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Blockbuster Video Now Has Just One Store Left On Earth (apnews.com)
Cutting_Crew writes: After the last remaining Blockbuster Video store closed in Australia on March 31st, there is only one remaining left on earth. That location is in Bend, Oregon and seems to be a thriving location, where they write out membership cards by hand and the system is rebooted using floppy disks, apparently only something one person, the general manager, knows how to do. If you are wondering how there could be still blockbuster videos open since they went bankrupt back in 2010, the remaining stores left open were independent franchises and were separate from most of the other corporate stores, thus not part of the bankruptcy. There was also an Onion video before they even went bankrupt that's pretty funny. I remember getting a membership way back in late 90s and new releases were $8 per night. Even then, that seemed way too expensive. What are your most memorable (good or bad) memories of your local blockbuster?
The last redoubt.
This site is so gay now.
This site is so gay now.
This site is straighter than the pole your mom dances on....
I miss video stores. I miss them almost daily. Streaming has no selection at all. Netflix's DVD service isn't bad, but it takes a week or so to get something that I want to see. I miss being able to get a pizza and a movie to watch over dinner. I have a huge video collection at home, but getting new stuff is still a PITA (order through Netflix DVD).
I don't respond to AC's.
eh
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Video
Huh
Something
BETAMAX!
?
My wife and I went to rent a video, and they charged us a $20 late fee for a game we did not recall renting. We paid it.
It turned out that nobody in our family had rented that video. I went back, and found out they had rented it to someone on a day & time when both my wife and I were at work. (The kids weren't old enough to drive yet).
So, they agreed that it was a "mistake," and offered to credit my account...
I said, "No, you took cash out of my wallet, and now you need to give me the cash back out of the register. If you don't, everyone behind me will be stuck in line here until you do."
Got the cash back.
Thats the Store Captain Marvel crashed into, Disney has mandated it remains open, OR ELSE!
And how Blockbuster charged people late fees even though none of the local Blockbusters let alone the citizens had any power.
I grew up in Philadelphia and we had a chain of video rental stores around here called West Coast Video. When Blockbuster came around, WCV really stepped up their game with more foreign and rare stuff you couldn't get from Blockbuster. I ended up going there more than Blockbuster.
Then I discovered Movies Unlimited, another store that catered to more obscure stuff. They even rented Laser Discs!
But I do miss video rental stores daily. I think they were great. Some cheese steaks and a DVD from West Coast Video made for a nice cheap date at home.
Comes easy. Ringo may say otherwise. This has the making of a dinner-table story bested only by the biggest-fish-I-have-ever-caught-with-dynamite story.
...we called it Buttblocker.
Never rented a thing from there, as we were blessed with some great independent video stores in the area. Did a lot of Laserdisc rentals as well.
For purchases, they were typically made at Tower. A friend of mine was the laserdisc buyer for one of the local locations. He kept it stocked with good stuff.
I dig the signs that say "Best Selection" and "Best Releases". That's technically true since they have no competition anymore (at least per physical stores).
It would be like after the apocalypse if you were the only dude on Earth, and if you happen to meet a lady, you could rightfully claim you are the "best bachelor available".
Or even now, "the best Slashdotter outdoors".
Table-ized A.I.
I've never rented a betamax/vhs/cd/dvd/blu-ray.
Sing it: Internets Killed the Video Store...
Or: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Table-ized A.I.
Mostly rented Nintendo 64 games. It is now a coffee shop.
That tells me there may be more stores 'out there' some place and we just haven't found them yet.
Bah. When I was a kid, "movie rentals" involved a parent's friend who had access to a few 16mm films and a projector. Thus began and ended my exposure to old westerns.
Kids today have it too easy. ;)
Thats what happens when you are not careful how you write your story title.
After the last remaining Blockbuster Video store closed in Australia on March 31st, there is only one remaining left on earth.
Was it the last remaining Blockbuster Video or not? If there is still one remaining, then the one closed on Australia was the next to last remaining Blockbuster store...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Is it the one that has Mel Gibson's jockstrap, donated by James Corden?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
When they offered a cheap DVD by mail plan where you could also turn in the DVDs at the store and exchange them for a free rental. I could get a 3 or 4 movies a week that way; and my spend at the local store was $0.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
I had a local video store that had a great back catalogue (they had been around a long while), lots of smaller-interest stuff. You probably had to go to Blockbuster to get a new release in the first week, because the local relied on renting each movie quite a few times in order to make their money back. The switch to DVD was tough for them, and Netflix (the original DVD-by-mail service) pretty much did them in, but it was great while it lasted.
