In 1985, the Shaquille O'Neal of movie rental stores opened in Dallas, Texas, with an supersized inventory of 8,000 VHS and 2,000 Beta tapes and a computer system to keep track of checkouts.
In two decades, that one standalone Blockbuster Video in the Lone Star State had ballooned into a chain of 9,000 outlets, only to collapse over the course of the 2010s with just a single store currently remaining.
But the memories live on — of the Friday night visits, of strolling through displays upon displays of DVDs, of that distinct Blockbuster smell of popcorn and carpet cleaner and plastic cases. All that is to say, the memories of actually having to exert effort, darn it, to watch a rental from the comfort of your sofa.
"I think that people just remember when there was more 'third spaces' — places that weren't home or work that they can go and be with people, and the experience of actually being able to peruse things in a physical space. I think we've lost a lot of that from streaming," said Alyssa Kollgaard, a video game developer in Los Angeles. "I've heard that a lot from people that they feel like, oh, coming home from the bus, I'd be so excited to see what's new and to check out a movie and to grab a snack and to bring something back."
To pay tribute to that experience, Kollgaard and her husband built and installed a little pantry box, painted in the video store's signature blue and yellow, in front of their Sun Valley home near the corner of Wicks Street and Wealtha Avenue. Inside their Little Free Blockbuster are boxed candies, books, and more than 70 movies on DVD for the community to take, watch, share, and (maybe) return.
"Some things probably will never get returned, but that's totally OK," she said. "The [film] that is the most popular, that people have commented on a million times, is that I have the extended edition of Lord of the Rings in there, and Reefer Madness, surprisingly, is one that people are excited about also."
The majority of the DVDs on offer are from Kollgaard's vast personal collection, which she and her husband have been amassing for years. Others come from sources like her friends, or from her Buy Nothing group. Since the recent grand opening of the movie pantry, Kollgaard says she's already been getting fresh inventory.
"I've had a lot of drop offs and donations and swap outs," she said. "I have a back stock of people who have donated things that are ready to get circulated out there as things get taken."
Kollgaard's Little Free Blockbuster isn't the only one in the L.A. region. There's long been one in Los Feliz and she said she learned of a new entry in Reseda that opened just days before hers. These franchises are part of a larger national Free Blockbuster movement that started in 2019 in L.A. to bring movies to different communities, much like what Little Free Library did with books.
For Kollgaard, she's already thinking about expanding the experience. She is adding a guest book for people to note down what they rent out, and in the future, there could even be the ultimate in Blockbuster accoutrements.
"I'm going to try and print out membership cards for people who want them just for fun," Kollgaard said.
In the meantime, she's focused on keeping her DIY video store stocked and curated.
"I am trying to find things that aren't available on streaming or that are kind of cult classics and interesting that people maybe haven't experienced before," she said.
