If you miss those Blockbuster movie days, you need to visit these boxes in NJ, PA
⚡ NJ once had dozens of Blockbuster Video stores, before the rental chain disappeared.
➡️ 'Free Blockbuster' inspired boxes let locals take a movie and leave a movie.
📍 Three public sharing boxes are in Monmouth County, with another in Pitman.
A simple joy of the 1990s and early 2000s life in New Jersey is being tapped into with a fun twist on the free little library model.
New Jersey’s first Blockbuster Video rental store opened in December 1987 in Linden. Within the next decade, there were 84 Blockbuster locations statewide, followed by even more growth.
The rise of more on-demand video and early streaming sources meant the days of in-person movie rentals were numbered.
By 2013, New Jersey was down to its final Blockbuster stores in Belleville, Elizabeth, and Fair Lawn — which ultimately shut their doors for good.
But not before searing some core memories into the brains of a couple generations of movie lovers.
Blockbuster was a staple in 1990s, early 2000s NJ
For me, the Blockbuster in Union Township on Chestnut Avenue in the Five Points shopping area was a weekly go-to. (The spot is now a 99 cent discount store, if Google Maps is correct.)
Going in, there was often the hope of grabbing a brand-new release. Blockbuster would stock more than one copy of those biggest releases, first on VHS.
My kids will never know the annoyance of popping in a video tape, only to find out that the previous viewer was not kind, and did not rewind.
As DVDs became the go-to mode of home viewing, so did Blockbuster video rentals.
Even then, on a Friday or Saturday night, once all the copies of the hottest releases were rented, you have to pivot quickly, based on inventory.
In the case of DVDs — my earliest show-binging days involved renting one season of a series — like “24” or “Heroes” — watching all the episodes and then rushing to return to Blockbuster, eager for the next installment.
I know I am far from alone, as New Jerseyans recently named Blockbuster as the “”extinct” brand they most want back.
And that’s where Free Blockbuster comes in.
Read More: The Beloved Stores That Sparked Nostalgia For NJ Residents
Free Blockbuster boxes arrive in New Jersey
The non-profit campaign started just a few years after the Blockbuster empire had fallen. It encourages locals to “take a movie, leave a movie.”
In 2018, “a former Blockbuster employee and VHS tape collector in California imagines a way to breathe new life into abandoned L.A. Times newspaper dispensers” according to FreeBlockbuster.org.
As for the branding - the campaign says, “We received a letter from Blockbuster LLC and have responded by requesting a license to continue using their trademarks.”
New Jersey’s first Free Blockbuster movie borrowing box appeared in Monmouth County — and has expanded to three locations.
Those boxes are in Keyport, inside the vestibule of 3B Distillery, on Matawan’s Main Street, outside a coffee bar Brew Matawan and in Tinton Falls, outside Twin Lights Brewing.
Did you love #TheOdyssey ? We added some "prequels" #Troy and #ClashOfTheOlympians to our @brewmatawan.bsky.social box on Main Street Matawan! #BlockbusterVideo #FreeBlockbuster
— NJ FreeBlockbuster (@njfreeblockbuster.bsky.social) August 4, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Separately in Gloucester County, a Free Blockbuster box has been thriving on 1st Avenue in Pitman, where a photo of it was recently shared to a local Facebook group.
The post sparked dozens of comments, many of them eager movie fans who have old DVDs or VHS tapes to add to the borrowing pool.
The Free Blockbuster site also has an interactive map, which shows the sharing boxes they are aware of across North America.
Another Blockbuster-inspired creation that's creating buzz
While free movies are a win, if it's the browsing down aisles that you are most nostalgic for — there's a site for that.
Bingebuster.net starts by asking for you to click the streaming services you subscribe to — and then offers a 3D model display of current movie selections, as though they are laid out inside a movie rental store.
It's a fun way to at least see the offerings from these separate services, in a familiar format.
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