Australia's Last Blockbuster Video Store Is Closing Its Doors

A 90s-era Blockbuster Video might play a prominent role in the next big superhero movie headed to cinemas, Captain Marvel, but in Australia, the chain and its bricks-and-mortar outlets will soon be a mere nostalgic memory. The country is currently home to one last Blockbuster outlet in Western Australia, and one of only two remaining on the planet; however the store's owners have just announced that they're shutting up shop.

As reported by Community News, Blockbuster Morley in Perth will close its doors at the end of March, with locals able to head in and say farewell for the rest of the month. Speaking with AAP, owner Lyn Borszeky said that the rise of streaming services had impacted the business. "We knew change was coming but were a bit surprised how quickly it affected our customer base once Netflix hit the Australian market."

Blockbuster Morley

When the Morley shop says goodbye, just one Blockbuster will remain worldwide. Located in Oregon in the US, Blockbuster Bend earned the title of America's last outlet back in July 2018, when a fellow store in Alaska closed up. It's a far cry from the brand's glory days, aka the late 90s and early 00s, when it had more than 9000 stores worldwide. In Australia, the first Blockbuster store opened in Melbourne in 1991.

For Perth folks who haven't completely replaced their physical media collection with a never-ending streaming queue, the Morley shop will also be throwing a closing down sale — the bittersweet part of any video store's last moments.

For everyone else, hold on to those memories of spending way too long walking up and down video store aisles, picking movies based on their cover artwork, and taking home towers of plastic cases during school holidays and sleepovers. Scrolling through Netflix isn't quite the same, and doesn't throw up anywhere near as many old gems that you wouldn't have come across otherwise.

Via Community News.