NZ’s largest DVD store hits stop button
For the past couple of years, Civic Glenfield, has been the go-to for media doing a “DVD rentals aren’t dead” story.
Now owners Nick and Clare Thomas are waving the white flag and closing their operation, billed as New Zealand’s largest remaining DVD rental outlet. They will sell its collection of some 60,000 movies and games.
The Glenfield outlet in Auckland was one of just a half dozen left in the Civic chain, which once numbered 135 stores.
It was the only dedicated video store on the North Shore, and its closure comes on the heels of the central Auckland arthouse rental outlet, Videon, shutting up shop.
The Thomases bought Civic Video Glenfield in 1998, changing its name to Civic Glenfield in 2015 after the franchise exited New Zealand.
In May last year, Nick Thomas told the Herald he was unfazed by rival Video Ezy pulling out of the NZ market and closing its stores.
But he also conceded that challenges were mounting up.
One was the well-publicised threat from streaming services like Netflix, Lightbox and Amazon Prime.
But another was more subtle and equally challenging.
“There’s no doubt streaming has taken away a chunk of our business but what I think is going to be the downfall of it is the lack of titles. All the major distributors have gone back to Australia,” Thomas said.
“The second-tier titles don’t come in [anymore] as it’s not cost effective, and from a business point of view, that is going to hit us more than streaming.”
Most DVDs and Blu-rays are imported from Australia and are graded according to its own system but have to be rated again under the New Zealand classification system. It costs between $1200 and $1500 to have a single title rated, Thomas said.
The couple also flagged piracy as a concern.
When the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill was going through Parliament in 2011, the couple made a submission, saying, “We have seen a significant drop off in the number of DVDs being hired over the last few years. We do understand that many people now choose to obtain their movies digitally.
“That is fair enough where they are buying them legitimately. However, the reality is the majority of people are downloading movies without paying for them. We cannot compete with free, illegally-obtained movies.”