Located in Bend, Oregon, the last Blockbuster location on Earth is continuing to compete with Netflix and making changes to weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Bend , Oregon store became the existence ’s last Blockbuster in July 2018 .
In the ground of moving-picture show letting , Blockbuster Video once reigned supreme . The stupendous corporation had 9,000 computer memory and 60,000 employees at its peak in 2004 .
As meter drop dead , however , it became clear that Blockbuster was built for an epoch that was quick languish . As online cyclosis flourished , the man merely no longer demanded physical media .
Wikimedia CommonsThe Bend, Oregon store became the world’s last Blockbuster in July 2018.
Before its declension set out , Blockbuster had the fortune to buy the company that would more or less supercede it . In 2000 , Blockbuster turned down an offer to buy a starter Netflix for $ 50 million , deem the young business fruitless .
As the two company then vie for marketshare , a years - long battle ensue . When the dust settled , Netflix had conquered the existence of streaming — while Blockbuster shuttered its next-to-last computer storage in 2019 .
It ’s since become clear that one era has end while another has emerged from its ash tree . However , in a will to nostalgia and a passionate itch for real - existence community , the world ’s last Blockbuster store in Bend , Oregon remain to eviscerate customer .
InstagramGeneral Manager Sandi Harding considers herself the “Blockbuster Mom.”
Ironically , it ’s Netflix that is exploring the nostalgia - fueled appeal of the one persist Blockbuster in a 2021 documentary film . The Last Blockbustergoes inside the Bend , Oregon blockbuster and chronicle how unwearying general handler Sandi Harding works to keep it afloat .
From selling location - specific merchandise tolistingthe depot on AirBnb for sleepover , it ’s been quite a ride . This is the story of the last Blockbuster .
Becoming The Last Blockbuster Store
InstagramGeneral Manager Sandi Harding considers herself the “ Blockbuster Mom . ”
It ’s authoritative to mention just how steep Blockbuster ’s fall from grace has been . While the company carry off to eke out some marketshare and survive the 2000s , Blockbuster went belly-up in 2010 as at - home service became the average . Only a fistful of independent Blockbuster franchises stay on in the aftermath .
Within a decade of streaming service arriving on the scenery , Blockbuster ’s annual $ 5.9 billion revenue dramatically dropped to $ 120 million . In July 2018,Blockbuster Alaska declare its two remaining stores were close . shortly after , the last Blockbusters in Australia close , too — leaving a lone survivor in Oregon .
InstagramHarding said her customers were tired of choosing movies based on algorithms and much preferred her method.
For Sandi Harding , managing the last Blockbuster has been a battle . sprout the shelf with newfangled sack in itself has been a challenge , as the 20 - class - old store outlive its local DVD distributor . In gild to make certain the most pop titles are available for her customers , Harding purchases the copies herself .
“ The big deed for next week isCall of the Wild , ” she say . “ I normally start out with 30 on DVD , and 12 to 14 Blu - Ray . I ’ll go to Walmart , Target , Fred Meyer , every retail merchant we have here in town , and I ’ll only get five or 10 from each one . They do n’t like me very much if I do in and just wipe out their shelves . ”
InstagramHarding said her customers were hackneyed of choosing pic based on algorithmic rule and much choose her method .
InstagramThe store sells merchandise from bumper stickers to T-shirts and hoodies.
The store now boasts popular memorabilia such as Russel Crowe ’s supporter fromCinderella Man , which HBO ’s John Oliver purchased for $ 7,000 and donate to the Anchorage emplacement in a futile endeavour to save it . Ironically , the detail began to pose a problem for Harding ’s surviving store in the early daytime of the pandemic .
“ unluckily , after I get five or six people in here [ when COVID-19 first emerged ] , everybody would be converging in the same area , ” she enunciate , “ everybody want to see the John Oliver stuff , or everybody want to go to the unexampled release section . ”
Harding initiallyreliedon store - specific product like Blockbuster t - shirt , hoodies , and hats one could buy on website or online .
AirbnbThe space was open for three one-night rentals to locals only.
The store even temporarilypartneredwith regional brewing company 10 Barrel to bring forth aptly - identify flock of “ Last Blockbuster ” beer . The location also offers desired replicas of the sometime membership card which boast surviving COVID-19 alongside the store . It became increasingly clear , however , that the pandemic was threatening the business .
The Bend, Oregon Blockbuster In The Time Of The Pandemic
After briefly close when the coronavirus emerged , Harding implemented a knavish curbside service alternative in March 2020 , like many other occupation across the country . Harding reassessed safety gadget measures at heart , engage a local artist to paint the curbside window , andreopenedto massive crew in April .
“ I was n’t capable to keep citizenry aside , and I opine , ‘ Well , this is n’t going to work , ' ” said Harding .
Since then , customer only call ahead and compensate for their rentals over the phone before masked - and - gloved employee hand over their film pick through the windowpane . As for the DVDs themselves , the last Blockbuster store diligently pick each vitrine with Clorox wipes before handing them over in Ziplocs .
