BEND, Ore. — Do you remember the days before Netflix and Hulu, when renting a movie meant actually leaving your house? You'd walk up and down the aisles at Blockbuster, trying to decide on the perfect flick - and the best candy to go with it.
Well now you can relive those memories at the last Blockbuster ever, in Bend. This September, for three nights only, the video store will be available to rent out on Airbnb.
They've turned the middle of the store into a living room, complete with a pull-out couch, VCRs (duh) and more movies than you can watch in your one-night stay.
"It’s got the old throwback radio with the cassette tapes," said Sandi Harding, the store manager. "We even set up a closet with 90s clothes in it."
The Airbnb listing really brings back that totally tubular 90s feeling:
As the last standing location in the world, our BLOCKBUSTER store is an ode to movie magic, simpler times and the sense of community that could once be found in BLOCKBUSTER locations around the world. Over the past few months, we’ve been missing the regular visits from friends, neighbors and tourists from around the world. So, we’re opening our store to three quarantine pods of Deschutes County guests for a socially-distanced movie night, just like those of decades past!
That's an important distinction - not everyone can rent out the VHS haven. It's only for Deschutes County residents.
"Because we really want to not encourage people to travel and put anyone at risk," said Harding. "You know my customers and my employees are my family, they’re close to my heart. I wouldn’t want to do anything that’s gonna put anyone in Central Oregon in danger."
Bend movie lovers - in groups of up to four - can rent out the store on September 18, 19 and 20. The listing goes live at 1 p.m. PT on Monday, August 17. And oh, snap! It'll barely cost you more than a movie rental (actually less than most movie rentals in 2020). The whole store is only $4 a night.
"We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to do something really fun with our community," said Harding. "The whole idea is to have people come in and treat this like their living room for the evening."
So yes, you can stay up as late as you want, play MASH, blast music from your boombox and watch as many movies as you want!
And don't worry if you don't live in Bend - you can experience this Blockbuster living room too!
"After the event we’re going to leave the living room up for a while, so that people that weren’t able to [rent it out] can still come by and see it," said Harding.
You can also look fly and get lots of props from your BFFs with all kinds of merch on the last Blockbuster's website.
And if you need a movie recommendation, the Blockbuster Callgorithm is there for you. Just call 541-385-9111 and a real human on the other end of the corded phone will give you a suggestion!
Cassidy Quinn is the host of Tonight With Cassidy on KGW. But right now, like many of you, she is working from home, trying to focus on the happier things going on in the world. Back in the 90s, she was just a kid eating Lunchables, trying to make it into the Babysitters Club. Follow Cassidy on Twitter @CassidyQuinn.