Iconic Blockbuster Video Sign Removed From Stamford's East Side

STAMFORD, CT — After decades of hovering over East Main Street in Stamford, the iconic Blockbuster Video sign has come down.

Crews from Signs Pro, a Stamford-based company, hoisted the 500 pound piece of nostalgia down with a crane around 8:30 a.m., on March 4.

Charlene Sessa, whose family owns the property at 953 E. Main St., where the sign was located all these years, said it was time for a change. The blue and yellow ripped ticket emblem had shown signs of wear and tear, with spiderweb cracks forming throughout.

"The sign has been up for quite a while," said Sessa, who guessed it had been there for about 30 years, maybe longer. "It was starting to deteriorate. My family and I have been talking about putting a sign up for that plaza itself with the tenants listed."

The first Blockbuster Video opened in October 1985 in Dallas, Texas, according to the History Channel.

By the early 1990s, there were 1,000 stores across the United States and internationally. But competition increased with the growth of pay-per-view and on-demand movie services like Amazon and Netflix into the 21st century.

In 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy and by 2014, all of the company-owned stores closed.

The 2020 Netflix documentary "The Last Blockbuster" explains the downfall of the company, and highlights the only remaining independently-owned Blockbuster still in existence in Bend, Ore.

Sessa sold the Blockbuster sign — which measures at 5 feet tall, 10 feet long and about a foot wide —to an interested buyer, who also paid for the removal.

Over the years, Sessa said she has sold some other Blockbuster memorabilia left over from the Stamford location.

The defunct company represents a nostalgic point in time for many people, who remember going to Blockbuster on a busy Friday night to get a VHS tape and some snacks for movie night at home with family and friends.

"It's very sad. My mother was extremely upset," Sessa said of the Stamford sign coming down. "I'm glad I was able to take it down while it was still in one piece."