InstagramFrom 9,000 stores to one — the Bend Blockbuster location stands strong.
While the mean 10 - 15 daily curbside customer tally is “ a driblet in the bucketful ” compared to pre - pandemic figures , Harding has matte up a gumption of prideful responsibility to the world . She ’s now the lone frequenter to those who still treasure the real experience of surf for a motion picture and yearn to travel somewhere to get it .
InstagramThe store sell ware from bumper stickers to T - shirts and hoodies .
“ You ’re in a tight spot , because part of you is front at the political economy of it and remember ‘ I have to have customers come up and spending money , or my business is n’t travel to be viable , but at the same fourth dimension , I ’m like the Blockbuster Mom , ” she said .
“ These are my kids that work here , the customer are my family and my gosh , I ca n’t put them at risk either . Your heart is just torn in two unlike focal point . ”
While the store closed for a second time , none of its 12 employees were lay off or missed a payroll check as a outcome . The whole stave helped Harding substitute all 22,000 videodisc labels during that closure , and the job even succeeded in receiving a Paycheck Protection Program Loan from the government .
After pass over the whole store down yet again and stock up on mask and mitt , Harding finally reopen her doors . This fourth dimension , however , the last Blockbuster offered more than moving picture rentals — and offered client the hazard to rent the whole computer storage for nostalgia - laden sleepovers on AirBnb .
Renting Nostalgia For A Sleepover
AirbnbThe distance was open for three one - Nox rental to local anaesthetic only .
When Harding reopened the computer memory , some of her most devoted client in person pretend how much they appreciated her drive . “ I had a client do in and she said , ‘ I am so grateful that you reopened , because I could n’t flip through Netflix one more meter . ' ”
As it wrench out , non - streamers have been so drawn to the Oregon Blockbuster store because of its pick , one that is not order by algorithms but rather Harding ’s personalized “ Callgorithm , ” which are prompting she can give over the phone .
“ At first it wasOutbreak , Contagion , and any pandemic movie out there , but now it ’s pretty much everything , ” said Harding . “ Someone rented the entireIndiana Jonesseries , others are getting classics likeSomewhere in Time , and I cogitate that ’s kind of the beauty of our depot . ”
“ They probably could ’ve chance the movie they ’re look for [ online ] , but they do n’t have to : they can add up here , and we ’ve got it . ”
It ’s no surprisal that Harding ’s finding and tireless efforts have visit the last Blockbuster through the coronavirus pandemic . Her declaration to “ keep fight for a while ” at the showtime of the outbreak was firm , but nobody could ’ve foreseen the rightful bell it has have on businesses like hers .
An expert in using the cards she ’s been dealt to her vantage , Harding resourcefully listed the store on AirBnb . For just $ 4 ( plus taxes and fees ) , obsessive of the analog era were able-bodied to direct their own sleepovers inside the store . That included free snack , a sofa bed , large TV , and of course of instruction , a trusty VCR .
“ With everybody being wedge at home and re - experiencing family time together , we thought it would be fun to revel some family time in a throwback ’ 90s environment , ” she said . “ There will be some rules with societal distancing , but for the most part they can just enjoy their eve , enjoy pizza pie and popcorn and just have a blast . ”
Harding admit that it “ was a challenge to find that chunky boob tube ” but was adamant it had to be done .
The Last Blockbuster’s Legacy
InstagramFrom 9,000 store to one — the Bend Blockbuster location stands hard .
While Netflix is largely creditworthy for put Blockbuster out of business , the rental society made its own bed by rejecting the streamer ’s go to acquire it in 2000 . For generations who experienced Blockbuster ’s heyday , however , there ’s still a way to return to that golden epoch without traveling all the way to stoop .
Directed by Taylor Morden , The Last Blockbusterdocumentary hit Netflix on March 15 , 2021 and stars a roster of conversant faces . From comic Doug Benson and cult - favorite music director Kevin Smith to Blockbuster ’s own former Chief Financial Officer Tom Casey , everyone has intense retentivity to apportion . Harding , herself , features prominently .
“ A lot of people have intercourse that Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix too soon on , and they passed on the chance , ” the cheeky press releasestated . “ In an ironic twist of destiny , our movieThe Last Blockbusteris fall to Netflix one calendar week from today . ”
“ We are beyond excited for people to get to see this protection to an era of home video on the man ’s largest streaming military service . Just do n’t forget to rewind it when you ’re done determine it and bring it back by noon on Wednesday . ”
With a small assistant from Netflix , the last Blockbuster in Bend , Oregon may get some much - needed attention during a trying time . The future of this small stock remains unsure , but for now , it continues to outlive against almost impossible odds .
After learning about the Bend , Oregon Blockbuster , take a look at these50 incredible behind - the - scene photos that will change the means you look at moving picture . Then , learn about howmovie reboots , remakes , and sequel go back a passel farther than you think .
