New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Blockbuster idea spreading in Stamford
Nestled within a bush on the corner of Waterbury Avenue and Matthews Street in Stamford sits a brand new Blockbuster — sort of.
A blue box adorned with the Blockbuster logo, Free Blockbuster has popped up in Stamford, offering residents the opportunity to exchange DVDs for free.
The organizers behind the movie trading movement and community are on a mission to provide “free entertainment to as many people as possible,” it says on the Free Blockbuster website.
The Free Blockbuster in Stamford was just about full Friday, including DVD feature films like “The Fast and the Furious: All Tricked Out Edition” and “Pretty Woman.”
It began as a way to “breathe life” into abandoned newspaper dispensers, the website notes. The first free Blockbuster popped up in Los Angeles in 2019.
The organization encourages people to get involved by finding abandoned newspaper boxes in their own communities. On its website, there are step-by-step guides to customizing old newspaper boxes, as well as downloadable logos.
Free Blockbuster has even requested a license to continue using the original Blockbuster trademark.
The arrival of this Free Blockbuster comes almost 10 years after the last of the video stores closed in 2014. For Stamford residents, however, the memory of the Blockbuster franchise is much closer in memory, as the city’s long-standing Blockbuster sign was taken down in March.
According to Free Blockbuster’s website, there is a Bristol location in addition to the Stamford location. The concept is not new, as the Little Free Library trend, which is a take-one, leaveone book swap, began in 2009 and has locations all throughout the Nutmeg State, with multiple locations in Stamford alone.