Here's Where You Can Find The World’s Last Blockbuster Store

Netflix’s ironic new comedy series, Blockbuster, kindly rewinds to the nostalgic era of Friday night video rentals. But when “analog dreamer” Timmy Yoon (Randall Park) learns that he is operating the last Blockbuster Video in America, he has to fight to stay relevant. The one thing they can provide that big corporations can’t: human connection. Though the series is fictional, there really is only one Blockbuster left in the world — located in Bend, Oregon — and the store’s success strategy similarly plays to a customer’s sense of nostalgia.

Boasting more than 9,000 locations, Blockbuster was a booming business in the early 2000s. By the time the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010, however, only about 1,700 stores remained. The Bend, Oregon store, which is about 160 miles south of Portland, officially became the company’s final stronghold in March 2019, and there’s a good reason it hasn’t succumbed to the new reality of streaming services. Though the shop is still a “very functional Blockbuster,” according to Travel + Leisure, they now rely on tourism and merchandise sales to stay afloat.

According to the store’s website, all proceeds from product sales go directly to support the store staying open. A majority of the products are made locally in Bend, and staff members — who also run their several social media accounts — still even make souvenir membership cards by hand for visitors. There are 21,000 movies to choose from at a price of $4 per rental, and, not to worry, late fees are capped at $10.

Noting that the store has essentially become a de facto Blockbuster museum, General Manager Sandi Harding told Los Angeles’ KTLA that their hats and t-shirts are the best sellers. “Everything is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago,” Harding said. “People a lot of times think it’s because we have terrible Wi-Fi, that must be why we have a Blockbuster still, that is not the case.”

Even in 2004 when she began working there, she was skeptical of how many more years the company had left. Nowadays, she seems to think the Bend Blockbuster has more staying power. “I think we have a couple more years left,” she told the local news station.

Meanwhile, Built to Fail author Alan Payne told KTLA that Blockbuster wasn’t in a good position to compete with alternatives, including DVDs by mail and kiosks. “Just to put it in perspective, about half the population would be in a video store every week,” Payne explained. “It’s interesting to note that Blockbuster was really a broken company in dire financial conditions before Netflix ever started streaming.”

Regardless, visitors seem to be flocking to their last store, and Netflix’s Blockbuster will surely only drive more interest.