LAST STORE STANDING
There’s just one Blockbuster store left in the world
The firm has announced that it is closing two branches in Alaska leaving only one store left in Bend, Oregon and it's already a tourist attraction
DO you remember a time when your Saturday night ritual wasn't complete until you'd rented out the latest release from Blockbuster?
Well, now there's just one Blockbuster store left in the whole world and it's already become a bit of a tourist attraction.
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But earlier this month, Blockbuster announced that it will be closing two Alaska stores at the College and Debarr, leaving just one left.
The doors of the branch in Bend, Oregon, are still open and it's unbelievably it's still renting out and selling DVDs.
Although we're not sure who actually still owns a DVD player any more but it's already become a bit of a tourist attraction.
Customers have been travelling from far and wide to take a trip down memory lane.
One customer wrote on Instagram: "Don't blink or else you'll miss the last Blockbuster on Earth! and year we got both Cheaper by the Dozen movies, what about it!"
Another person simply wrote in surprise: "Blockbuster still exists!"
Instagrammers have been visiting the store to get their photos outside the last store standing.
Others have been revelling in nostalgia between the shelves of DVDS and buying their favourite film on a - wait for it - disc.
The brand's fall from grace has been felt over the past decade, particularly after the UK side of the video and DVD rental business went bust in 2013.
As more and more movie fans turned to streaming services like Netflix and Now TV, slowly the bold blue and yellow store fronts began to fade away from our high streets.
The old Blockbuster Entertainment, Inc - its old trading name - filed for bankruptcy a bit earlier in the United States in 2010.
The American side of the business was bought by TV provider Dish Network which started dismantling it, permanently shutting down 1,700 stores in the following year.
The rise and fall of Blockbuster
BACK in 1989, a new Blockbuster store opened every 17 hours according to reports. So where did it all go wrong?
1985 - The first Blockbuster store opens in Dallas, Texas
1989 - The first Blockbuster store opened in the UK on Walworth Road in South London
1996 - The firm launched Blockbuster.co.uk
2002 - Customers could now rent DVDs from Blockbuster online
2005 - The company announced a porfits warning and blamed low-budget Hollywood movies that no one wanted to see
2008 - Fans could now buy DVDs from the website
2009 - The retailer announced that it will be closing between 810 and 960 stores in the US
2010 - Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in the US - the UK side of the business is a seperate legal entity and it's allowed to continue
2012 - They launched a series of "exclusives" in the UK where some new releases were only available to rent through Blockbuster for two weeks before they were available anywhere else
2013 - After calling in administrators in the UK, 528 shops close after failing to attract a buyer.
A few stores were allowed to continue trading under a new firm called Blockbuster LLC in the US, but alas they didn't thrive.
Store manager at the last ever store in Bend recently told how the computers in the store still run with a floppy disc.
She said: "It's very nostalgic. We have a bunch of 19-year-olds working here - it's fun explaining to them what a floppy disk is."
Harding puts the store's survival down to "good customer service" but admitted that streaming services did change the landscape of movie rental.
She added that there are no plans to close the store just yet.
Even the ageing population and long, dark winters couldn't keep the branches open in Alaska.
It's not clear whether this particular branch has survived because it's a franchise, but we've got to admit that we're not sure how much longer it can keep it's doors open.
MOST READ IN MONEY
Last year, staff at the then remaining nine Blockbuster stores had us in stitches with a twitter account that detailed what it was like still working for the company.
The account has 226,000 followers - and it jokes about everything from rewinding VHS tapes (remember those days?) to trying to desperately lure in their last remaining customers.
Stuck in yesteryear? From Blockbuster loyalty cards to the "portable" CD player, these are the things no one under the age of 17 will understand.
Blockbuster Collapses: 4,200 Jobs At Risk
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