The End of an Era: Blockbuster Ceases Rentals in Advance of Closing

The video store will reopen Nov. 14 for a liquidation sale

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Illustration by Alexander Ho for TIME

Following the announcement that Blockbuster is planning to shutter the 300 remaining brick-and-mortar video stores by January, the chain will cease movie rentals as of Saturday.

The Texas-based video rental chain began tweeting about its last day of operation on Friday, adding that it will reopen Nov. 14 to liquidate its remaining inventory.

Founded in 1985, Blockbuster had 9,000 stores at its height of operation. Parent company Dish Network, which bought the company in 2011, attributed its decline to increased digital streaming, and plans to shutter the remaining stores by New Year’s Day.

[Variety]