Documentary sparks more interest in last Blockbuster video rental store

BEND, Ore. — The Blockbuster video rental store here soared to international fame when it became the last such franchise on

Earth two years ago.

Now, a new Netflix documentary called “The Last Blockbuster” has brought even more interest in the form of visitors, mail and online orders to the unassuming location in a strip mall.

Since the documentary aired March 15, people from all over the world have sent flowers and called the store just to say “thank you” for staying open. In a room in the back, staff members have been busy packaging thousands of online orders for Blockbuster T-shirts, hats and face masks, which are all made by Bend businesses.

The movie focuses on the manager’s day-to-day work running the store, which became the last in the world when the Blockbuster in Perth, Australia, closed two years ago. It was made by two local filmmakers who saw history and nostalgia in the store’s perseverance.

“It’s a little bit crazy, but it’s a very good thing,” store manager Sandi Harding told the Bulletin in Bend. “We’ll take a little crazy if it means keeping the store open.”

Harding is the star of the movie, which peaked as high as No. 4 in the U.S. since it appeared on Netflix on March 15.

The store was already popular when it became the last location on Earth. It drew visitors from across the U.S. and as far away as Taiwan and London.

“It’s good for the store. It’s good for the community,” said Harding, who has been stopped in the grocery store by fans who want to take her picture.

The two Bend filmmakers behind the documentary, Taylor Morden and Zeke

Kamm, had no idea if the store would stay open when they started filming in 2017. Morden said he has heard from people who call Harding a national treasure and say the store must remain open at all costs.

“For us to have some small part in helping the store stay open is amazing,” Morden said. “Not a lot of documentaries actually accomplish the goal of their story.”

The Bend Blockbuster has no plans to close. It has a steady lease agreement, and the local owners, Ken and Debbie Tisher, have leased the property since 1992.

In its heyday, Blockbuster Video had 9,000 stores around the world. But in-store video rental stores began struggling with the rise in on-demand streaming services such as Netflix — the very streaming service now offering the Blockbuster documentary.

In 2010, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy, and by 2014, all corporateowned stores had shuttered. That left locally owned franchises such as the one in Bend to fend for themselves, and one by one, they closed.

When stores in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, shut down in 2018 — barely outlasting a store in Redmond, Ore. — Bend’s Blockbuster was the only U.S. location left. Then, in 2019, the world’s only other Blockbuster, in Perth, shut its doors, leaving Bend as the last store.

The movie taps into the nostalgia felt by people of a certain age as the world speeds up and personal interactions become less frequent, the filmmakers said.

“It’s affected people emotionally,” Kamm said. “I think it reminded people that we had this thing that was such an important part of our lives. Hopefully it reminds people to appreciate the things they have now.”