There Is Now One Blockbuster Left in America

And it is located in Bend, Ore., after 2 stores closed in Alaska
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 15, 2018 8:56 AM CDT

Despite the valiant efforts of John Oliver, there is now one lone town in America where you can Blockbuster and chill, and it is Bend, Ore. Alaska, long the land where Blockbuster survived due in part to expensive Internet connections, will see its final two stores in Anchorage and Fairbanks close on Monday, reports Deadline. It's a dizzying fall for the video chain, which once claimed 9,000 locations globally and 84,000 workers before declaring bankruptcy in 2010 and closing most of its locations. Though the owner of the last two Alaska stores claims they were still profitable, he tells the New York Times that "there were more things going wrong than a bunch of Russell Crowe stuff could fix."

Locations in North Pole, Soldotna, and Wasilla closed earlier this year. But don't look for the Bend store to close anytime soon: "We still have that core group of customers that know we’re local, are very loyal and come in every week," the store's general manager tells the Times. "Everyone’s tired of sitting at home on their phones and their laptops and not having any personal interactions." (More Blockbuster stories.)

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