If a once-great video chain falls in the age of online streaming, does anybody notice?
Friday is the last day Blockbuster Video stores in Canada will be open before the struggling company closes its doors and shuts off its yellow signs for good.
Movie fans said Thursday night the store will be missed.
"I think it's going to be really weird," said Aaron Yu, stymied by the locked door of a downtown Ottawa location. "I mean, Blockbuster's been around here for a long time."
"I'm a husband, I have a couple of grandkids so I used it on a regular basis," said Harold Dixon. "I used it weekly, on weekends. . . I think it's a drag."
A number of Blockbuster Canada's 253 stores have already been closed, with shelves nearly empty on the rest. The Canadian branch of the company went into receivership in May.
A big factor in the store's collapse was online video streaming, whether legal and paid like NetFlix or other free sites.
"I used to (use Blockbuster) before I discovered all the downloading applications and all that lovely stuff," said Abigail Randles.
"I don't particularly care in the sense that I have access to videos all the time online," said Nick Straccini. "As long as I have videos I'm good to go."
Still, the store's faithful said you can't beat the feeling of a night in with Blockbuster.
"I think there is that convenience of being able to rent or watch a movie online at home but there's also the stuff that comes with going to Blockbuster, like the popcorn," Yu said. "It's kind of like a one-stop shop so I think it's going to be really missed."
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Ellen Mauro
