The town I lived in about a decade ago had a closed down blockbuster that turned into a sex store, then that closed down, and a dude opened, I shit you not, a video/game rental place that lasted like a year. Then it closed down, too, and then a bunch of us used to go there and smoke weed and occasionally have sex inside, because they just didn't bother to lock the back door when they took away all the movies.
I don't know why I'm tell y'all this, it's just what I think of when I see the old blockbusters.
"And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away
I wonder if one day we'll see abandoned amazon warehouses
One can only hope
On a long enough timescale it will happen
There seems to be somewhat of a push for going and getting local again.
Although large cities are seeing a decline in street commercial venues (I'm in Portugal) and large shopping malls are a thing, I keep hearing more and more people complaining they don't have the patience to spend an entire day in a shopping mall but trust online shopping less and less.
So... Here's to hope of a better future.
I remember when the first video store opened in my town. It was so early on, that they also rented the actual vcr machines too, since they were too expensive for the average family to buy.
Then I remember 20 years later going to the blockbuster to buy up their discounted tapes since dvds had displaced them.
And now there's only one rental place in my city, has stayed alive as a retro cool comeback, and also sells micro brews in growlers.
It turns out, in the end, it was the blocks that busted them
Hey, I used to work there. AMA
How often did you get a visit from Ozymandias, King of Kings?
Not as often as you'd like.
How much better was it to work the counter on a slow night while high?
As compared to a busy night while high? Way better, especially if your store had a working game demo kiosk. Clean up a little, play some games, pick out which games and movies you were going to rent with your free rental perks... Good stuff.
As compared to a slow night (or any other kind of night) while not high?
Lol who tf am I kidding, we were always fucking high
I didn't get high and the location I worked at didn't have slow nights.
Do you guys have Robots on DVD?
Why do you want to hurt me like that?
It's interesting to try to get into the minds of corporate executives. I wonder how many of them actually thought they'd company was going to last for decades. Or if they were just seeing themselves up a golden parachute for the inevitable.
And watching what streaming is turning into, eventually these titans may come roaring back.
Oh, Blockbuster? I went to one last month!. It's the last one in existence.
The owner said she goes to the Walmart to buy the latest releases or replace the lost, or fill any requests. She also hand makes (crochets?) some of the merch they sell in the store and online. The employees were super nice too
