The last two Blockbuster stores in Alaska are shutting their doors for good next week according to the Anchorage Daily News, which means there is just one remaining relic of the video rental giant still up and operating in the entire United States.
The final Blockbuster storefront standing is located in Bend, Oregon. It outlasted two stores in Alaska—one in the city of Anchorage and one in Fairbanks—that will officially close up shop on Monday, July 16th despite John Oliver’s attempts to keep them alive by sending the stores memorabilia from Russell Crowe movies.
When the last two stores in Alaska officially lock up next week, it will mark the end of a quirky final act for the forgotten video rental chain. Though parent company Dish Network started shuttering storefronts around the US in 2013, Blockbuster managed to maintain a stronghold in Alaska, driven primarily by long winters and pricy, occasionally unreliable internet connections, per the Washington Post. According to data from HighSpeedInternet.com, Alaska is third-to-last in internet connectivity in the US, and just 62 percent of its population has access to what would be considered broadband speed connections of 25Mbps.
Anchorage Daily News reported that 13 Blockbuster stores were operating in 2013, and nine were still open in 2016—far from the company’s peak of 9,000, but it’s something. The stores in Anchorage and Fairbanks were the final holdouts, and the owners told Deadline the stores were still profitable, but their closure was all be inevitable eventually.
John Oliver highlighted the stores on Last Week Tonight earlier this year when he bought up a bunch of movie artifacts that Russell Crowe ditched in a post-divorce auction, including a leather jockstrap from the film Cinderella Man and sent it to the Alaska Blockbuster stores. Somehow, it seems that wasn’t enough to save them.
Blockbuster Alaska District Manager Kelli Vey and General Manager Kevin Daymude issued the following statement regarding the closure to its customers via Facebook:
These are the last two Blockbuster stores in Alaska that survived and it is sad to say goodbye to our dedicated customers. We have thought of you as family for the past 28 years. Both Kelli Vey and I (Kevin Daymude) have been with the company since 1991 and have had great memories throughout our career. Thank you for sticking by us throughout all these years. I can’t tell you how much it means to us. We hope to see you at our stores during the closing, even if it’s just to say “Hello”. What a great time to build your media library and share some Blockbuster memories with us.
We will miss all of you!
While the Blockbuster locations will shut down on Monday, they will be open through August as the stores sell off their remaining inventory. No word on whether Russell Crowe’s jockstrap will be included in the going out of business sale. If you still have an overdue movie rental you’ve been waiting to return, it looks like Oregon is your last hope.
[Anchorage Daily News, Deadline]
One too many if one still in the pretense of doing business.They were the rulers of the block and instead of taking advantage of new tech/consumer demand and treating their customers like they wanted them back and appreciated their business instead treated em like shit while believing no matter the new tech and wants of consumers they had said consumers by the balls,they were very wrong.
Greetings,
This just goes to show you how quickly something can fall out of favor with the public. If people were to abandon the idea of government as quickly as they did Blockbuster then we’d all be better off.
As long as a business ISN’T getting any money or favors from the government (aka – stolen taxpayer dollars, destroyed freedom of choice, etc.), I could give a damn if there are 1000 or 1 stores remaining in operation. That is THEIR business and I wish every business of that nature the best of luck in their pursuit of a happy and repeat customer base.
As for those businesses that exist ONLY because the government is STEALING from us on their behalf, imposing massive tariffs on their behalf, setting up regulatory barriers on their behalf to protect them from competition, etc. – FUCK all of them and I hope they ALL go out of business.
liberty,
how would you privatize electric companies & still maintain good service?
the fraud in california poisoned the well for privatization but i would love to see it tried again–
“Privatization” from the GOP perspective, involves nothing more than transferring the government monopoly to the hands of a private monopoly. Competition is the ONLY solution to monopoly. Frankly, the entire premise of electricity in this country has been the creation and maintenance of massive monopolies. Decentralization of power creation and distribution is the key. Why does power have to travel over hundreds of miles? Why is power not created right where it is used? The options today are nearly endless, yet GOVERNMENT protectionism of these cartels prevents the kind of market and freedom-based changes that SHOULD be undermining all of that.
mostly agree on the generation part–
the distribution is not practical w/multiple companies but if the distribution was decoupled from production & distribution was spun off into a separate company it could spur competition–
if warehouse or big retail wanted to outfit their roofs w/solar,there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to sell that to whoever wants to buy it–
I’m not an electrical engineer, nor someone familiar enough with the “grid” to fully understand the problems or the solutions. But I know the market is smart enough, and I know that without the protectionist power of the government keeping the pockets of the status quo filled with cash, massive changes would undermine it all and put the “power” back into the hands of the people, rather than keeping it in the hands of government’s “friends.”
They should stock videos about mini submarine rescues of little Thai boys. Should do wonders from a PR point eh.
About as much chance of staying afloat as Tesla at this stage…
Zombie,I assume you are speaking of the car company that is a crime named after the great man.
The band named after the great man is doing fine,still kicking out blues based hard rock and making a few 1000 people a night happy at least for the moment in a crazy world,a great thing!
I wish better adding links,loved this song by em,a acoustic driven gem!
Govt. Personal
Go straight to hell,
All you government personnel,
Sittin’ awf’ly well
In your big, white house up on the hill.
You say now, give me a home
Where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and antelope play.
You can bet your ass we’ll blow them all away.
Fuck it up until it’s bent,
Then a-wonder where it went.
Thinkin’ you was a-heaven sent, ha ha ha,
You’re nothin’ but hell!
Off of the classic album “Psychotic Supper”
Only one Blockbuster left out of a formerly thriving chain?
Absolute proof the economy has collapsed and we are in a depression worse than any seen before.
The collapse of the horse-drawn carriage industry could have been viewed in a similar light, yet in truth, it was just the fading of one means of transportation in favor of another at a time of some of the greatest growth in our history. Yes, our economy is in the giant shitter, but not because an out-moded means of acquiring entertainment (direct, hands-on rental), couldn’t survive in the face of virtually immediate downloads and 300 channels of shit on the cable to choose from (hat tip to Pink Floyd). The overall collapse of the retail sector, $20 trillion in real debt and $250+Trillion in unfunded liabilities, the lowest labor participation rate in history, and other “wonderful” measures all point to the collapse of our economy….not the passing of Blockbuster. The passing of Sears, Toys-R-Us, JC Penny, and others are far more appropriate signs.
Strange, I thought they all went the way of the dodo a long time ago.