
The World’s Last Blockbuster Has No Plans to Close. Here’s Why It’s Still Open - andore_jr
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/business/the-worlds-last-blockbuster-has-no-plans-to-close-heres-why-its-still-open.html
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nekkoru
Saving all of you a click: the article doesn't go into a concrete explanation
of why they're not closing the last Blockbuster.

It has a theory, however:

>One possible explanation for the store’s long life: Bend is in a region that
the city’s mayor, Sally Russell, describes as having “huge expanses with
really small communities” that often do not have easy access to the high-speed
internet necessary for content streaming.

>Many residents of outlying areas stop at Blockbuster during their weekly
trips to town to run errands, drawn in part by the store’s seven-day rental
policy, Ms. Russell said, adding that the store’s last-in-the-world status
could even give it a lift.

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joelhoffman
Eh, that's true about Bend but it doesn't explain why that one stayed and the
Blockbuster in Anchorage (and hundreds of other similar places) closed.
Vacation rentals keeping it in business?

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yoshamano
Those of us in the Midwest tend to laugh every time a variation of this story
pops up.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Video](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Video)
[https://www.familyvideo.com/storelocator/](https://www.familyvideo.com/storelocator/)

The relevant bit from Wikipedia, "Unlike much of its competition, Family Video
owns the real estate housing their stores, helping them to avoid unsuccessful
lease negotiations that led to the demise of Blockbuster and Movie Gallery,
which includes Hollywood Video. And rather than depending on the revenue-
sharing model used by others in the business, the chain buys and owns their
movies, allowing them to keep all the rental profit"

So come on over to Fly-Over Country™ where video rental stores never went out
of fashion :)

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godzillabrennus
At some point isn’t it a better use of the real estate for them to switch
business models and start distributing something of higher margin and with
more demand?

They could probably convert to coffee shops or gun stores and do better in
those markets.

Not knocking gun culture. I lived and still often work in the Midwest.

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xref
The loving nostalgia for dead corporate behemoths is kind of curious.
Blockbuster shut down a ton of mom-and-pop video stores. Circuit City and Good
Guys did the same for small electronics retailers. Tower Records killed small
record shops, then Tower itself got killed and a documentary was made
lamenting its passing!

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mingus88
that’s the power of branding. We can't lament the passing of all the mom and
pop stores because there is no common brand to unite us.

Back then the brand stood for the enemy. The faceless corporation. Now the
brand represents a time past and a place we all had in common.

Funny how that works.

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kop316
For those in the US, something I have found pleasantly surprising is that the
local library (this is a "small" library with only two branches) feels this
niche quite well. I have been able to get recent releases as well as it having
a pretty healthy supply of general interest and some specialize interest
movies. They have an online catalog so I can search and set a hold on a movie,
book, or other physical media so I can go in, grab it, and go. Many of them
allow you to rent an obscene amount of movies at once (the limit at mine is 20
movies check out at a time), and it's free! On top of that, they partner with
a digital service that also allows you to "rent" a set amount of
movies/shows/ebooks per month (for free!).

Something I have not tried is to see what happens if they don't have a
movie/book/show that I want. I imagine they have a process to request them
buying it if there's enough interest.

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dmurray
It makes me wonder what Blockbuster corporate is like, and how you handle that
transition. Ten years ago I imagine they have a corporate office with hundreds
of employees, a CEO earning millions, and a highly paid consultancy firm
telling them how to reinvent the business. Now the CEO is the manager of the
last store and the CFO is the employee who helps him count the cash at night?

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lotsofpulp
Dish network owns the Blockbuster brand, so it’s probably just a few hours of
work for some lawyers employed by Dish network to cross some t’s and dot some
i’s for the legalities of the Bend, OR franchisee to keep using the brand.

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5555624
When this news came out yesterday, someone stationed at Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay
Naval Base) called into a morning radio show in Norfolk and said the
Blockbuster at the Exchange was still open. DVDs only, $2 a day, no late fees.
(They just keep charging you $2 a day.)

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tyleo
For anyone who wants to learn more about Blockbuster and Netflix, the Acquired
podcast has a phenomenal episode which covers The saga in depth:
[https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/season-3-episode-8nbspnetfl...](https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/season-3-episode-8nbspnetflix-
part-1)

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Dinachio
I think it is an authentic shop and it is actually a little bit sad that
almost all of the shops are closed. I understand that it is hard for them to
compete with Netflix and others, but for those who want the experience of go
and rent a dvd it is sad news.

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klez
That's not the last Blockbuster in the world. There's one near me in Rome.

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oh_sigh
That's been closed for a while now...peek in the windows and see the
desolation...what do you do in Rome? Not a native Italian but I left because
of lack of tech scene(among other things)

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chpmrc
Very much off topic but being in the process of choosing a "base" in the EU
I'm curious to know where you ended up living, that has a good tech scene.

~~~
simonh
I have friends in Berlin that like it a lot. Amsterdam is doing pretty well
too, a bunch of high frequency trading outfits moved there from London over
the last few years because of the talent pool. I think Copenhagen has a decent
scene, but I’ve no direct connections there. I’m in London and there’s plenty
of work but the finance and telecoms industries suck up most of the top
talent.

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gooseyard
I hope they're not entitled to my late fees

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tha_nose
Sometimes I wonder if all journalists do is browse reddit all day. Invariably,
something I see on reddit gets a "news" article a few months later.

The last blockbuster apparently has an official beer too.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/9tx0y3/t...](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/9tx0y3/the_last_blockbuster_has_an_official_beer/)

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Psyonic
Have you read "Trust Me, I'm Lying" by Ryan Holiday?

While he was working at American Apparel, he figured out that while it was
expensive to advertise directly on major news sites, etc, it was fairly easy
to figure out what smaller sites were the real "influencers." By advertising
or promoting material there, he got coverage on larger blogs for a fraction of
the price.

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kkarakk
astroturfin on reddit/whatever chan you think is tolerable is pretty common
now. the days before the aladdin trailer reveal had will smith and aladdin
nostalgia popup all over the place

