quietly closing its stores in Puerto Rico, a market it would possibly be exiting that summer. Since January of that year, the chain had closed several stores, such as in [[Plaza Rio Hondo|Plaza Río Hondo]] and the [[San Patricio Plaza]], and that past week it had begun liquidating stores in [[Caguas, Puerto Rico|Caguas]], [[Cupey, San Juan, Puerto Rico|Cupey]], De Diego Avenue in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], [[Plaza Carolina]] and Rexville Plaza in [[Bayamón, Puerto Rico|Bayamón]]. During an informal round of the stores that were holding close out sales, it was confirmed that most, if not all locations would be shuttered by August of that year. The Blockbuster chain had undergone a significant transformation about four years earlier, when local franchisee BB Entertainment of Puerto Rico, LLC, which was headed by entrepreneur Susana Santamaría, invested about $1 million to purchase 13 locations from the Colorado-based corporation. That transaction, which secured the Blockbuster operation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, markedly whittled down the chain’s presence from the 40 stores it had at the height of its success. By this point the chain had already closed stores in [[Hato Rey]], [[Isla Verde, Puerto Rico|Isla Verde]], [[Plaza del Norte]] in San Juan, [[Fajardo, Puerto Rico|Fajardo]], [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico|Mayagüez]], and [[Aguadilla, Puerto Rico|Aguadilla]]. The closings of local Blockbuster locations in Puerto Rico and the USVI mirrored what has been taking place stateside, where parent company [[Dish Network]] had announced that January that it planned to shutter 300 stores across the U.S. "soon."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-03 |title=Blockbuster reportedly exiting Puerto Rico market |url=https://newsismybusiness.com/blockbuster-reportedly-exiting-puerto-rico-market/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=News is My Business |language=en-US}}</ref> By June 20, 2013, it was reported that after almost four years of having acquired the Blockbuster store chain in Puerto Rico, Susana Santamaría would be closing the following month the last stores that were still open.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-20 |title=Blockbuster se despide |url=https://www.elnuevodia.com/negocios/banca-finanzas/notas/blockbuster-se-despide/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=El Nuevo Día |language=es}}</ref>