A film enthusiast has turned his wardrobe into a portal to the past and successfully renovated it into his own mini Blockbuster.
TikTok user John Martino shared the transformation in a video that has been viewed more than eight million times, explaining that the closet was too small to be functional.
‘What if I turned this closet into a miniature Blockbuster?’ he wrote in the video, sharing a series of slides of the transformation.
John explained that he started collecting VHS tapes recently, but was “quickly” running out of space to store them.
“I had this crazy idea to turn a small closet I have in my bedroom into a miniature Blockbuster,” he said. explained in the caption.
To create his blast from the past, he gutted the entire space before painting it Blockbuster’s signature yellow.
He then added an iconic blue carpet strip and built-in shelves, as well as installing interior lighting connected to a remote switch.
“I built a staff picks rack for my dog and me, a snack rack for customers, and connected the official Blockbuster sign to an on/off switch that was activated by pressing a specific VHS tape,” he explained.
TikTok user John Martino shared the transformation in a video that has been viewed more than eight million times.
Their newest addition includes additional shelf space and an actual TV connected to a hidden VCR so “customers” can watch a movie while browsing.
“This project turned out so much better than I could have imagined and it makes me smile so much,” the film enthusiast gushed. “To me, this is art.”
The finished product features rows of VCRs placed under a neon Blockbuster sign.
He even built a rack for some classic movie snacks and a place to display your “staff pick” of the week, not unlike real Blockbuster stores.
‘As a former Blockbuster employee, this gives me bittersweet feelings. Good job,” one user wrote in reaction to the clip.
Others made suggestions on what to add to the mini Blockbuster.
“Gumball machine, every blockbuster had one,” suggested another,
“You need a slot in the door for returns,” someone else said.
‘Does that mean it’s the second remaining Blockbuster in the world?’ someone else intervened.
John explained that the closet was too small to be functional, so he decided to convert it into something else.
John explained that he started collecting VHS tapes recently, but was “quickly” running out of space to store them.
TikTok viewers loved the little details, like the mini TV in the corner.
John says the project turned out “so much better than I could have imagined and it makes me smile a lot,” adding, “To me, this is art.”
Little movie posters! And in some way, a cardboard cutout,” commented another enthusiastically.
There is still one Blockbuster store open in the US, located in Bend, Oregon.
In October, there was widespread panic following a rumor that the store would close forever on Halloween, marking “the official end of the iconic video rental chain.”
However, the store assured its loyal customers that it would not be closing anytime soon, writing that it would be there “until the end” in an Instagram post.
Blockbuster was founded by David Cook and the first store opened in Dallas, Texas, on October 19, 1985.
The original store had more than 8,000 tapes on display and expanded rapidly following its success in Texas, according to History.
In 2004, there were more than 9,000 Blockbusters in the United States and that same year it launched an online DVD rental service to compete with Netflix.
This venture failed and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2010.