SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Residents of Yellowknife are girding themselves for the final end of Videoland after the store has been closed for weeks and customers can no longer rent or return movies.

Videoland's building is seen here. The hours of operation sign has been taken off the door and a pile of rentals has become so high they've spilled onto the floor and can no longer be placed in the box by the door. - Karen K. Ho/NNSL photo

Dan Hayward, owner of secondhand retailer Dan's Place, said that if the last DVD-rental store does finally shut down, he may look at increasing the number of movies and games available in his store.

"I know I'm getting quite a few guys looking for adult movies and we don't have a lot of them to give," he said. "So there must be a market that needs to be looked at as well."

Hayward pointed out the only other place in Yellowknife that sells new DVDs is Walmart and many communities in the territory still rely on older technology because they don't have streaming services or don't download movies.

"In fact we just sold a cassette player," he said. "There's still lots of people who listen to cassette tapes up North."

"If they are closing, hopefully we can pick up the slack."

Hayward said in the last 10 days his store has sold more DVDs but it hasn't been a significant increase.

He pointed to the prices at Walmart, competition from online retailers, the popularity of downloading and the high cost of renting a large location as all being factors that would make Videoland harder and harder to be financially stable.

"It would be pretty costly to have that much space," he said. "I think that's the biggest problem is the rent would be adding up quite fast. If you don't sell enough to pay the rent you're not in business."

Another secondhand retailer, the Salvation Army Thrift Store, said they don't expect much of an increase either.

"Our movie selection is rather limited," said Dusty Sauder, executive director of the Northwest Territories Resource Centre in Yellowknife. "It's about four feet wide by two feet wide. We mostly sell clothing and household goods. It won't impact much I gather."

While nothing has been officially announced, the weeks of inactivity at Videoland are already causing Yellowknife residents to mourn.

"Videoland is closed down and now my life is ruined," Bridie McKenna Kennedy wrote on Twitter. "Going to a video store to rent a movie is a million times better than going online."

If Videoland did officially shut down, it would leave a hole in Yellowknife following the closure of Choice Video in August 2013.

In a previous interview with Yellowknifer in August 2013, Tam said he also saw rentals wane in the past couple of years, but after the store adjusted its rental prices and policies in March, business picked up.

"It works out as way cheaper than cable and satellite," he said of the store's new pricing. "We have more selection than the cable. Ever since we changed in March, the consumers are way more happy and we can see the sales coming back."

At the time, Videoland employed three full-time and two part-time staff.

Two years ago, Tam had estimated there were 3,000 independent DVD rental stores across Canada, and said he expected his to remain among them for many years to come.

According to the Video Store Day's online directory, there are now less than 40 left across the country.

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