Video store bucks the trend
Business thrives in expanded location despite increase in movie downloading
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, May 5, 2014
IQALUIT
While thousands of North American video stores have gone the way of the dodo bird in the past few years, Iqaluit's Video Shack is proving it's still possible to thrive in an era of Netflix and access to increasingly cheaper bandwidth.
The store, owned by Arctic Co-operatives Ltd., recently moved to a larger location and had its grand opening on April 25.
David Whitmore, who's been the store manager for six years, said there are actually slightly fewer titles available - 1,108, to be exact - at the new location.
"We got rid of some older, less popular movies in order to make room for newer ones," he said.
"The layout of the store is a lot better here, so we'll be able to serve our customers better. Because we're offering more snacks, the income is going to be steadier, too."
There is no single reason to explain why Iqaluit residents keep coming back to the Video Shack, but there are a few theories.
Based on data obtained by Ookla, a broadband research company, the average download speed for Canadian Internet users is 16.6 Mbps.
In Nunavut, monthly subscription prices, coupled with a modem purchase and registration fee, will set users back hundreds of dollars - for a small fraction of that download speed.
Former video store giant Blockbuster went bankrupt and closed its Canadian stores in 2011 after companies such as Netflix, which allow its users to stream unlimited content for a flat monthly fee, began gaining in popularity.
The cost of bandwidth in Nunavut is significantly higher than it is elsewhere in Canada and thus fewer people can afford to download and stream their favourite shows, music and movies as often as they'd like to.
Mike Warcholak, Arctic Co-op's department manager for Iqaluit subsidiaries, said the move was a good way of satisfying the needs of two businesses simultaneously.
"We used to have furniture in that building, which is also part of Arctic Ventures, and we wanted to make it more visible," he said.
"It was a natural decision to bring that forward. We wanted to meet customer needs by offering more than just furniture so it seemed to make sense on both levels."
Warcholak said the company, which was new to dealing with video stores when it purchased Arctic Ventures in November 2012, did analysis and consulted with focus groups to determine if it was worthwhile to switch the locations of both businesses.
This was also an opportunity to offer a wider variety of snacks and beverages to customers in a less cluttered environment.
"It turns out that it's a remarkably steady business," he said of the Video Shack.
"There are fluctuations, of course, driven by new releases. It's no secret that people down south have more access to streaming and downloading, and that's a lot more restrictive here in Iqaluit.
The day will come when that makes its way to Iqaluit, too, but renting movies is a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment and it meets a need here."
Iqaluit resident Sandra Bourgaize, a self-described cinephile, said she's happy the store has moved to a bigger location.
"It's a cheaper alternative and their selection of movies is really good, whether they're old or new," she said. "I like watching movies at home but you can't always find good ones on television. I find the store does a good job of bringing in new releases."
