Get out your membership cards. The last Blockbuster store in the US is planning to run an ad during the Super Bowl.
No, a bunch of late fees didn’t suddenly appear in its bank account. The store, located in Bend, Oregon, won’t be buying a seven-milliion-dollar TV spot. Instead, it’s streaming on Instagram. It will also play it on a VHS tape at the store, then will make the tape available for rent at 2 per day.
The store is no doubt counting on media (like this site) to pick up on the plans, thus saving several million dollars.
“We are doing a fun, retro-style commercial that we will be releasing during the Big Game. We are featuring it during halftime in the store and on social media,” store owner Sandi Harding told Oregon Live in an email.
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No, a bunch of late fees didn’t suddenly appear in its bank account. The store, located in Bend, Oregon, won’t be buying a seven-milliion-dollar TV spot. Instead, it’s streaming on Instagram. It will also play it on a VHS tape at the store, then will make the tape available for rent at 2 per day.
The store is no doubt counting on media (like this site) to pick up on the plans, thus saving several million dollars.
“We are doing a fun, retro-style commercial that we will be releasing during the Big Game. We are featuring it during halftime in the store and on social media,” store owner Sandi Harding told Oregon Live in an email.
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- 2/13/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
This story was originally published on Nov. 2, 2020. Netflix released “The Last Blockbuster” documentary in March. Watch the trailer here.
The last Blockbuster in the world, located in Bend, Oregon, is weathering the pandemic by tapping into the nostalgia of the iconic video store chain, while also offering sleepovers through Airbnb and selling merchandise sourced through local vendors.
Plus, at a time when consumers are done scrolling through Netflix and Hulu and have watched everything there is on Amazon Prime due to the continuing theater closures and production stoppages because of the pandemic, Blockbuster offers tangible content for which people actually have to leave their homes.
“When this whole thing started, streaming platforms were the new toy — you can go online, and scroll in your jammies,” Sandi Harding, the store manager of Blockbuster, told TheWrap. “But now, people miss getting out, and being able to walk around and getting an idea...
The last Blockbuster in the world, located in Bend, Oregon, is weathering the pandemic by tapping into the nostalgia of the iconic video store chain, while also offering sleepovers through Airbnb and selling merchandise sourced through local vendors.
Plus, at a time when consumers are done scrolling through Netflix and Hulu and have watched everything there is on Amazon Prime due to the continuing theater closures and production stoppages because of the pandemic, Blockbuster offers tangible content for which people actually have to leave their homes.
“When this whole thing started, streaming platforms were the new toy — you can go online, and scroll in your jammies,” Sandi Harding, the store manager of Blockbuster, told TheWrap. “But now, people miss getting out, and being able to walk around and getting an idea...
- 4/17/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Like many funerals, “The Last Blockbuster” is both a celebration of life and a time to mourn a lost loved one.
The Netflix-streaming documentary delves into the macroeconomic forces that spelled doom for Blockbuster Video and why the rise of Netflix wasn’t the nail in the coffin so many assume it was.
It also illustrates the formula store manager Sandi Harding uses daily in Bend, Oregon, to keep the gears turning in the last Blockbuster on earth, serving as a model for how a like-minded entrepreneurial spirit could similarly cash in. It even ponders the intimate experience of snapping a Blockbuster VHS case shut — there’s nothing like it.
“There’s this peace when you walk in,” voice actor James Arnold Taylor says in the documentary about experiencing a Blockbuster store, “and you go, ‘The world is mine. I can accomplish anything right now. Everything is at my fingertips.
The Netflix-streaming documentary delves into the macroeconomic forces that spelled doom for Blockbuster Video and why the rise of Netflix wasn’t the nail in the coffin so many assume it was.
It also illustrates the formula store manager Sandi Harding uses daily in Bend, Oregon, to keep the gears turning in the last Blockbuster on earth, serving as a model for how a like-minded entrepreneurial spirit could similarly cash in. It even ponders the intimate experience of snapping a Blockbuster VHS case shut — there’s nothing like it.
