@new.roundup: Blockbuster Opened 41 Years Ago Today, But Only One Store Is Still Open In Bend, Oregon Blockbuster was founded in 1985 in Dallas, Texas, by David Cook. It started as a video rental store. By the 1990s and early 2000s, it had grown to more than 9,000 stores around the world. Then came rising competition from services like Netflix and Redbox. The company also faced advances in technology and the 2008 recession. It filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and began selling and closing thousands of stores. Dish Network bought the remaining stores and allowed a small number of franchise agreements to continue. One of those was in Bend, Oregon. That store is owned by Ken and Debbie Tisher. They moved to Bend in 1990 and opened their first video store, Pacific Video. In June 2000, they became a Blockbuster franchise. Many other franchises closed over the years. In March 2019, the Bend store became the last Blockbuster in the world when a store in Perth, Australia, took down its sign. Store manager Sandi Harding said that before that, it was mostly loyal local customers. After it became the last one, people came from all over the world. As of 2019, the store had about 4,000 paid members. Ken Tisher said renting in person means “you get somebody who has some ideas” instead of an algorithm. The store also sells its own merchandise, like hoodies and beanies. In 2020, it was turned into a limited-time Airbnb. It was also the subject of the 2020 documentary The Last Blockbuster. “I think it’s great that people are nostalgic for it,” Harding told Fox in 2023. “It’s certainly helping us stay alive.” Would you still rent a movie from a store like this? #new #storytime #bendoregon #nostalgia #blockbuster

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Monday 19 October 2026 13:38:42 GMT