‘It doesn’t pay the bills’: One of B.C.’s last video rental stores is closing

After 40 years of business, one of the last video rental stores in B.C. is saying its final curtain call is coming.

Victoria’s PIC-A-FLIC Video said it will be closing in September.

“I wish I didn’t have to close. It’s basically financial,” said Kent Bendall, PIC-A-FLIC’s owner.

“I’ve bills to pay like everybody else, (and) this is not a business of dollars anymore.”

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The store is revered by locals and movie enthusiasts, as it sported a 25,000-title collection, spanning from Icelandic dramas to 1930s detective flicks.

It survived big rental chains, Netflix and, for a while, streaming. But the days of having a busy video rental business are long gone, according to Bendall.

“It’s a nostalgia factory, which is great, and people love to come in, but it doesn’t pay the bills, unfortunately,” he told Global News.

Bendall said his lease will be up in September and the business can’t continue.

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One local movie fanatic said she is sad to hear it will be closing and it has been a staple for the community.

“I’m going to be devastated to see it go. It’s not just a regular store,” said Freda Nobbs, a longtime customer.

“First off, it’s not just that it’s got great videos and DVDs because it does, it always has, but it has people in it who know so much about film and it creates the kind of conversations that you just can’t have anywhere else.”

As for Bendall’s epic DVD collection, he hopes an “angel investor” will reveal themselves and purchase the entire collection.

If not, he said the store will have a big sale before it closes its doors in September.