For Blockbuster lovers missing the store, and for video-rental virgins, here's what it's like to visit one of the few remaining Blockbusters in the US.
Blockbuster isn't extinct quite yet.
At least 10 Blockbusters remain open across the US — a minuscule percentage of the 9,000 stores that existed in the early 1990s, the Washington Post reported. And, the biggest cluster of Blockbuster locations that remain open aren't in the mainland US, but instead in Alaska.
"We just keep plodding along," Alan Payne, a licensee who owns eight of the last surviving Blockbusters, told the Post. One of Payne's locations is in Texas, and seven are in Alaska, where the chain continues to draw customers thanks to the frigid and long winter and expensive and slow WiFi.
Many Americans haven't seen a Blockbuster — much less gone inside — since the company filed for bankruptcy in 2010. For Blockbuster lovers desperately missing the store and video rental virgins raised on Netflix, here's what it's like to visit one of the handful of remaining Blockbusters in the country.
Driving through Alaska, Blockbuster's iconic blue and yellow colors may grab your eye.
After all, you can't miss the distinctive sign.
This location in Anchorage is still encouraging new members to join.
And it appears like the membership cards haven't changed at all.
Inside, everything looks the same as it always has, with rows and rows of movies.
On the plus side, Blockbuster is renting DVDs now, so you won't have to rewind the tapes before returning them.
And, yes, they have new releases...
Alongside some older options.
Alaksa's long, snowy winters make curling up to watch a video rental a tempting proposition.
There's even a Blockbuster in North Pole! (North Pole is a small city near Fairbanks, about 1,700 miles south of the geographic North Pole.)
There are also a handful of Blockbusters outside of Alaska.
There's a Blockbuster in Edinburg, Texas that is apparently the last location in the state, following the closure of a location in Mission, Texas last week.
And, there's a couple left in Washington.
Still, these endangered Blockbusters can't stay open forever.
Payne told the Washington Post that it's just a matter of time until they close.
So, if you want to visit the video rental chain before it goes extinct, you better start preparing for your road trip now.
For Blockbuster lovers missing the store, and for video-rental virgins, here's what it's like to visit one of the few remaining Blockbusters in the US. Read Full Story
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