Alberta man opens free 'Blockbuster' on his front lawn
A St. Albert man has opened his own version of the once-popular Blockbuster Video stores on his front lawn - and it’s free.
The homemade wooden box, with the familiar blue and yellow sign, sits on Fairview Boulevard and is packed full of DVDs, Blu-Rays, and even some Xbox games.
The creator of the box declined an interview with CTV News Edmonton Thursday night because it’s “not his style,” to be on the news. But he said he got the idea after he was unable to sell off his stuff in a recent garage sale.
He said the neighbourhood is known for several free book libraries in similar front-yard boxes, so he adapted the idea into something fresh.
Neighbours Maxine Mikkelsen and Lois Croken stopped by Thursday to browse the box.
“I think it’s pretty cool, and the name, to call it Blockbusters adds a nice dimension to it,” Mikkelsen said.
“We definitely used to go to Blockbusters. It’s easier now (to stream movies). But I do miss it, my kids were at that age where it was exciting to go pick out movies.”
“I miss it. It was fun, with the kids,” Croken added. She said she sometimes helps herself to books from front-yard libraries and said she may use the “Blockbuster” too.
At its height of popularity, Blockbuster had more than 9,000 stores worldwide, according to Wikipedia.
The company closed 146 Canadian Blockbusters in 2011, including 6 rental locations in Edmonton, when it went into receivership.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.