Free Blockbuster: Where to get (and give) DVDs & movies in Fishtown

The Little Free Library’s cousin just popped up

As we enter the 2nd round of quarantine (or, for many of us, an ongoing quarantine that hasn’t stopped), you might want to break the Netflix routine for something… from simpler times.

You know, like when we used to wander around Blockbuster. In my high school days, I remember driving the 10 minutes to walk the endless aisles with a best friend, trying to pick the perfect movie to rent for $4.95.

Now, Fishtown has the next best thing.

A Free Blockbuster box has popped up in Fishtown at Small Mall on E Columbia Avenue, south of Girard Avenue.

The Free Blockbuster borrows the model of the Little Free Library, encouraging the ‘take one give one” exchange, applied to movies. Residents recycle old Newspaper boxes (RIP City Paper & the spirit of Philly Weekly) and turn them into a community resource. Then, people can drop off and pick up DVDs or a VHS.

New Jersey resident Kim Lettiere brought the 18th Free Blockbuster box in the country (and second in Pennsylvania) to the city of brotherly love.

Lettiere, who works in Fishtown as a prop artist, found an abandoned newspaper box on the street and spray painted it for its new life. She put a few DVDs in and let it go. Lettiere got the idea from a friend who started a movie box in LA.

Already, people have been trading their DVDs and some others have added candy and popcorn to the mix.

Lettiere hopes others are inspired to add these resources to their streets. “I’m hopeful that other people will catch onto the idea and want to do more around the city and put them in their own neighborhoods,” said Lettiere.

The Free Blockbuster Fishtown already has its own Instagram page and following. The main Free Blockbuster Instagram account shares the other locations, including one in Springfield, Delaware County.

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