Latest Blockbuster Video Closings Leave Just One Store in US

Blockbuster Video (Credit: Facebook)

It’s the end of a snow-covered road for Blockbuster Video after the last two stores in Alaska announced  Thursday they are closing for good.

The two Alaska video stores, located in Anchorage and Fairbanks, will stop renting DVDs (and VHS tapes?) on Sunday.

The stores will reopen Tuesday for liquidation sales through the end of August, the managers said in a Facebook post.

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“We regret to inform our customers that Blockbuster Video will be closing both the College and Debarr stores starting July 16th,” Blockbuster Alaska District Manager Kelli Vey and General Manager Kevin Daymude wrote on Facebook.

“These are the last two Blockbuster stores in Alaska that survived and it is sad to say goodbye to our dedicated customers,” the two added. “We have thought of you as family for the past 28 years.”

The Alaska locations gained national attention earlier this year, as they struggled to stay in business.

In May, John Oliver and HBO donated a truckload of unusual Russell Crowe movie memorabilia to the Anchorage store.

The donations generated some business and buzz, but not enough to keep up with a planned rent increase, Daymude said.

Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010, prompting most locations in the U.S. to shutter.

The video rental chain managed to stay in business in Alaska because of the state’s brutal winters and slow WiFi, making streaming services like Netflix less of an option.

Once the two Alaska stores close, there will be just one Blockbuster Video left in the entire U.S., according to The Associated Press.

The final frontier for the once-popular video chain is in Bend, Oregon, where the manager told The AP business is brisk.

“We have no plans on closing anytime soon,” said Bend general manager Sandi Harding.