Blockbuster (Bend, Oregon)
Blockbuster (colloquially known as The Last Blockbuster) is a video rental store in Bend, Oregon. As of 2022, it is the world's last remaining retail store using the Blockbuster brand. History. The Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon, was opened by Ken and Debbie Tisher in 1992 as the second location of Pacific Video, a small video rental store chain in Oregon. In 2000, Tisher converted it into a Blockbuster franchise store. Sandi Harding has been the general manager since 2004. Blockbuster LLC closed all of their corporate-owned stores by early 2014, leaving the Bend location as  one of 50 remaining franchise stores. In July 2018, it became the last remaining Blockbuster in the United States, and in March 2019 the last in the world. Dish Network, the owner of the Blockbuster trademark, no longer grants new franchises with the Blockbuster name, which has cemented the Bend store's status as the last Blockbuster. The location has become a popular tourist destination since becoming the last Blockbuster. Ken Tisher, who still owns the store, continues to license the Blockbuster trademark from Dish Network on a yearly basis, which also allows the location to sell merchandise using the  name. The store stocks around 1,200 titles and has an estimated 4,000 members who regularly rent movies. It continued to operate without laying off staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. The store hosted sleepovers via Airbnb in September 2020. A local brewery, 10 Barrel, released a dark ale called The Last Blockbuster. "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" visited the store for a segment in May 2019. The store is the subject of the 2020 documentary film "The Last Blockbuster". Memorabilia. The store displays several pieces of film memorabilia that formerly belonged to actor Russell Crowe, including his hood from "Robin Hood", robe  and shorts from "Cinderella Man", vest from "Les Misérables" and director's chairs from "American Gangster". The pieces were gifted from the last operating Alaskan Blockbuster in Anchorage following its closure in July 2018. The items were originally donated to the Alaska store for an April 2018 segment of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver".