Benicia vintage store joins international 'Free Blockbuster' movement
If you're sick of scrolling through streaming services to find a movie to watch on your couch, the North Bay might be your next destination.
Thomas Brungardt and Tony Bernasconi, owners of the a vintage store in Benicia called the Traveling Museum, recently took their huge selection of VHS tapes and DVDs and launched the town's first ever Free Blockbuster - similar to a community lending library box, but with movies instead of books.
Since then, the old newspaper box - painted in Blockbuster's iconic blue and yellow colors - has quickly become the hottest ticket in town.
"As a kid, I would spend hours in the movie store just picking up boxes, reading the blurbs, reading the reviews. I would spend more time looking for the movies than watching the movies," said Brungardt.
Kristin De Mers, a business owner, remembers hitting her first Blockbuster store when she was a child. Today, she's back at it.
"I think that this will absolutely bring back the idea of movie night, and I love the fact of bringing us back together around the couch," she said.
Back in its heyday, Blockbuster Video had 9,000 stores globally and 65 million registered customers. These days only one store remains in Oregon. Its motto: "Till the Bitter End."
But now, the once ubiquitous store is getting an unexpected sequel, and not just in Benicia. These so-called Free Blockbusters are popping up across the country and beyond.
It all started when Brian Morrison, a movie producer and a former Blockbuster employee, set up the first box in Los Angeles. But the worldwide Blockbuster reboot is a plot twist he never saw coming.
"It's sort of very slowly gained momentum," Morrison said. "It's hard to put an exact number on it, but we have over 200 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and Australia."
Not everyone is on board with the idea, however. Dish, the company that owns the brand, recently sent Morrison a letter asking him to stop using their trademark. And while he's barred from discussing the details of his conversations with the company, he was able to say this much: "Is it something that can be stopped? And that may be part of the argument I made to them."
Brungardt and Bernasconi said these Blockbuster stands are a reminder to be kind and rewind - not just the tapes, but life too.
"It just takes us back to being five, six-years-old ... at home watching that same tape over and over again," Brungardt said.
