Not completely gone, and not completely forgotten.
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| This was the sign at the Blockbuster Video store in Nuneaton, Warwickshire when it was uncovered for a short period of time in 2021 |
The first Blockbuster Video store opened in Dallas, Texas, USA on this day in 1985.
At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 stores around the world. 500-plus of those were in the UK.
There has been a boom in nostalgia for the brand - which back in the day was seen as something of a 'category killer' that saw off many smaller operators.
Blockbuster in the UK
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| The remains of the Blockbuster Video Express store in Billingham, Teesside in 2020 |
Blockbuster ceased operations in the UK in December 2013. At the start of that year there were 528 Blockbuster locations in the UK. The number dwindled until October when only 264 shops remained. The last stores closed on the 16th December.
There are still clearly visible remnants of the brand on the high street and on retail parks. And we've been to most of them on our travels!
Blockbuster Video stores we've visited
Check out the 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
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| A ghost sign at the old Blockbuster Video Express store in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight in 2021 |
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.
.jpg "Video Rentals at The Village Top Shop in Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham")
.jpg "Video Rentals at The Village Top Shop in Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham")