I remember times where somebody's parent would get 16mm films of Star Trek Episodes from the library.
I don't know if this has a specific meaning in the US, perhaps it's just copy-cats but there's a video store across the road from me here in Cape Town that calls itself Blockbuster. So clearly the one in TFA isn't exactly the last one.
One thing I know, and that is that I am ignorant...
Yes, that sentence needs work, but don't hold your breath waiting for M'Smash to fix it. English is like his penultimate language, only followed by his non-compiling C code.
The last remaining Blockbuster in Australia closed on 31 March. Now, there is only one left on the planet.
I would wander around blockbuster with my buddies while holding a laptop while it burned the DVD we had just rented. Sometimes we would copy up to 10 DVD in a day.
You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
Does anyone remember their Blockbusters keeping the actual movie or game in the box on the shelf? If I remember right they would have an empty placeholder movie/game cover, and if there were any copies in stock they would be behind it. I think that always annoyed me as sometimes it was hard to tell if there was anything behind the placeholder. Sometimes it would look like there was one in stock and then you lift it up and... nothing. Always thought that was kind of mean of Blockbusters. Maybe that was just a weird dream though, and in actuality they did things differently.
(And on a side note, you'd think that would have made theft of their items a lot easier, rather than keeping everything behind the counter).
... this headline would be an April Fools joke.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
The Nazis have one in their moonbase
Heyyy, guys, I am sure everyone loved to hate BB back in the day, but how about we back to tech news? Thank you in advance.
Does it also use the logo?
This isnâ(TM)t the last one, as long as Wallace Richie is working behind the counter at the Blockbuster in Des Moines Iowa.
THE reason I first tried Netflix....back when they only did dvd-by-mail and streaming wasn't even a thing yet.....was because my local video rental places didn't have the movies I wanted to see. Only Netflix had them.
Now, we lament the loss of local video rental places because of the lack of variety in Netflix streaming. How ironic.
Incidentally, I still use Netflix dvd-by-mail, and still for the same reason (more variety than any other offering).
Well, as long as he's not a faggot.
In 1999, our consulting firm ran a project with Blockbuster executives in Dallas to define the system architecture for electronic delivery of movies via...wait for it...the Internet. I was a solutions architect on that gig. The project was shelved due to concerns about cannibalizing sales in their brick and mortar stores. Seems that is no longer a issue.
this story gets repeated almost as many times as news about one of the vgers leaving the solar system
It's more of the experiences you have while going to the video store that makes it so much different (not better or worse imho). I'm 38, have been going to video stores since I was 5 (mostly for video games) and worked at a Hollywood Video for my first real job from 16-17 years old. It was the best, and worst, job ever. They actually ran To this day I have dreams of that place and trying to work the PoS machines, remember hotkeys, etc.. they used PCAnywhere to get into the network, it was tied to the guest phone line (along with the credit card machine, hello). One time a lady computer/network tech came in and asked my boss if the terminals we had were "dumb terminals". My boss looked at her with a half-confused, half-smiling face and said, "They're not dumb..." When I put in my 2 weeks notice for being fed up with getting my raise at the *exact* same time minimum wage went up for the state, twice, for 2 years - and also for my boss throwing a thick pad of paper at me, hitting me in the eyelid and making it bleed...oh and because corporate screwed the entire company over with a huge sales campaign/push with promise of prizes like leather bags, jackets, videos, etc. depending on how much you sell, and never actually giving us any of it...and of course I was sick AF of wearing those stupid fucking red bow-ties and cummerbunds. And because even with that stupid clown suit they made us wear, they made me put a band-aid over my earring because it was against company policy for boys to wear earrings. Or girls to wear nose rings. But some of my best friends were made at that store. I had the most fun there working with others. Fridays and weekends sucked though, especially closing (lots and lots of customers). And holidays. But I'm still so glad I worked there. Even though the corporation itself sucked ass.
