We all remember being kids and getting so excited to go to rent movies or games at the rental store, as of March 25th, that will be nothing but a memory here in Albert Lea.
The rental store Blockbuster is closing its Albert Lea location much like Movie Gallery did not too long ago, as well as the long-forgotten stores Premiere Video and Video Update.
The entire chain of Blockbusters will not be closed though. The Albert Lea location is the only one that is closing due to the owner’s lack of interest in having so many stores.
“This is the only one closing, there will still be others.” Senior Blockbuster employee Alek Struck said.
Struck is not the only Albert Lea High School student who will be losing his job on March 25th, Senior Aaron Woitas and former ALHS senior Keiffer Wire will also be on  the hunt for a new job after the closing.
The building does not have any future plans so far but sooner or later there will probably be a business opening the unused doors.
One of the main concerns of the closing is that Albert Lea will no longer have a place to rent a new or classic movie or videogame.
One of the solutions to that problem would be to use the Redbox at Wal-Mart which is only one dollar per night you have the movie, and you can just take it back whenever you want. (Just remember the fee.)
Many students already use Redbox, one being junior Nathan Rugroden.
“I love Redbox, it comes in handy when you need to get a movie quickly.” Rugroden said.
Another invention you could use is the online service Netflix.
Netflix downloads the movie you wanted to your computer/game system/etc. or will send you the movie in the mail with no late fees. Netflix is only 8 dollars a month for as many movies as you want.
Like Redbox, Netflix is also widely used by many ALHS students.
“If it wasn’t for Netflix I wouldn’t have such a big movie selection.” Junior Ben Enger said.
If none of those options work for you, you can always just invite your friends over and watch your favorite movies and share some laughs with eachother, or there is always going to the theater which can get a little expensive.
For videogames, there is the online service Gamefly, which is pretty much a Netflix for videogames.
Also, there is always GameStop, which has a very wide selection of games for purchase.
Though we are losing our one last movie rental in town, there is always hope that another business will come back to save us from our boring Friday nights with their rentals.
Just keep all of the alternative options in your mind when you want to know how to get your hands on the latest releases.