Blockbuster doesn't exist in Kentucky anymore, but this free one did — until it was stolen

Do you remember stopping at a Blockbuster on a Friday night to look through the aisles and aisles of DVDs and pick out a movie? Anthony Leo does, too.

Leo thought putting together a Free Blockbuster Stand for his Louisville neighborhood would be a great way to give back and share the nostalgia of picking out movies with others.

And it was, until it was stolen the day after its grand opening.

What is a a Free Blockbuster Stand?

FreeBlockbuster.org was founded back in 2018 as a way for movie collectors and enthusiasts to share their love of movies with their community in a way that brings back the nostalgia of the once popular movie rental store.

It is very similar to the concept of a Little Free Library, which is many communities have adopted. A Little Free Library is full of books, and the only rule is if you take a book, you should leave a book.

At a Free Blockbuster Stand, people share movies instead of books. There are several different "franchises" all over the country.

How did Louisville's Free Blockbuster get started?

Leo, who is a graphic designer and Louisville native, wanted to give back to his community and turned to social media to look for a fun and creative way to do so.

"I've been looking on social media and saw a post about someone mentioning the Free Blockbuster and so I went and checked all that out and was immediately hooked into it and wanted to do it," Leo said. "I just thought it'd be a fun thing to do and you know, to be able to create some art with a that goes along with those just fun."

Other Free Blockbuster locations across the country have opted to use old newspaper stands, but Leo was unable to find one nearby, so he decided to build his own stand out of plywood in the shape of a DVD case.

Leo started with movies from his own personal collection, and then went on the hunt for more. He had good luck reaching out to sellers on Facebook Marketplace who had listings for movies that had gone unpurchased for weeks.

"There's no real monetary value in the DVDs or anything anymore really," Leo said. "They are all standard movies, so like you're not really getting anything out of them. Most people can't sell them so they just donate them."

When was Louisville's Free Blockbuster stolen?

Louisville Free Blockbuster had their grand opening on Saturday, March 23, in Leo's neighborhood. He got a good response on social media and from his neighbors.

After the opening, Leo stored it in his garage for the evening and sat it back outside the next morning. Shortly after, the entire stand was gone.

On Tuesday, Leo's wife, Brittany, shared in a Reddit post in the r/Louisville community that the stand had been stolen. She called out the thieves for taking something meant to bring joy to the community and asked if anyone saw it around the city to please let them know.

The post received more than 600 upvotes in the community thread, and many commenters offered to donate movies to help fill up a new stand.

Will Louisville's Free Blockbuster reopen?

Yes; Leo is already in the process of building a new one and hopes to get it up and running soon since so many people have offered to donate movies.

He hopes to have the new one ready within the next two weeks. For updates on when it is open, you can check their Facebook (FreeBlockbusterLouisville) and Instagram (@freeblockbusterlouisville) pages.

How can I donate movies for Louisville's Free Blockbuster?

If you are interested in donating movies you can reach out to the stand on Facebook , Instagram or at their email address freeblockbusterlouisville@gmail.com.

Katie Wiseman is a trending news intern at IndyStar. Contact her at klwiseman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @itskatiewiseman .

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Blockbuster doesn't exist in Kentucky anymore, but this free one did — until it was stolen