“There’s this peace when you walk in,” voice actor James Arnold Taylor says in the documentary about experiencing a Blockbuster store, “and you go, ‘The world is mine. I can accomplish anything right now. Everything is at my fingertips.
- 3/20/2021
- by Jeremy Bailey
- The Wrap
At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster licensed its name to nearly 9,000 video rental stores around the world. According to my calculations, that means the chain, which specialized in stocking up on new releases (and strangling competitors out of business), must have had at least 90,000 copies of “Gigli” in circulation.
Today, you can’t find even a single “Gigli” DVD at the one remaining Blockbuster store on Earth — a family-owned, community-supported franchise holdout in Bend, Ore. I know because I just got off the phone with them. “Can you spell it?” asked the clerk, unfamiliar with the 2004 Ben Affleck-Jennifer Lopez flop. That said, you can still find thousands of other movies for rent, the increasing rarity of which is apparently enough to inspire pilgrimages to this Tuvalu-like outpost for many who associate Blockbuster with early jobs and/or formative movie-watching experiences — even though there are probably local stores that could...
Today, you can’t find even a single “Gigli” DVD at the one remaining Blockbuster store on Earth — a family-owned, community-supported franchise holdout in Bend, Ore. I know because I just got off the phone with them. “Can you spell it?” asked the clerk, unfamiliar with the 2004 Ben Affleck-Jennifer Lopez flop. That said, you can still find thousands of other movies for rent, the increasing rarity of which is apparently enough to inspire pilgrimages to this Tuvalu-like outpost for many who associate Blockbuster with early jobs and/or formative movie-watching experiences — even though there are probably local stores that could...
- 3/16/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
At one point in the late Nineties, the Blockbuster video rental chain had a ubiquity comparable with other American mega-chains like KFC or Burger King. Today, the company has downsized – it only has one store left in all of the US. The Last Blockbuster, an amiable, breezy documentary directed by Taylor Morden and narrated with enthusiasm by actor Lauren Lapkus, aims to explain how this onetime king of the video rental fell from grace.
Morden knows most will blame Netflix for Blockbuster’s woes, but after considering the question early on in the film, he takes us on a roundabout history, first of the video rental market and then Blockbuster itself, centring on a remaining last-store-standing bastion of the chain still operating in Oregon, where old dusty PCs that require floppy disks are still in use, and its manager, likeable ‘Blockbuster mom’ Sandi Harding, continues to fight the good fight.
Morden knows most will blame Netflix for Blockbuster’s woes, but after considering the question early on in the film, he takes us on a roundabout history, first of the video rental market and then Blockbuster itself, centring on a remaining last-store-standing bastion of the chain still operating in Oregon, where old dusty PCs that require floppy disks are still in use, and its manager, likeable ‘Blockbuster mom’ Sandi Harding, continues to fight the good fight.
- 12/16/2020
- by Sunil Chauhan
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Blockbuster Video was recently back in the news after its last remaining outpost in Bend, Oregon began offering movie lovers a chance to spend the night on an air mattress or pull-out couch, surrounded by rows and rows of new releases. The cost was the same as a movie rental — $4 (not accounting for those exorbitant late fees!). The AirBnB promotion went viral, riding a crest of social media interest both from Twitter-users who fondly remember spending weekends picking out movies at their local Blockbuster, as well as from Gen Z members for whom the idea of a “video” is as relevant as a Spanish galleon.
Now, 1091 Pictures has acquired worldwide digital and broadcast rights to “The Last Blockbuster,” the story of how one small town video store managed to survive the decline and fall of its corporate parent. The film follows Sandi Harding, the manager of the Oregon-based Blockbuster...
Now, 1091 Pictures has acquired worldwide digital and broadcast rights to “The Last Blockbuster,” the story of how one small town video store managed to survive the decline and fall of its corporate parent. The film follows Sandi Harding, the manager of the Oregon-based Blockbuster...
- 8/17/2020
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Did you ever love going to Blockbuster so much that you wished you could sleep there? Please, hold your interruptions of “no” or “I remember the smell, so no” until we reveal that you can now get your wish …if you live in Deschutes County.
