Is it the end of the movie rental era?
Not quite.
The big chains may be history and although business isn’t exactly booming, many smaller DVD rental companies are cashing in now that there’s less competition.
National movie rental chains such as Rogers and Blockbuster have taken hits in recent years, closing up shop as a new age of digital downloads and video streaming took over.
But small mom and pop DVD shops appear to be surviving – much to their own surprise.
Kevin Martin owns The Lobby Movies, a small video store on Whyte Avenue.
Martin says the fact that his store is still in business is a shock even for him.
“A couple of years ago, I thought I wouldn’t be here today,” he said.
The Movie Studio, a local rental store, says its chains have taken a hit as more people turn to downloading flicks, but it’s also persevering in the market.
“People still rent DVDs for sure,” says James Stewart with The Movie Studio.
“It’s been a pretty tumultuous time as you can imagine… It’s kind of hard to figure out where we stand but we’re still here.”
Martin says it was when Rogers and Blockbusters closed up shop that he feared it would soon be the end for his local rental store but it appears those closures have proven to be a benefit.
“It’s like a blast from the past. I’m just going to kind of keep riding this until people stop coming but so far it’s been a pretty good year,” Martin said.
“When all the major chains went down we had a major increase in business that kind of cancelled out all of that decline,” Stewart said
“Now it’s kind of stabilizing.”
Stewart said all video stores still operating are trying to figure out new and creative ways to stay in the business.
“The biggest thing we can do is maintain. You don’t want to start shrinking,” Stewart said.
“Definitely maintaining a catalogue and a back library is important.”
The Lobby Movies attributes its continued success to offering lesser known or hard to find alternative titles.
“As long as I can keep bringing those in, I’ve got a pretty good fighting chance,” Martin said.
Tisheena Forsey recently renewed her membership at The Movie Studio and believes streaming video and digital downloads can't compare to the experience of renting in store.
"It's the whole experience," Forsey said.
"You can get goodies, snacks, all you want, you search through the aisles and you have more options... I like coming in, it's a total experience."
DVD rental machines, often found in grocery stores, are also cashing in on the demise of rental chains.
Redbox began operating in Canada just a year ago and recently reached one million rentals.
With files from Laura Lowe
