Detroit's New 'Free Blockbuster' Lets People 'Take A Movie, Leave A Movie'

If you need a good dose of nostalgia, Free Blockbuster has your back.

Yes, we’re talking about the classic video rental hub.

But it won’t be exactly like it was in the 1990s with brick-and-mortar stores.

Instead, a nonprofit organization is establishing “Free Blockbuster” locations — similar to a Free Library — for movie lovers to leave films for others to watch.

Here’s how it works, according to Free Blockbuster:

“A Free Blockbuster is a place where people can leave movies so other people can borrow them. Like those Little Free Libraries where you can take or leave a book, but for VHS tapes and DVDs (and anything else you want to share with your neighbors).”

The idea dates back to 2018, when a former Blockbuster employee teamed up with a VHS collector in California. The duo aimed to “breathe new life into abandoned LA Times newspaper dispensers” by reinventing them as Free Blockbuster hubs. The first one launched in February of 2019.

Since then, Free Blockbuster has expanded elsewhere in the U.S.

On March 14, 2020, the first East Coast Free Blockbuster sprouted up in Richmond, Virginia, the timeline shows.

Now, Detroit has a Free Blockbuster of its own.

Jim Toscano is a video producer in the area with fond memories of trips to Blockbuster growing up, he reminisced to the Detroit Metro Times. He’s leading the local effort to bring Blockbuster back, via the free library-style stands.

“Blockbuster was a big deal,” he told the Metro Times. “I talked to my wife and was like, ‘I kind of miss going to a video store.’ To some, it may be an inconvenience, but it was an experience. My kids don't know what I'm talking about…I would have loved to have done that with them, cruise around and pick movies out.”

Naturally, he knew he had to reach out to FreeBlockbuster.org to get one in his hometown.

Now, it’s up and running at 2468 Riopelle St. in Detroit (it even has its own Instagram account).

Toscano told the Metro Times he hopes it’ll serve as a way for Detroiters to swap quality movies, and that it will become “a destination for people.”

Photo: Getty Images