Bend, Oregon’s Blockbuster Video store is opening its doors to residents for three nights only in September for just $4 a night. The Blockbuster in Bend is the last one left lingering in our strange new streaming-centric world, and the decision to briefly turn it into an Airbnb for a spell was made by its manager, Sandi Harding, who’s worked there for sixteen years.
Harding started clocking in at Blockbuster back when there were thousands of the stores still around.
“I’ve seen the highs and lows of this business, but nothing can replace going to the store with loved ones to browse the...
Bend, Oregon’s Blockbuster Video store is opening its doors to residents for three nights only in September for just $4 a night. The Blockbuster in Bend is the last one left lingering in our strange new streaming-centric world, and the decision to briefly turn it into an Airbnb for a spell was made by its manager, Sandi Harding, who’s worked there for sixteen years.
Harding started clocking in at Blockbuster back when there were thousands of the stores still around.
“I’ve seen the highs and lows of this business, but nothing can replace going to the store with loved ones to browse the...
- 8/12/2020
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
Airbnb will offer a one-of-a-kind vacation spot with its latest rental listing: the world’s last Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon.
“Dust off those membership cards for a sleepover inside the world’s last Blockbuster. when you call dibs on this stay, you’re booking a night back in the 90s, but this time you won’t have to beg your parents to rent the latest horror flick,” manager Sandi Harding wrote in the Airbnb listing.
While the vacation spot might be like none other in the world, the offer is only open to Deschutes County residents, the listing specifies. Those who live in the county can sign up for one of the three one-night stays at the video store. Guests lucky enough to book the spot will have full access to the Blockbuster’s seemingly endless collection of movie titles.
For a charge of $4, the selected Deschutes residents can...
“Dust off those membership cards for a sleepover inside the world’s last Blockbuster. when you call dibs on this stay, you’re booking a night back in the 90s, but this time you won’t have to beg your parents to rent the latest horror flick,” manager Sandi Harding wrote in the Airbnb listing.
While the vacation spot might be like none other in the world, the offer is only open to Deschutes County residents, the listing specifies. Those who live in the county can sign up for one of the three one-night stays at the video store. Guests lucky enough to book the spot will have full access to the Blockbuster’s seemingly endless collection of movie titles.
For a charge of $4, the selected Deschutes residents can...
- 8/11/2020
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
Eighties children rejoice — your wildest dream is about to come true: You can now spend the night in a Blockbuster, where you can watch any VHS your little heart desires. Sure, you could also just fire up Netflix or Amazon Prime or Disney+ or one of myriad other streaming services — but isn’t picking a movie so much more fun when surrounded by the smell of stale popcorn and a must that can only be described as Blockbuster?
According to a posting on Airbnb, the world’s last Blockbuster is...
According to a posting on Airbnb, the world’s last Blockbuster is...
- 8/11/2020
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
Airbnb is offering sleepovers at the world’s last Blockbuster store in Bend, Ore. On Aug. 17 at 1 p.m. Pt, movie lovers can request to book a one-night stay from Sept. 18 through 20. Reservations are only open to residents of Deschutes County, and up to four guests per household are allowed per night.
The store has been listed as “End of Summer Sleepover at the Last Blockbuster” on Airbnb’s website. Sandi Harding, the store’s owner, wrote the lucky lodgers will have the entire place to themselves for $4, paying a penny more than a regular movie rental for $3.99.
The post reads: “Hey Deschutes County residents! Dust off those membership cards for a sleepover inside the world’s last Blockbuster. When you call dibs on this stay, you’re booking a night back in the 90s, but this time you won’t have to beg your parents to rent the latest...
The store has been listed as “End of Summer Sleepover at the Last Blockbuster” on Airbnb’s website. Sandi Harding, the store’s owner, wrote the lucky lodgers will have the entire place to themselves for $4, paying a penny more than a regular movie rental for $3.99.
The post reads: “Hey Deschutes County residents! Dust off those membership cards for a sleepover inside the world’s last Blockbuster. When you call dibs on this stay, you’re booking a night back in the 90s, but this time you won’t have to beg your parents to rent the latest...
