At its height, video rental service Blockbuster had 9,000 stores operating around the globe. The rise of Netflix and streaming services have dealt heavy blows to the company over the years, and now there's only one Blockbuster store left, and it's in Oregon.
But let's back things up a bit: Last year, two popular Alaskan Blockbuster stores shut down. It was only a matter of time, right?
The company had a good run in the state, however; in a Facebook post published last year, the managers of the College and Debarr locations said "goodbye to our dedicated customers."
And that was the last we heard from Block––hold up. Nope!
Get this: That Blockbuster store wasn't the last remaining one. There was actually another store located thousands of miles away in Morley, a suburb of Perth, Australia.
But that one's gone now, too.
Co-owner Lyn Borszeky told the Australian Associated Press that the rise of streaming services like Netflix meant the store's closure was inevitable:
"We put in a pretty good effort to be the last one in Australia, I suppose, but it was going to happen eventually and now is the time."
Now that that Blockbuster is gone, the last Blockbuster store of its kind can be found in Bend, Oregon.
We like to think the team in Bend launched a Game of Thrones style offensive to claim the title of the last Blockbuster in the world, and to be fair, they seem pretty thrilled about it:
And the snark rolled in:
We're closing in on the end of an era, everyone.
For those of you nowhere near Bend, Oregon, however, there's another way to get your Blockbuster fix.
Just hop on over to "The Last Blockbuster" parody account, which claims to be located between 3rd and Main in the Oak Lawn Shopping Center in a town somewhere near you.
Oh, Blockbuster. You'll forever be in our hearts.
@chandlerparry/Threads
