The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Free library spinoff is blockbuster of nostalgia
California woman’s kiosk lets you ‘rent’ videos and DVDs.
LOS ANGELES — It’s time to hit rewind.
Remember when movies were literally at your fingertips, before you had to pay for Netflix and YouTube TV?
Alyssa Kollgaard has re-created that experience outside her Sun Valley neighborhood home, where she has built and stocked a new Blockbuster “store.”
With a banner declaring its grand opening, the blue-and-yellow structure, created in the vein of a Little Free Library, is part of a national Free Blockbuster movement in which neighbors can take — or leave — VHS tapes or DVDs.
The Free Blockbusters exist from El Paso to Canada, with aughts-sick movie lovers building them out of bookshelves or newspaper stands.
“We’re seeing a return to physical media,” says Kollgaard, who works in the entertainment industry. “There’s a nostalgia around the experience of going to a store and perusing as well as actually collecting so you’re not at the whim of the streaming platforms to actually watch films.”
How long does it take for nostalgia to set in? Apparently about a decade. The last Blockbuster store in Los Angeles closed in 2013.
The closure came after the massive home video chain filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Thousands of locations were shuttered.
Today, only one Blockbuster store remains — in Bend, Oregon.
The selection at Kollgaard’s Blockbuster is a little thinner than it was at your neighborhood store. She has about 75 films inside a two-tiered display case, including “Failure to Launch” and “Bridesmaids.” Each DVD has a sticker that reads “Return to Little Free Blockbuster” along with Kollgaard’s address.
Like at the Blockbusters of yore, Kollgaard stocks the box with candy, including Red Vines and Sour Patch Kids, as well as popcorn you can enjoy with your take-home movie.
There’s a guest book that people can sign, and Kollgaard even plans to make membership cards for those interested.
Kollgaard expects some won’t be returned — and that’s OK, although she does ask for returns.
There are no charges, or fines, but there is a “late fee” QR code through which Kollgaard is accepting tips for running the enterprise.
Movie donations are accepted, and Kollgaard says a set of screeners of shows nominated for the 2023 Emmys was dropped off.
“The reception has been really positive on Reddit, TikTok and in my local community. It’s definitely intended to be permanent.”
The nostalgia surrounding the creation of Kollgaard’s mini-Blockbuster is perhaps what The Times’ “obituary” to the mega-chain prophesied in 2013.
“Someday, today’s teenagers will tell their grandchildren magical tales of visiting the store with the big blue and yellow sign, of how it was crammed with videotapes (later DVDs). Thanks for the memories,” Blockbuster.