BEND, Ore. — Many of the customers in the last-ever Blockbuster in the world are there for the T-shirts or mugs or just the sweet, sweet nostalgia.
Children seem somewhat confused as their parents try to explain what they had to do to watch a movie or binge a TV show when they were their age: browse through the tapes or disks at the store, give the store clerk the membership card, pop the movie into a machine to watch it, then return it to the store.
But the “Be kind, rewind” signs are real, because some do come to rent movies. In fact, patrons can even rent streaming titles like Netflix’s “Stranger Things” or at least those the services deign to provide on physical media. Luckily for Blockbuster, and any other video rental store still toughing it out, there are some movies that are unavailable via the particular subscriptions people have, are unavailable to stream at all, or are more expensive to rent or buy through Amazon.
As the last one standing since the 2019 closure of a Blockbuster franchise in Australia, Bend, Oregon’s location is now a tourist attraction, and several short-term home rentals in the area have installed DVD players so that people can take full advantage of it. Overall, the store’s most rented movie is “The Goonies,” which was filmed in coastal Astoria, about five hours away.
“It’s a heavy dose of nostalgia when you come here, and we have a lot of people that come into town for different reasons throughout the year, skiing in the winter or in the summer for the concert series,” store manager Dan Montgomery said in an interview at the store. “But then we have our locals who come every week, and we cherish them because those are the ones who kept us open before we were the last one.”
Owner Ken Tisher first opened a video rental store, dubbed Pacific Video, in Bend in the early nineties, when the concept was still in its golden era. When Blockbuster came to town he was offered a franchise; he still pays franchise licensing fees to Dish Network, which in 2011 brought the brand out of bankruptcy for $320 million.
While people still rent videos, merchandise sales have grown in importance, Montgomery said. As the chain slowly but steadily disappeared from the landscape, some people would offer the employees in Bend money for their bright blue Blockbuster shirts. There is now a wide assortment that includes not just those T-shirts, but also mugs, fanny packs, key chains and a locally brewed beer available only at the Bend store. Almost all of the merchandise is manufactured in Oregon, if not in Bend.
On a hot summer day in July, Bend’s Blockbuster was bustling. Montgomery declined to provide financial figures, but said the store makes enough to stay open. He believes sales could grow as more younger consumers discover the benefits of physical media over streaming, the way they have embraced vinyl records and cassettes. Movie nerds already appreciate that some formats like Blu-ray and 4K are superior to streaming.
First, though, they need to experience that. In recent years, the team has set up pop-ups at gaming conventions across the country, including the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, which also trade on nostalgia. They are exploring other venues and opportunities to capitalize on the clear affinity people have when they come in to the store.
“It’s something new that we’ve started to do to keep our name out there, let people know ‘Hey, we’re still here,’” he said. “We’re offering this experience to come check us out if you can’t come to Bend.”
