Lost in the void of dead '90s hallmarks like AOL disks, ludicrously sized jeans, and weird-tasting sodas with shit floating in them, we also have Blockbuster Video. Last year, 20th Century Fox recreated an entire Blockbuster store solely to promote Deadpool 2. And the last legitimate Blockbuster remaining in the U.S. has become a celebrated landmark. The location in Bend, Oregon is the subject of an upcoming documentary (which doubled its goal on Kickstarter), and even inspired its own craft beer (presumably best paired with stale Milk Duds and a worn-out VHS copy of Tombstone).

10 Barrel Brewing Co.

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But absurd late fees and creepy curtained-off porn section aside, are people regretting the death of the video store? A little bit. And it's not difficult to see why. When Netflix hit the scene, it seemed poised to overtake rental stores, first with its DVD mailing model, and then the video streaming service. After all, why would anyone choose to put on pants like an asshole to trek outside when a few bucks a month provides a virtual video store in your own home?

That was over ten years ago. Since then, Netflix has shifted its attention toward producing original content. In 2018, 85 percent of Netflix's spending went to its "originals." Which isn't at all how a video store operates. Imagine popping by a Blockbuster and finding a "New Releases" wall full of copies of Jeff the Assistant Manager's passion project. ("It's a remake of an anime, BUT LIVE-ACTION!") Netflix streaming began in 2007, but the company didn't produce an original series until 2012. And even then, it was some middling mob show starring Bruce Springsteen's Sopranos buddy that no one remembers (if they even knew it existed to begin with). Now Netflix has essentially become HBO on steroids, not an alternative to a video store.

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According to Kate Hagen of The Blacklist, Netflix's current catalog is around 3,686 films, whereas in its heyday, the average Blockbuster had "in the neighborhood of 10,000 titles." Amazon Prime has more, with over 14,000 movies to stream and more than 20,000 available to rent. But even those numbers pale in comparison to what some of the independent video stores still in existence can offer. L.A.'s Vidiots has more than 50,000 titles available to rent, while Seattle's Scarecrow Video has over 131,000. Though just how many of those films concern royal Christmas romances isn't specified.

They may not be as convenient as Netflix, but they're way ahead on the "Able to rent a LaserDisc player" front.

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Netflix still has its DVD mailing service, which has 93,000 titles as of 2015, but a lot of people have forgotten it exists because it's only available in the U.S. and "doesn't even have a marketing budget." Netflix so aggressively doesn't give a shit about its DVD branch that in 2011, they tried to rebrand it as "Qwikster" -- a move so half-assed that they failed to claim the "Qwikster" Twitter handle, which embarrassingly belonged to a teenage pothead.