Updated
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Brenton Snell will close his Oxley video store next month. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Hailey Renault)
The owner of Brisbane's last video rental store says
he has spent hours consoling customers after announcing on social media
the business will close for good in March.
In the post, Oxley's Network Video thanked its loyal customers for supporting the small business for the past eight years. "We have become the last standing video store in the Brisbane shire, and with deep regret the time has come to close our store."
Brenton Snell bought the business in 2010, a risky time to invest in an industry already well in decline.
He told ABC Radio Brisbane's Craig Zonca and Rebecca Levingston that he initially expected to move on after three years of trading.
"The reality was the timeline just kept getting pushed back and pushed back and the videos never sort of really died."
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Regular customer Wayne says losing Brisbane's last video store "knocked him about". (ABC Radio Brisbane: Hailey Renault)
Mr Snell cited family issues for the store's closure.
He is still renting to customers but will start selling off his vast library of 14,000 titles later this month.
"It still hasn't quite hit me yet actually.
"I'm sure once we start to see the shelves starting to clear out then yeah, it'll bugger me up then.
"So far I'm still focused on trying to make the place go out gracefully and go from that."
Movie lovers saddened by closure
Movie lovers from all over Brisbane still make the drive to Oxley to rent videos from the last store standing.For four years Wayne Parmenter has dropped in for conversations after work with fellow film buffs and to peruse the collection.
He said plans to close the shop had left him "pretty knocked about".
"I like picking on Brenton because he knows his stuff.
"It's the only DVD store I know of left.
"I'm not going to buy a movie and then get stuck with it, so yeah, I have no idea what I'm going to do."
Lisa Wilson is in the same boat.
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Lisa started renting DVDs in Oxley after her usual store in Greenslopes shut down. (ABC: Hailey Renault)
She said her teenage daughters were hooked on Friends, a former television staple that isn't available on Australian streaming services.
"We couldn't actually stream the videos we were after so this is the only way we could access them," she said.
"We haven't been coming here long but I guess I find it quite sad that we still can't keep a small amount of video stores available for those people who want to come and have this experience."
Other customers have flooded the business's social media page to express their sadness:
Photo:
Two of Brenton's regular customers borrowed his shop mascot for their wedding. (Supplied: Jeni Nix)
"Nooooooooo!! We have so enjoyed your store. You played a huge part in building the strong sense of community we now enjoy in Oxley and we are all better off for it. You have stood by us through our Barbie (kids), Scooby Doo (kids) and Ben & Jerry's (me) phases. We will miss you a lot. Good luck in your next adventure and thanks for all the smiles and leniency with the late returns." — Katye H
"We will miss the pleasure of browsing old favourites and bad, bad horror. Wishing you every success in whatever new adventures are ahead. The end of an era!" — Mel R
"Noooo! Man, so sorry to hear this. Only moved to the area recently and have been so stoked to have a local video store again. A sad loss." — Jono SOne customer even recalled how the store's former mascot — a knight in shining armour — played a part in her wedding day.
"We are so sorry to see your business and smiley face leave our lives ... Thank you again for letting us include your knight in our wedding photos and for giving to silly strangers a gift of champagne. Hope there is something really amazing ahead for you." — Jeni NRental franchises like Blockbuster closed their walk-in stores around the city some time ago, opting instead to operate DVD rental kiosks and vending machines in grocery stores and shopping centres.
Mr Snell said when his store closes its doors, the only walk-in shops available to people living in the greater Brisbane area would be in Ipswich and Logan.
Streaming services take their toll
Mr Snell said the introduction of online streaming services "took the cream" out of the market three years ago.Maintaining a community feel at his store was the only way to slow the impact services like Netflix and Stan had had on other businesses.
"It also helped that, sadly to say, as the other stores shut, all their customers moved to us," Mr Snell said.
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