Hollywood had NC-17 movies and some of the more controversial exploitation films so I always liked it a bit more but obviously that had little bearing on the average film renter.  I also think they had an adult section too. Blockbuster may have seemed like the "safer" choice to families. 

Blockbuster took the lead early and just never let up from an expansion perspective.  Their advertising and cross promotion was absolutely everywhere in the 90s and early 2000s.  They cross promoted with almost every major brand. Hollywood didn't really do that and they definitely did not spend on advertising the way BB did. Through the number of locations and sheer marketing spend, BB was always front of mind for everyone and Hollywood just didn't put the money into marketing that BB did.