Gen Z will never know the unbridled joy of a Friday night trip to Blockbuster. Sure, the movie you actually wanted to rent was never, ever available, but remember the little membership card? The giant tubs of sweet, plasticky-tasting popcorn? Getting back home, sliding your pick into the VHS player and realising within minutes that you'd made a terrible choice? Man, what a time to be alive.

Alas, the evil streaming platforms (boo, hiss) arrived in the Noughties and this whole scene was confined to the bargain bucket. This was the digital revolution, the age of Netflix et al, when brick-and-mortar rental stores soon became obsolete.

It’s pretty ironic, then, that Netflix has launched a new series about Blockbuster, specifically the last Blockbuster in America, called – you'll never guess! – Blockbuster. The 10-part comedy show, by showrunner Vanessa Ramos (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore), features Randall Park (Veep, Fresh Off The Boat) as Timmy, the manager, who refuses to yell ‘cut’ on his beloved shop.

Where is the last Blockbuster store in the world?

The last Blockbuster store in America, as it became known, is in Bend, Oregon. If you know the area, then you can find the location at the intersection of U.S. Route 20 and Revere Avenue. It was first opened by Ken and Debbie Tisher in 1992, and later became part of the national franchise in 2000.

However in 2014, Blockbuster LLC closed all their corporate-owned stores, leaving just 50 remaining in the world. Four years later, it became the last shop in America, and in 2019, when an outpost in Australia finally shut, it became the last in the world.

In 2019 Oregon Live reported, via Associated Press, from the store about its unique accolade. The general manager was Sandi Harding, who said she had worked at the store for 15 years, and had been credited with keeping it all going: “It's pure stubbornness, for one. We didn't want to give in. We did everything we could to cut costs and keep ourselves relevant.”

Netflix

The Guardian also interviewed Harding in 2019, and she explained the pull of the store and their story: “People have come from all over the world to rent movies: we’ve set up close to 5,000 new memberships. Maybe 20% of those were one-time users who just wanted the Blockbuster card, but the rest are regulars to varying degrees.

“One guy came from Spain; he’d worked for Blockbuster there and when he arrived, he burst into tears and started FaceTiming his old manager. Another family drove from the other side of the US. They wanted to rent a movie so their kids could understand the experience, but their hotel room didn’t have a DVD player, so they had to buy one.”

Oregon Live also noted that, at the time, a documentary was being made about the story behind the shop, which went on to become 2020’s The Last Blockbuster in America:

The director, Zeke Kamm, talked about the culture of the ‘buster: “Most people, I think, when they think about renting videos — if they're the right age — they don't remember the movie that they went to pick, but they remember who they went with and that freedom of walking the aisle. In a lot of towns, the Blockbuster was the only place that was open past nine o'clock, and a lot of them stayed open until midnight, so kids who weren't hoodlums would come here and look at movies and fall in love with movies.”

Netflix

Can I visit the last ever Blockbuster?

Yep. At the time of writing, it’s still open. A key appeal of a visit to the Bend shop is the fire merch: as it’s a real tourist hotspot now, you can pick up everything from blue-and-yellow-branded sweatshirts, T-shirts, cups, magnets, bumper stickers, hats and caps to commemorate your nostalgic pilgrimage. Sign us up for one Blockbuster bucket hat, $15, and a tie-dye top, $24, pls.

As for now, the doors are still open on this trip down movie memory lane. Harding said: “We have several years left on our lease and, as long as we can continue to pay our staff, we’ll stay open…I’ve watched enough movies to realise there’s an end to everything – but hopefully the ending of this story is a long way off.”

Blockbuster streams on Netflix from 3 November.

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