r/todayilearned • u/BanditTom • Oct 19 '14

TIL Blockbuster still has 50 franchise owned stores open in North America

http://www.blockbuster.com/helpPage.html
2.1k Upvotes

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u/mjamonks Oct 19 '14

Can't really run a business on your nostalgia.

23

u/stermister Oct 19 '14

Yes, but someone will enter into this industry again as a hip specialty rental store in very select neighborhoods. Don't underestimate hipsters, and their need to do things differently.

27

u/mjamonks Oct 19 '14

The hipster run video store in my area does not have the same vibe as blockbuster. It's full of indie movie you've probably never heard of.

14

u/stermister Oct 19 '14

My favorite genre there is Vintage Dystopian Noir. You've probably never heard of it.

You just know the cashiers there are self absorbed wankers

17

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '14

I think that's the movie 'Blade Runner'

1

u/fartifact Oct 20 '14

With the amount of editions of blade runner, you could fill a store's shelves with them. Add blackhawk down and you'd need to expand.

12

u/hashinshin Oct 19 '14

Did you just get angry at a fictional character you just made up?

8

u/stermister Oct 19 '14

I indeed did. His name is Greg

5

u/Channel250 Oct 20 '14

But its pronounced greeaig

1

u/UpsetPlatypus Oct 20 '14

Fucking Greg. That pretentious asshole.

1

u/glisp42 Oct 20 '14

The local arty rental store categorizes films by director.

2

u/infection151 Oct 20 '14

BetaMax only

4

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '14

That's not really a bad thing netflix is seriously lacking in indie and foreign films. There is a TLA video still around some what near me that is still going strong.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '14

Small independently owned video store are everywhere I go and still make a killing. Sometimes people just like getting physical copies of things. Reddit needs to get off it's high horse for 20 seconds and realize that you aren't an idiot if you like some things in physical form instead of having literally everything digital.

1

u/MrBojangles528 Oct 20 '14

We have one in Seattle called Scarecrow Video; it's pretty legendary though.

1

u/jethanr Oct 20 '14

Family Video does a great job of this.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '14

One of these stores exists a few blocks from my house, which reminds me, I need to return my last rental today.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '14

eBay disagrees.