THE last DVD/video hire store in Albury is closing its doors.
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Owners of the Lavington store Network Video Peter and Chris Davison said they had stopped trading after almost 12 years in the Urana Road store.
The business had been on the market for the past four months but it had failed to sell.
Mrs Davison said people’s movie and television viewing habits had changed dramatically in a decade.
“Obviously the internet has had a big effect on us,” she said
“Now with the NBN through, people have better access to movies and streaming.”
While Wodonga still has a DVD store, Wagga lost its last one in recent years; Wangaratta has an outlet but not a stand-alone store. The Blockbuster store in Lavington closed in April.
Network Video was opened by Mike McGrath about 30 years ago.
Former Albury councillor Amanda Duncan-Strelec bought the business from Mr McGrath before the Davisons took it over during March 2007.
Mr Davison said it was the end of an era in movie rentals.
“It’s one of those things that people won’t know what they had until it’s gone,” he said.
“We employed four junior staff at one time but we’ve gradually not been able to replace them.
“You don’t see Netflix, Apple and Amazon employing staff in Albury-Wodonga.”
Network Video is still owed $40,000 in outstanding DVD/video fees.
Mr Davison said the store would be closed on Thursday before reopening on Friday at noon for a massive clearance sale of stock.
He said about 10,000 movies and television series on DVD and video tape would be offered in the sale.
“Some of the titles aren’t available to buy at the moment,” Mr Davison said.
“Crocodile Dundee is one you can’t get hold of at the moment.
“We have a Lion King VHS, still in its plastic cover.”
Mr Davison said it was difficult to pinpoint the most popular rentals during the past decade.
“Anything with The Rock was always popular; though he likes to be called Dwayne Johnson now,” he said.
The Davisons moved to Jindera from Walla when they bought the business.
“We’ve got to know a lot of people through the store,” Mrs Davison said.
“We had a lot of loyal customers.”
Mr Davison said they looked forward to getting their weekends back and watching movies through to the end in one sitting.
“We couldn’t watch them in the store,” he said.
“By the time we got home from work and had a late dinner, movies can be two-and-a-half hours; it would take two nights to watch them!”
Network Video, which is located at 357B Urana Road, will reopen on Friday, December 14, from noon for the DVD/video clearance sale.