The end of Blockbuster Video in the UK

Blockbuster Video closed in the UK on the 16th December 2013.

The last Blockbuster Video shop ceased trading in the UK on this day in 2013.

Blockbuster Video entered the UK video rental market in 1989 following the purchase of Ritz Video.

In 2013 there were over 500 Blockbuster locations in the UK. Throughout that year the number dwindled until October when only 264 shops remained. On the 16th December 2013 all stores ceased operations.

Even now in 2025 there are still some clearly visible remnants of the brand on the high street and on retail parks.

The first Blockbuster Video.

The first Blockbuster Video store had opened in Dallas, Texas, USA on the 19th October 1985.

The last Blockbuster Video on Earth.

The very last Blockbuster Video store in operation is in Bend, Oregon, USA.

Our 'local' store.

Until January 2024 there was an abandoned Blockbuster Video store near us here in Manchester. It was always an eerie, interesting and nostalgic thing to drive past the old shop at Fallowfield Retail Park.

From 9,000 to 1.

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 Blockbuster stores around the world. 500+ of which were in England, Scotland and Wales. Interestingly in Northern Ireland the Xtra-Vision brand was used by the owners in-line with the Republic of Ireland.

Nowadays it you want to rent a film from Blockbuster you'll have to travel to the last Blockbuster Video on the planet - Bend Blockbuster in Oregon.

Visiting the last bits of Blockbuster Video in the UK.

Check out these posts about other former Blockbuster Video stores we've been to in:

• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Ashton, Bristol
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Billingham, Teesside
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Chester, Cheshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
• Colne, Lancashire
• Failsworth, Manchester
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Filton, Bristol
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Shanklin, Isle of Wight
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
• Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

Lost brands.

Emily and I have spent the last few years reminiscing about 'the good old days'. One of our areas of interest is in old retail brands - we're both marketers by profession and two of my first jobs in the 1990's and the year 2000 were at Tandy and Toys R Us, while Emily's first job was at a Happy Shopper shop. It's been fascinating to find remnants of these brands - and a number of other lost, dead and defunct brands - on the high street and at retail parks around the UK.