One Blockbuster Left in the U.S.

[NebraskaRed]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/b...imes&smtyp=cur

I used to work at a Blockbuster. Does anyone have any rental memories (Blockbuster or otherwise?)

One time, a guy argued with me about a $2 late fee. He came in for three days straight to dispute the late fee, claiming that he had returned the movie on time. My manager had told us that we couldn't remove late fees any longer since some of the employees had been removing them for friends and family. I told him there was nothing I could do. On the third day of this dispute, he pushed over this candy cart we had near the front of the store and said "I'll never rent here again!"

He came in the next week and paid the late fee.

[dougdirt]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/b...imes&smtyp=cur

I used to work at a Blockbuster. Does anyone have any rental memories (Blockbuster or otherwise?)

One time, a guy argued with me about a $2 late fee. He came in for three days straight to dispute the late fee, claiming that he had returned the movie on time. My manager had told us that we couldn't remove late fees any longer since some of the employees had been removing them for friends and family. I told him there was nothing I could do. On the third day of this dispute, he pushed over this candy cart we had near the front of the store and said "I'll never rent here again!"

He came in the next week and paid the late fee.

Why you gotta call me out in public like that?

[KronoRed]

I remember for about two weeks the one near me had a giant laser disc section, those were neat to look at.

[Dom Heffner]

We had a guy at the Beechmont Avenue one...I think his name was Russ. He had seen every movie- you could bring it up to him and he would give you a 1-4 star rating and details.

[Roy Tucker]

I worked on the Blockbuster automation project when I worked for DEC. Like early 90’s. Rdb and VT240’s. No middle tier. Dumb terminals talking directly to a database. What a mess

Two companies that were behemoths in their day and now gone.

[Joseph]

I didn't work at Blockbuster, but I did work in a video store. Loved that job.

[Kinsm]

The one in Alaska just got Russell Crowe's jockstrap from the Cinderella Man via John Oliver.

[marcshoe]

Blockbuster went out of business because they switched from VCR tapes to those newfangled DVD thingies. VHS is the wave of the future. Either that or BetaMax.

[RedTeamGo!]

If anyone wants a fantastic short podcast series (about 3 hours total) I highly recommend the Blockbuster vs Netflix series on Business Wars.

Excellent.

[cumberlandreds]

I never rented a lot movies but I do remember going to Blockbuster. The one close to us that we rented from had a lady that worked the floor that did nothing but go around to people and talk movies. She seemed know anything and everything about movies. I guess they thought that was good sales gimmick.

I also remember when you started seeing these rental places. The one in my hometown you could not only rent movies but VHS or Betamax players. I think I did that once but didn't work out for me for some reason.

[RedTeamGo!]

I never rented a lot movies but I do remember going to Blockbuster. The one close to us that we rented from had a lady that worked the floor that did nothing but go around to people and talk movies. She seemed know anything and everything about movies. I guess they thought that was good sales gimmick.

I also remember when you started seeing these rental places. The one in my hometown you could not only rent movies but VHS or Betamax players. I think I did that once but didn't work out for me for some reason.

This is a phenomen since the creation of the DVD player.

People that lived through the era of VHS calling a VCR a VHS Player.

I catch myself doing it, and it’s always bizarre. VCR is a term I’ve used countless times in my life.

[Dom Heffner]

Blockbuster went out of business because they switched from VCR tapes to those newfangled DVD thingies. VHS is the wave of the future. Either that or BetaMax.

My mom bought a Betamax as they were going out...paid like $150for it, a bargain compared to the new VHS players. I remember her telling me they were better quality than VHS and would therefore be a good thing for the future.

I would bring dates back to the house and we were wholly at the mercy of stores that carried Beta...

[medford]

I remember as a Ute, the store we rented from had a relatively small Betamax section compared to the walls and walls of VHS tapes available. Even as an 8(ish) year old it was clear to me that VHS was the way to go, far more available. There was also a "back room" that I wasn't allowed to go into, not sure what kind of films they rented back there, mom wouldn't let me behind the curtain.

Not sure how spread out Showtime (???) rentals was (if I have the name correct) but there were a handful of them in the Dayton area. In college, I once borrowed Rounders, returned it 2 weeks late, but had watched it every single day that I had it (call me crazy) Who knows what the late fees were, but I didn't go back to that store for a couple of months after returning the flick (summer break) and the no body every asked me to pay a late fee in the future.

I remember Blockbuster had that little car shaped video rewinder gizmos, they even tried to charge you like 50 cents if the video wasn't rewound when you returned it. Can you imagine trying to sell a 12 year old the benefits of a VHS over DVD today? That would be like trying to sell my 2 year old the benefits of a DVD over internet streaming in 10 years

[M2]

Best video store moment was one time my kids decided to play hide and seek at the store. Couldn't find my daughter and we started freaking out. Took a couple of minutes to get the story out of my son. We found her in the back room with the porn videos.

[marcshoe]

First movie I ever rented.



Turned out to be useful training for Griffin O'Neal's future.