Blockbuster in RSM: That's All, Folks

While online services such as Netflix delivered the blows that knocked the Blockbuster Video chain to its knees, the store in Rancho Santa Margarita hung in there.

And when other brick and mortar video shops closed in an increasingly digital environment, the in RSM continued to stay open.

Until now.

The curtain comes down on the local video store at 5 p.m. Sunday, ending a run of maybe 10 years or more, according to those who have been in the community for more than a decade. The closest Blockbuster now is in Foothill Ranch at the corner of Bake and Portola.

The shutdown in RSM is part of a chainwide consolidation that is starting to make an old Onion.com spoof of the company's future seem entirely possible.

Store manager Brian Wilson, who’s been on hand for about year, said business was busy early Saturday evening.

The RSM store has stopped renting movies, and all inventory is for sale—movies, games, hardware. Previously viewed DVDs usually run $4.99.

As for the employees, “If there’s any room,  they will move to a different store,” Wilson said. “If not, that’s it.”