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Bend, Oregon now has last Blockbuster store in world

Mar 6, 2019 | 2:39 PM

BEND, Ore. — The Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon became the last one in the US last year. And now it’s the only one in the world.

The Bulletin reports that a Blockbuster store in Perth, Australia is closing later this month, leaving the Bend franchise alone on the planet.

Blockbuster stores in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, closed last July.

The yellow-and-blue themed movie rental stores were once everywhere, with 9,000 stores worldwide.

But competition from on-demand movie-streaming services like Netflix and Hulu forced Blockbuster to declare bankruptcy in 2010.

The company closed all of its corporate-owned stores in 2014.

The remaining franchised stores kept closing until the Bend Blockbuster was the last one.

Manager Sandi Harding says the store is a tourist attraction and won’t close anytime soon.

The Associated Press