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Montrealer trying to save the DVD amid online streaming boom

Click to play video: 'Leo Bartels on Films'
Leo Bartels on Films
RELATED: After 15 years, Leo Bartels, the owner of Leo's Videos, has finally decided to put his store up for sale. Leo's is the last remaining DVD rental store in Kelowna – Jul 16, 2019

One Montrealer is on a mission to save a dying technology — the D-V-D.

Jean-François Hall says he has sold more than 50-thousand D-V-Ds on eBay and Facebook Marketplace in the last three years.

Hall describes himself as a dinosaur who has never subscribed to online streaming platforms like Netflix or Crave.

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He prefers to own his own films and is catering to an online community of movie-lovers who feel the same way.

Hall buys D=V-Ds in bulk from pawn shops and thrift stores and sells them to customers across the country, some of whom are collectors and others who are just looking for movies they can’t find online.

He advertises his online business using distinctive handwritten signs that he attaches to street lights and signposts around Montreal, telling people to visit his eBay site.

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D-V-D sales have plummeted in recent years, but Hall says his business is lucrative, and he predicts nostalgia will keep customers coming back for years to come.

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