Covid killed the video store
Final credits are rolling for Auckland’s last video store.
For almost four decades, The Video Shop has rented out VHS tapes and DVD discs to film buffs.
At its peak, The Video Shop had five locations across Auckland. However, the final The Video Store standing in Meadowbank’s mall is closing in the next month after struggling to overcome changes to viewing habits and the effect of Covid-19 lockdowns.
Co-owner Jan Silk’s family founded the store in 1983. She said the decision to close came down to the numbers.
‘‘There just wasn’t enough turnover to keep the staff employed and cover the costs,’’ she said. ‘‘I probably would have found a way to keep going if I thought we were out of the Covid-19 situation soon, but I think it’s going to go on for quite some time.’’
Silk said she has mixed feelings about the decision to close. ‘‘I have got through most of the drama and the sense of loss and defeat to the point where OK, this is where we’ve got to go.’’
She is in the process of trying to sell off stock. ‘‘It has been a really difficult journey for me after years of collecting and trying to keep the library up-to-date to now see it all break apart.’’
Data from Roy Morgan, released in February, revealed that more than 2.8 million New Zealanders aged 14 or over now watch streaming services in an average four weeks, encompassing 68 per cent of all New Zealanders.
Silk said online streaming meant movie fans were at the whim of the provider, needed internet access and continuity of service.
The first noticeable decline in trade was in the family section of videos, she said. ‘‘It used to be that every school holidays people would come and get an arm full of DVDs for the kids, it was maybe 30 per cent of our business. But that
started to shift with the start of YouTube.’’
Auckland still has some film societies that rent out videos and there are a handful of video stores scattered around the country. The last chain standing, United Video, still has stores in Timaru, Te Puke, Invercargill, Morrinsville and Whanga¯rei but Video Ezy pulled out of New Zealand in 2018 and the last Blockbuster closed its store in Dargaville in 2020.
Massey University senior lecturer in media and creative communication Ian Huffer said the country had reached a moment when many of the video stores that had been hanging on were finally closing their doors.
It was not surprising that Covid19 had been the death blow for those that lingered, he said. ‘‘In something that is a declining industry, like DVDs, the complete stop on income that occurred with Covid-19 just hit them in a fatal way.’’