“It’s sad.”
After 33 years, Don Newton is disappointed that he’s closing Limelight Video, but says he has little choice.
“It’s like selling off your children, to see your favourite movies go out the door. But there’s no alternative,” he said.
“No one wants to invest in a video store these days.”
While the video rental store an Alma Street had been profitable for decades, the combination of increasing property values on Vancouver’s west side and the continuing dominance of Netflix and other streaming services meant Limelight Video started losing money last summer.
Newton said he made the decision to say goodbye to his collection of 28,000 DVD and VHS movies shortly after. The store closes at the end of March.
“It’s a sad day. I feel really disappointed for my customers most of all,” he said.
Newton’s decision means there will only be one company left renting videos in Vancouver – Black Dog Video, which operates two locations on Commercial Drive and Cambie Street.
One of their employees, R.J Rudd, expressed confidence that they won’t be shutting down anytime soon.
“There’s always a percentage of the population who are going to want physical media and to rent videos and be able to go in a video store and choose the videos they want, rather than just force-fed whatever’s online,” he said.
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