Apparently Blockbuster’s Still a Thing in Alaska

Blockbuster famously closed its last 300 stores in 2013. But… it’s still going strong in Anchorage, Alaska.

Apparently there’s a bit of a time warp there, where the internet is charged by the gigabyte. So instead of binging Netflix – which, let’s be real, we’re all doing – these people are actually going to an old school video store.

Remember when you used to spend hours wandering the Blockbuster aisles on Friday night instead of scrolling through Netflix lists? At least at Blockbuster you can grab a box of SweeTarts on your way out.

And in the notoriously, cold, dark winters in Alaska, Blockbuster offers a community gathering place to citizens. “I feel like a lot of the customers just want to come in and feel like they’re someone special. They love the customer service, they love the interaction,” Blockbuster video manager Kevin Daymude tells CBS News.

Now remember – Blockbuster kind of had a brutal downfall. They had the opportunity to buy Netflix for $50 million back in 2000, but they chose to compete with them instead… and they just weren’t up to par.

So while there used to be about 9,000 Blockbusters open worldwide, now there are only 12. And franchise owner Alan Payne owns nine of those.

It seems like leaving the house in the cold to rent a video would be kind of an inconvenience. I know when it drops below 60 in Los Angeles I’m ready to hibernate.

But Payne says renters relish the chance to step away from their computers. “The shopping experience of looking for a movie on a screen versus coming in here and seeing literally 10,000 titles, there’s no comparison,” he says.

It appears Alaska residents looking to entertain themselves on a Friday night might just be stepping back in time. Well, nostalgia is so hot right now.