--- title: An Inside Look at the World's Last Blockbuster description: In less than a month, there will officially only be one Blockbuster store left in the entire world. Meet the manager keeping it going. canonical: https://time.com/5547624/worlds-last-blockbuster/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-07T22:46:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:58.294Z og:title: Meet the Manager Running the World's Last Blockbuster og:description: "We set up accounts every single day for new people" og:url: https://time.com/5547624/worlds-last-blockbuster/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43c6243ec521cf87/6989466a8fd2ee581835de99/last-blockbuster.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Last-Blockbuster og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Manager Running the World's Last Blockbuster twitter:description: "We set up accounts every single day for new people" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43c6243ec521cf87/6989466a8fd2ee581835de99/last-blockbuster.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'It’s Just Us Left.' 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 7, 2019 10:46 PM UTC  A sign marks the location of a Blockbuster video store in Chicago, Illinois on January 22, 2013. A sign marks the location of a Blockbuster video store in Chicago, Illinois on January 22, 2013.Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 7, 2019 10:46 PM UTC In less than a month’s time, there will officially only be [one Blockbuster store left](http://time.com/5546639/bend-oregon-last-blockbuster-store/) in the entire world. But the last remaining relic of the [once mammoth video rental chain](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2022624,00.html) that owned movie night has no plans of shutting its doors anytime soon. In the wake of [reports](https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/6984279-151/its-official-bend-has-the-last-blockbuster-on) that Australia’s last location will be closing up shop by the end of March, a Blockbuster in Bend, Ore. — which was already the [only franchise still open in the United States](http://time.com/5337725/last-blockbuster-america-oregon/) — is set to be the lone Blockbuster left on the planet. But according to Sandi Harding, the general manager of the location in Bend, the news of her store’s new status left her with mixed emotions. “Initially, my reaction was excitement and, ‘Oh my gosh.’ It was pretty exciting to know that we had outlasted everyone else,” she told TIME. “But then as soon as I got excited, I also realized that someone is losing their job somewhere and that we’re losing another Blockbuster store. It’s just us left, which means that we’re just that much closer to being completely gone and that’s just so sad.” However, Bend’s Blockbuster — which still has “popcorn ceilings” and “IBM computers from 1992” — doesn’t sound like it’s having any trouble keeping its doors open. “We sign up probably 5-10 membership applications a day and everybody thinks that I’m blowing that number up or exaggerating it, but I’m really not. We set up accounts every single day for new people.” In the age of Netflix and other digital streaming platforms, Harding credits her store’s success to both local support and Bend’s budding tourism industry. “Bend has grown tremendously in the last few years. But I think that even though we’re growing and getting bigger, people really love to buy local,” she said. “They know that our owners live two miles away from the store and that they’re frequently down here. I’ve been here 15 years, most of my staff has been around for a while and I think they just really appreciate that.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5547624/worlds-last-blockbuster/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5547624/worlds-last-blockbuster/"},"headline":"'It’s Just Us Left.' 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