Maps

Time-lapse Videos Show the Rise and Fall of Iconic American Retail Stores

Published

3 years ago

July 2, 2020

The rise of major streaming services such as Netflix and online retailers such as Amazon have had a devastating impact on once-booming American classic retail establishments such as Blockbuster Video and Toys“R”Us. This phenomenon is precisely what today’s time-lapse density maps aim to visualize.

These videos come to us from Reddit user /u/V1Analytics. The user created them using Excel, Python, and Blender 2.8. They shared them on the /r/DataisBeautiful Subreddit here and here where they raked in an impressive number of Upvotes at over 90k and 57k respectively.

Blockbuster Video US store locations between 1986 and 2019

Blockbuster Video opened its first retail location in October of 1985, but this time-lapse starts 10 months later in August of 1986. At the time, the company boasted only 5 stores. The company almost immediately saw what can only be described as a viral spread of locations. One year later, there were 68 stores spanning coast to coast and by 2003, the company was hitting its peak at about 5,600 stores nationwide. But after nearly 20 years of steady growth and industry domination, the tides began to turn. The company lost over 80% of its stores with about 1,000 remaining by 2012, and was at about 350 stores at the same time the following year. Today, there is still 1 store (albeit privately owned) in operation in Bend, Oregon.

[OC] Blockbuster Video US store locations between 1986 and 2019 from r/dataisbeautiful

From August to August, here’s a quick yearly rundown of how fast the company spread and how fast it all came crumbling down.

1986 – 5 stores
1987 – 68
1988 – 290
1989 – 794
1990 – 1,234
1991 – 1,578
1992 – 1,899
1993 – 2,251
1994 – 2,587
1995 – 2,942
1996 – 3,285
1997 – 3,645
1998 – 3,934
1999 – 4,468
2000 – 4,978
2001 – 5,240
2002 – 5,433
2003 – 5,569 (notice the decrease in growth from ’02 to ’03)
2004 – 5,690 (still growing … but barely)
2005 – 5,678 (holding steady?)
2006 – 5,315 (over 300 stores lost in 1 year)
2007 – 4,914
2008 – 4,629 (consistently losing 300-400 stores per year; now falling as fast as it was once growing)
2009 – 4,188
2010 – 3,480 (not looking good)
2011 – 2,097 (yikes)
2012 – 1,097 (1,000 stores down in one year!)
2013 – 361
2014 – 44
2015 – 24 (the final stores certainly put up a fight)
2016 – 14 (still holding on)
2017 – 9 (back down to 1986 numbers 30 years later)
2018 – 2
2019 – 1 (and that store is still open today!)

In the end, its reliance on brick and mortar and inability to adjust with the times (Netflix DVD delivery and eventual streaming services) lead to its swift and painful demise.

Toys“R”Us Stores Across the US from 1957 to 2020

And here’s a similar tale from another classic bygone store. For those of you who are too young to remember, Toys“R”Us was the Shangri-La for kids; literally a full size department store FILLED with toys. The nostaliga is real!

It was glorious but simply could not compete with the major online retailers such as Amazon. See for yourself below:

[OC] Toys “R” Us Stores across the US from 1957 to 2020 from r/dataisbeautiful

Surprisingly, as of 2019, Toys“R”Us is trying to make a comeback in the United States.

Now hopefully we can convince V1Analytics to do the same with KB Toys and even Gamestop/EB Games now that they’re on the way out.

Maps

Countries With the Best Internet Privacy

Published

4 weeks ago

May 14, 2023

Atlas Cunningham

As more people share their personal data across social media and the internet, the issue of internet privacy has become a top concern. Do you know which countries have the best internet privacy in the world?

The research team at Stevens Institute of Technology looked at a variety of factors including encryption laws, cyberattacks, data collection, government restrictions, and more to determine which countries around the world have the best internet privacy. Find out what countries had the best rankings!

The following are the top 10 countries that had the best scores in terms of internet security:

Estonia
Iceland
Costa Rica
Canada
Georgia
Armenia
Germany
Japan
South Africa
United Kingdom

These are the countries that have the worst internet privacy based on the factors in the graphic:

China
Myanmar
Egypt
Vietnam
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Belarus
Russia
Pakistan
Uzbekistan

There are also numerous countries that have improved their internet privacy in the last few years. The following are the countries that have had the biggest improvement in score since 2016:

The Gambia: 7 point increase
Ecuador: 3 point increase
Zimbabwe: 3 point increase
Thailand: 2 point increase
Bahrain: 1 point increase
Canada: 1 point increase
Ethiopia: 1 point increase
Iran: 1 point increase
Sudan: 1 point increase
United Kingdom: 1 point increase

How would you rate the internet privacy laws where you live?

Charts

The Most Popular Sport in Every Country Around the World

Published

1 month ago

May 4, 2023

Atlas Cunningham

Sports are a universally beloved source of entertainment and pride across the globe. How many sports fans are there in the world? While it is hard to quantify just how many people are sports fans, one indicator of just how prevalent sports are in society is (how many people viewed the 2022 World Cup)! FIFA reported that an impressive 1.5 billion people tuned in to watch the final live. That’s around 20% of the world population! So what is the most popular sport in the world? You guessed it – soccer! Or association football as the majority of the world calls it. The team at AAAStateofPlay has created this fun, bold visualization of the most popular sport in every country across the globe. Let the games begin!

Click below to zoom

I absolutely love the header! It’s unique, dynamic, and vibrant! The world map is informative, but my favorite part of this chart is the second visualization. I am not sure what this type of data viz is called – please let me know in the comments if you know! It really helps to convey just how much association football (soccer) dominates the world, but it also gives cricket, baseball, rugby, and basketball opportunities to shine. I want to visit Anguilla and witness boat racing at its finest – it is the country’s official national sport, after all! Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, which makes me wonder – is America missing out? We should start a petition to bring cricket to the United States!

Charts

Each Country’s Richest Person, Ranked

Published

1 month ago

May 4, 2023

Corrine MacKenzie

Do you know who the wealthiest person in England is? How about Germany’s richest person? The following graphic created by MadisonTrust.com shows each country’s richest person, their net worth, and how they made their money. Keep reading to see who is the richest person in every country in the world!

Click below to zoom

The visualization utilizes a heat map of the world indicating the net worth of each country’s richest person, and below uses horizontal bar charts to rank each country’s wealthiest individual, including colors indicating how the person earned their billions. The countries are then ranked by each of their richest resident’s net worth.

The richest on the list are Bernard Arnault and his family in France. Arnault is the founder and CEO of LVMH, which is the largest luxury brand in the world. The company owns iconic brands like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Sephora, Christian Dior, and Givenchy. He and his family are worth an estimated $214.4 billion.

The second person on the list is Elon Musk. Musk was originally born in South Africa but is now located in the United States. Musk, whose net worth is around $186 billion, is the founder/CEO of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla, and the new owner of Twitter.

Ranking third on the list is Carlos Slim Helu and family, who are located in Mexico. The family is worth $92.7 billion. Helu is the richest person in Mexico and his family controls América Móvil, which is the biggest mobile telecom firm in Latin America. He also has stakes in Mexican mining, construction, and real estate companies.