The Last Blockbuster Video Store

In July 2018, this franchise location of Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon, became the last of its kind in the US and in March 2019, it became the last in the world.

Renting VHS videos was a big deal back in the 80's when I was at college. Someone from our Halls of Residence would rent a load of videos on a Friday night, to be returned on Sunday. A weekend rental.  Then in our Common Room, in pajamas, eating pizza or toast, we would collectively watch until deep in to the early hours of the morning, video after video. I was horrified by Freddie and Jason, enthralled by Patrick Swayze's hips in Dirty Dancing, cheered and sobbed for Dead Poets, Lost Boys and the Breakfast Club, awed by Tom Cruise, the jets and the epic soundtrack of Top Gun, inconceivably, happily enchanted by the Princess Bride, watched rom-com Brat Pack movies on endless loops. Fabulous! My favorite movie at that time was the 80's classic, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I think I have watched that movie more than 100 times. At home, I subjected my family to it so much, even my Mum and Dad were aware of Ferris and could practically quote the movie. 

"Life Moves Pretty Fast. If You Don't Stop And Look Around Once In A While, You Could Miss It."

The music, the humor, the wisdom. It reflected the 80's perfectly. I loved Ferris and Cameron and Sloane. Still do. 

So I stepped into the last Blockbuster and it was like stepping back in time. The familiarity of the place was strangely comforting. Even the smell of the place was familiar. I loved the movie posters on the walls and the promotional life-size cardboard cut outs. They mostly had VHS videos in the old hard cases arranged by genre, including a current chart displaying the faves, and new releases. They had some Blu-ray Discs in there too. You could still rent movies if you had an active club card with the store. Everything about the place made me smile and transported me back in time and there was no DeLorean involved.

They had a lounge area cordoned off with an old fashioned comfy couch, fluffy rug, coffee table and an old TV and video on a wooden console. It was magical. I felt I was right back in that Common Room at college. I was ready to snuggle down and watch a movie with friends.

I later learned you could actually rent the space as an Air BnB so you could spend the night in the store! Wow! Macarena cool!

After a good 30 minutes looking at all the videos, and enjoying the ambience and smell of popcorn, I finally left with a Ferris Bueller poster and an old video in its original case of Pete's Dragon. So much fun!