Author: Travis Pittman
Published: 11:31 PM EST March 5, 2019
Updated: 11:34 PM EST March 5, 2019
BEND, Ore. — And then there was one.
There will soon be only one Blockbuster Video store on Planet Earth, and it's located in Bend, Oregon.
Australia's The Eastern Reporter says the last Blockbuster store in that country, located in a suburb of Perth, is going out of business at the end of the month.
That means the center of the Blockbuster universe will be in Central Oregon.
Last summer, the Bend Blockbuster became the last of its kind in America when two Alaska stores shut down. General Manager Sandi Harding said in July that business in Bend was doing just fine and she didn't sound concerned that her store was doomed to close, too.
She also said that the store gets extra busy during bad weather. If that's true, the rentals must be flying off the shelves right now. Bend just experienced it's snowiest February ever -- 45.8 inches -- nearly doubling the previous record for snowfall for the month.
Why is Blockbuster doing so well in Bend? Customers say it's the people.
“Bend is kind of a special place because we really value human interaction,” said loyal customer Laura Parker in July. “You’re on your phone all the time, or on your device or on your computer all the time, and I think that the other experience, it feels more intuitive.”