There is less room for an "experience" w/streaming services but I guess hanging out with friends/family, and what is happening around the actual streaming would be considered the equivalent of going to a video store and interacting with others looking for movies. Hey there's a good idea, have like a chat "lounge" with others, make it social, be able to friend people, get suggestions, ...there's a lot missing from streaming services that was to be experienced at a brick + mortar video store. Blockbuster is awesome because it was a *huge* part of the video store experience that most people around my age have fond memories of.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
After the previous remaining Blockbuster Video store closed in Australia on March 31st, there is only one remaining left on earth.
That was probably a worthy trip down Memory Lane: --- ironically it was a story revolving around the lead who happened to work in a video rental store! And his store rooftop becomes the hockey field, gets visited by his ex who recently admitted having given oh-so-many bj's, and so on.
One time, many many years ago (2002ish), my ex and I rented a movie as we did rather infrequently. No problem, dropped it back in the slot a few days later, several hours before it was due. No big deal, right?
About two months later, I get a notice from some collection agency that apparently I owed Blockbuster something like a buck in late fees, but that the collection agency was tacking on something like $20 to collect on it. No prior warning, no call, no letter, no nothing. I was especially pissed because I know it wasn't late. So I took my ex-wife's card and my card, cut them into little tiny pieces, and went into the store with a copy of everything. Paid the manager a dollar, pointed out that over a single dollar they'd never see me again, tossed the tiny card remnants in the air like confetti, and exited the premises. Called the collection agency, told them I'd satisfied my debt with the asshats and if they really wanted their dollar, they could take me to court. Last I heard of them.
When I saw the "going out of business" sign go up a year or two later, I made my own addition. A laminated 8-1/2 by 11 that simply said, "Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of extortionists and thieves." I went over one night, taped it to their door, and left.
My state DMV sent a form claiming that I had been in an accident in a city 90 miles away, and demanding evidence of insurance or financial responsibility bond. If I had ever been to that city, it would have been only passing through years earlier. I thought for a few minutes, then went to the local Blockbuster and asked if they could print my transaction history around DMV's stated date. It turned out that I was in the store renting Addams Family Values at the time and date that DMV stated that I had been 90 miles away. DMV accepted that with a phone call.
It was $3-$4 at Blockbuster and every other rental store. New releases were often only 1 day rentals instead of the normal 3 days for anything else.
Do you understand how commas work? The editors do. If you think you understand commas then why would you proceed to ask a question about only a fragment of the sentence?
The only question to ask is: "Was it the last remaining Blockbuster Video in Australia", to which the answer is, yes.
Yes, that sentence needs work
No it doesn't. People just need to know how commas work.
Rented on a whim. Good lord that is an awesome movie (and soundtrack)!
Eventually saw it at a theater (saw Princess and the Dragon the same night, different theaters, epic German movie night).
Also stumbled upon Floundering at Blockbuster. Tis a good movie to stumble upon, but rather incoherent.
BlameBillCosby.com
That time the sheriff's office caught the neighborhood kids that broke into our apartment and stole my wife's wallet and car ... because they had them on video using her Blockbuster card to rent and never return GTA: Vice City
They opened a new one while they closed the other. Duh.
I too miss the non-digital experience of browsing the racks.
My local Blockbuster store originally began as an independent named "Video Smith", who issued membership cards with a stick-on bar code. The store was acquired twice, the last being Blockbuster, and each time they rolled in the customer database, so I kept the same card.
Eventually all of the ink wore off the card except for the small bar code sticker in the center, so I would hand this over, and the clerk would look back at me like 'what am I supposed to do with this?' I'd say 'Just try it', and then I'd get a bemused look back after a successful Beep of the pos machine.
My pop had part of the pilot episide of Battlestar Galactica as well as some of the classic Disney big productions on Super 8 film. I was thrilled watching BSG in combat with the Cylons, and Alice In Wonderland was very magical to me. This was a big thing for us we got to enjoy a few days pr. year throughout the 1980s
The last time we fired up the 'ol projector was in 1994, shortly after my dad died :( . After that, the home movies got transfered to VHS and the projector got sent to the curb (too painful to keep the equipment around)
Yes, the VHS tapes made the movies much easier to play and more accessable, but the feeling we got from setting up the couches like movie theater seats, and watching the movies on the roll up screen, and hearing that distinctive clatter of the projector was gone, and even the movies themselves didn't feel quite the same.