Blockbuster used to employ 60,000 people in more than 9,000 stores, crushing mom-and-pop video stores across the United States.
But like any empire, it crumbled. You can thank Netflix, YouTube, and other streaming sites for that.
As of last year, the firm still maintained about 50 stores across the United States.
One man, YouTuber Chris Stuckmann, posted a video of him venturing inside a Blockbuster in Indiana.
“Oh my gosh! I feel like I’m in 1999!” Stuckmann says, adding that he and his wife drove two states away to visit the establishment.
He walked through the empty Blockbuster, reeling in the nostalgia.
“I am going to sleep here tonight,” he says.
Stuckmann also tracked down an old Hollywood Video location, which was totally abandoned. Hollywood Video went defunct in 2010.
Later, he went to Family Video, which also rents out “adult videos” despite the name. Family Video---which also makes pizzas---is a chain on the East Coast, which still employs about 7,000 people.
“There is something special, there is a novelty in going to one of these places, walking inside, smelling all of the DVDs ... knowing there’s this world in front of you, where you can pick up things and hold them and look at them,” he says.
“It was a legitimate thing to do with your friends,” Stuckmann said.
