The video rental store had its heyday in the 1980′s. Now independent video stores are few and far between. Video and disc rental stores have steadily declined in New York City and across the United States since the early nineties. In 1993 there were 145 video rental stores in Manhattan, by 2006 there were 69, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Chain stores such as Blockbuster, cable television, and more recently Netflix have drawn customers away from independent stores.
Michael Becker opened the first video rental store in Manhattan in 1980. His store is still around today, but has gone through numerous changes over the past 28 years.
Hear from Howard Salen, manager and buyer for Video Room, below on what really makes Video Room unique.
Video Room NYC_segment 1 from Geneva Sands-Sadowitz on Vimeo.
Video Room, which is now owned by Becker and Peter Feingold, is located on 86th street on the Upper East Side. The original store, located on 84th Street and 3rd Ave., closed last year due to construction and increased rents. Video Room’s other store in Battery Park City closed this November due to a lack of customers after Sept. 11, 2001.
“It didn’t build back up. I think subconsciously it’s just not a place that people go for a walk as it used to be,” said who has been with Video Room for 22 years, .
Video Room has largely been unaffected by the emergence of Netflix. Their store has continued to thrive while others stores continue to loose their markets. About 11 years ago they stared their website to catalog all of their films, which includes over 19,000 titles, a move that increased their customer base.
The demographics of movie renters at Video Room have helped them last in recent years. Their average movie renter is around 55-years-old. They rent more BBC movies than any other individual category.
In addition to renting movies, Video Room adds to their revenue by converting film and VHS to DVD, selling DVD’s, and selling stock from other stores that have gone out of business. Their conversion business has doubled in the past two years due to the increase DVD’s and DVD players, said Salen.
The most recent victim of the changing industry in New York City is Mondo Kim’s in the East Village.
“We just have to close because of no demand for Kim’s Video in the market. People will find or already have found another way of entertainment for now and future at least for a while,” said Yongman Kim, owner of Mondo Kim’s in an e-mail.
Mondo Kim’s specialized in horror and cult films that appealed to a younger audience, which was sustained by the many NYU students near the store.
“I think that what happened with Kim’s is that because their demographic skewed so young, the new technologies, the iPhone, the things that offer movie content has effected them in a negative way a lot more than it has effected us, which is not at all because the average 55-year-old does not stream movie content through an iPhone,” said Salen.
Over the past 28 years, since movie rentals began in Manhattan, the movie and video rental industry has changed dramatically. Innovations in technology have been some of the strongest catalysts for change. When rentals first began they were watched on SONY Betamax players. This eventually gave way to VHS. Both have since been trumped by digital technology and you can now rent movies on DVD, Blue Ray and online.
How have technological changes affected New York rentals and Video Room? Watch below.
NYC Video Stores_segment 2 from Geneva Sands-Sadowitz on Vimeo.
Technology may not replace the video store all together.
“Its hard to explain people like coming to a video store to rent videos,” Salen said. “There’s something about the video store, which connects people with their desire to see a movie and decide on a movie.”
The New York City rental market has been somewhat different from the rest of the country. New Yorkers tend to want things fast and are often as interested in renting non-mainstream films as much as blockbusters, said Salen.
Check out a recent Monday evening at Video Room.
NYC Video Rental Stores_segment3 from Geneva Sands-Sadowitz on Vimeo.
