-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
There are 10 Blockbusters left in the US. 6 of them are in Alaska.
- Thread starter Taki
- Start date
I always liked Hollywood Video better.
They had that awesome used game off shot where I found some rare gems.
They had that awesome used game off shot where I found some rare gems.
I should move to Alaska. I miss having to put a little effort into watching a movie I really want to watch. Everything just feels so thin anymore.
Maybe that's why the Alaskan government pays people a few grand a year to live there. Compensate for all those late fees
It's crazy how Blockbuster went from juggernaut/in every American city, to whimsical curiosity in less than a decade.
I believe the parent national company is completely gone, its just former franchisees still using the stuff they had.
Wait, so they don't even have new movies? Just whatever they had over a decade ago?
This actually sounds like hell.
Thats neat, satellite internet for rural folks is shit for Netflix.
I bet Blockbusters still has better Halloween movies right now than Netflix does.
I bet Blockbusters still has better Halloween movies right now than Netflix does.
No, they have new movies. It's just that it's controlled locally using resources/systems left over from the old days, the 6 Alaska Blockbusters likely don't have the same ownership as the other 4.
One of the first jobs I had out of high school was Blockbuster. Just a CSR. Before I got hired at my most recent job last year, I put down CSR at Blockbuster on my resume. My background check was in jeopardy for a couple days because they couldn't verify my employment at Blockbuster, as basically it was so completely dissolved by this point. I'm also unsure why they got hung up on what was basically the least impressive bullet point of my resume. Why would anyone lie about being a CSR at Blockbuster?
I think I'm part of a whole generation that grew up with going to the local video store on Fridays to pick the rentals for the weekend. I really miss it sometimes because it was a family activity and something as simple as going to the store to decide on one or two movies for the weekend felt more social to me that whipping on Netflix and just browsing a screen.
OP
OP
There are 6 stores in Alaska, that seems like a good description of a top-level managerial position for them.
I miss video stores. I wonder why Blockbuster didn't go the Netflix route and start a streaming service?
They did. They also tried mail-in and kiosk. Fundamentally their business model of franchising could not continue operations.
They competed w/ Netflix when Netflix was just discs, but they couldn't leap to streaming. And when they couldn't do that (Netflix already had a huge market share), there wasn't a future. So they closed up.
Hollywood video was everywhere, they had a lot of games. Blockbuster couldn't compete in my area. Unfortunately, they fell first and some blockbusters bought their old stores until falling down the pit themselves.
The feeling when seeing the game you want is there but there were also copies behind the display case was amazing. Was also able to rent weird games like Eternal Ring for the PS2.
Distinctly remember them digging in their heels and then attempting to move to mail based rentals... As Netflix was on to streaming.
Distinctly remember them digging in their heels and then attempting to move to mail based rentals... As Netflix was on to streaming.
Actually Dish Network now owns Blockbuster. Why they haven't shut down all the remaining stores is beyond me though.
Yes, they're doing pretty well and own the land their stores sit on, so they should be around for the next decade or so.
Very similar to walking into a Blockbuster.