- 8/11/2020
- by Janet W. Lee
- Variety Film + TV
The Blockbuster video store in Bend, Oregon, is the last of its kind in the entire world, and it’s miraculously surviving not just the streaming era but also the coronavirus pandemic. In a new interview with Vice, the store’s longtime general manager Sandi Harding said she’s keeping the lights on by making the store as safe as possible. Because the local DVD distributor is closed, Harding ventures to major retailers with her mask and gloves on to purchase new films for her store.
“The big title for next week is ‘Call of the Wild,” Harding told Vice. “I usually start out with 30 copies on DVD, and 12 to 14 Blu-Ray. I’ll go to Walmart, Target, Fred Meyer, every retailer we have here in town, and I’ll only get five or 10 from each one. They don’t like me very much if I come in and just wipe out their shelves,...
“The big title for next week is ‘Call of the Wild,” Harding told Vice. “I usually start out with 30 copies on DVD, and 12 to 14 Blu-Ray. I’ll go to Walmart, Target, Fred Meyer, every retailer we have here in town, and I’ll only get five or 10 from each one. They don’t like me very much if I come in and just wipe out their shelves,...
- 5/14/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Blockbuster video store in Bend, Oregon, is the last of its kind in the entire world, and it’s miraculously surviving not just the streaming era but also the coronavirus pandemic. In a new interview with Vice, the store’s longtime general manager Sandi Harding said she’s keeping the lights on by making the store as safe as possible. Because the local DVD distributor is closed, Harding ventures to major retailers with her mask and gloves on to purchase new films for her store.
“The big title for next week is ‘Call of the Wild,” Harding told Vice. “I usually start out with 30 copies on DVD, and 12 to 14 Blu-Ray. I’ll go to Walmart, Target, Fred Meyer, every retailer we have here in town, and I’ll only get five or 10 from each one. They don’t like me very much if I come in and just wipe out their shelves,...
“The big title for next week is ‘Call of the Wild,” Harding told Vice. “I usually start out with 30 copies on DVD, and 12 to 14 Blu-Ray. I’ll go to Walmart, Target, Fred Meyer, every retailer we have here in town, and I’ll only get five or 10 from each one. They don’t like me very much if I come in and just wipe out their shelves,...
- 5/14/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The act of leaving your home and driving to a video store to rent a movie is a thing of the past. And it especially feels ancient at the moment with the government recommending people stay home as much as possible to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
There’s never been a better time to sit on your couch and binge-watch something on Netflix or Amazon Prime, then. And the content never stops. But for the last remaining Blockbuster store – located in Bend, Oregon – they don’t care what age we’re living in or that we’re in the middle of a pandemic. They’re staying open at all costs.
“We’ve faced many challenges over the year and we’ve managed to muddle through and we will this one too,” general manager Sandi Harding told Inside Edition.
And they’re going to great lengths to keep the store safe to shop in,...
There’s never been a better time to sit on your couch and binge-watch something on Netflix or Amazon Prime, then. And the content never stops. But for the last remaining Blockbuster store – located in Bend, Oregon – they don’t care what age we’re living in or that we’re in the middle of a pandemic. They’re staying open at all costs.
“We’ve faced many challenges over the year and we’ve managed to muddle through and we will this one too,” general manager Sandi Harding told Inside Edition.
And they’re going to great lengths to keep the store safe to shop in,...
- 4/28/2020
- by Ryan Beltram
- We Got This Covered
"Did you know that Blockbuster had a chance to buy Netflix, but they didn't?" What?! No way! Pop Motion Pictures has debuted an official trailer for an indie documentary called The Last Blockbuster, which is indeed a film about the very last Blockbuster video rental store to ever exist. Many of you might know the Twitter account, @loneblockbuster, which was started as a joke but is also based on the real-life reference - the very last Blockbuster video rental store still in operation, located in Bend, Or. The Last Blockbuster is a feature length documentary film about the rise and fall of Blockbuster video and how one small town store managed to outlast a corporate giant. Kevin Smith is featured prominently, along with Sandi Harding, manager of the last Blockbuster store. I'm most curious to hear what this former CEO has to say about it all. Here's the first official...
- 3/17/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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