Rental video store of 9000 stores worldwide remained reduced and what store is the last store in the US

In the video distribution service such as Netflix , Hulu , Amazon prime video, etc., we recommend to see the work that the user should see next, referring to past viewing history etc. In the past, the rental video store "Blockbuster (blockbuster)" which had stores all over the world has conveyed various works to the user like the current Netflix, but this role has been deprived and now in the United States We have reduced that number to one remaining store. The Verge reports the state of the remaining one store.

What the last Blockbuster has that Netflix does not - YouTube


Blockbuster was founded in 1985. In 1994, Viacom bought it for $ 8.4 billion (about 900 billion yen), and in 2004 it was the peak of 9000 stores spread all over the world. This is a CM image of the past year.

However, I filed Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act in 2010 and went bankrupt. The blockbuster that was put on bankruptcy auction in 2011 passed to the hands of the dish network, and the arrangement of the store network started immediately. About 300 direct-operated stores left in the United States on January 12, 2014 are fully closed. The number of remaining franchise stores also decreased, and as the two stores in Alaska closed on July 16, 2018, real shops in the United States became only stores in Bend Oregon.

It was Mr. Villan Stefan who covered the interview.

Sandy Harding, General Manager of Blockbuster, met with Mr. Sandy Harding on a parking lot at a shop different from Blockbuster.

Because the dish network closed all of the blockbuster 's directly managed stores, the remaining blockbuster franchise stores became difficult to obtain the DVD from the distributor. Therefore, Mr. Sandy is going to a large discount store in the neighborhood and purchasing it. On this day I was purchasing "Carl's Flying Flying House", "Wolf of Wall Street", "Lord of the Rings" and so on. Sandy is doing stock purchasing after grasping by actually listening to the voice what kind of work the user needs. Mr. Stephen said that "It looks as if Netflix is ​​doing it."

Mr. Stephane said he visited a blockbuster after a long absence

The shop staff knows the movie well, and above all, it cares about sharing movies with everyone. Even now those who visit this shop cited the reasons for the encounter with surprising works by watching the shelf and the information obtained by listening to the clerk.

Owner Ken Tissher runs a company called "Pacific Video", which originally operated as an independent rental video shop, but in 2000 he received business voice from Blockbuster and joined the franchise He said that.

At the time of 2000, the population of Bend was about 50 thousand to 55 thousand, never a large town, and Blockbuster was planning to make a separate shop if Mr. Tischer declined to enter the franchise. It seems that Mr. Tischer was unable to refuse the offer from Blockbuster because there was a fear that business would not be established with this. After that, the population of Bend has increased to 90,000 as of 2016, but Redmond's shop located 30 minutes north of Bend is closed in February 2018.

Still the reason why Bend's store survived was that Bend was originally "movie-loving town" with three movie theaters, and that it was a local love-strong area with many "local production areas" shops Stefan cites. Film fever is such that local "Bend Film Festival" can celebrate 15th anniversary in October 2018.

Mr. Daniel Kazman , director of movie distribution service " MUBI ", there are many video distribution services in the world, but from now on, like " Shudder " specialized in horror and suspense system, "special "It is worthwhile to have been" making it. " Also it says that it is important to cooperate with "the workplace" whether it is a real store or online.

Bend's Blockbuster is now a spot to visit, as well as users who rent DVDs. Also, the place firmly rooted in the community may be the point that survived. By the way, how long it takes root is that even if someone at the discount store knows that Sandy is the general manager of Blockbuster, he seems not to stop "buying" at the store.