Despite John Oliver’s best efforts, the last two Blockbuster Video stores in Alaska have died. According to the Blockbuster Alaska Facebook page, the franchise’s last two locations in the state will shut their College and Debarr locations, located in Fairbanks and Anchorage respectively, on July 16, and will reopen the next day to sell off their inventory through August.
Back in April, the Last Week Tonight host bought items from Russell Crowe’s “The Art of Divorce†auction and donated them to the Alaska Blockbusters, including Crowe’s leather jockstrap from 2005’s boxing drama Cinderella Man, in order to attract customers. Unfortunately, the desire to see the vest Russell Crowe wore in Les Misérables could only do so much. According to the Anchorage Daily News, the closings reportedly leave just one Blockbuster standing, so the pressure is on, Bend, Oregon. Hopefully you can expect a leather jockstrap in the mail some day soon.