Video stores adapt to new trends

Although Katie Marek likes going to video rental stores to browse for movies, she has found recently there are fewer and fewer local places to do so.

“I made a point of going to video stores because I wanted to support local businesses,” said Marek, a Petaluma resident. “I like being able to physically browse movies and take them home.”

But when the Hollywood Video on East Washington Street closed last year, Marek says she “broke down” and subscribed to Netflix. Silver Screen’s selection and Blockbuster’s corporate “top 40 radio” mentality don’t compare to the convenience, selection and price structure of Netflix, she said.

It turns out Marek’s rental habits are like many others in Petaluma and across the country. While there were 26,000 video rental stores in the country in 2002, the number dropped to only 14,000 last year, according to McClatchey News Service. By 2014, there are expected to be fewer than 5,000 brick-and-mortar rental stores left.

“They’re not sure what’s going to happen. They’re all really scrambling right now,” said John Storck, the organizer of Petaluma’s Movies in the Park series and a local audio-visual designer who has worked 25 years in the film industry.

“The business has definitely changed,” said Rick LaFranchi, owner of Silver Screen Video, which has two Petaluma locations. “There is just not a need for as many stores in Petaluma as there once was.”

But LaFranchi believes that video stores will remain a “viable option” by offering services that other mediums can not. Others think stores will cater to a niche market.

“I still believe that the video store offers the best chance to get the video people what they want when they want it,” he said. Even in the age of instant downloads, LaFranchi said that stores offer “immediate gratification” for people who want a selection of new releases. Others agree.

“We’re still luddites who drive to the rental store,” said Dan Lyke, a local software developer. Lyke, who rents movies about once a month, said that other services don’t work for him — RedBox’s selection leaves something to be desired and a Netflix subscription would cost too much for once-a-month rentals.

Netflix has 12 million subscribers who receive DVDs in the mail and stream movies from the company’s Web site. Redbox has 24,000 rental kiosks at fast-food restaurants and grocery stores around the country. On-demand movies are increasingly popular through cable TV providers, and Apple’s iTunes stores offer digital rentals which can be watched on a computer, iPod or by streaming to a TV.

But some local residents who use these services said they still find themselves driving to the video store from time to time when they want a specific movie quickly.

“As a family, we are not able to plan like Netflix requires,” said Petaluman Abby Calvert, who mostly uses RedBox.

Storck said that the older generation, which is less familiar with the Internet and technology, may make up the base of video store customers. But as the “generation growing up with downloads” gets older, digital downloads will be the prevailing medium, he said.

While Storck and others lamented the loss of human interaction in going to a store and renting a movie, they find they can’t avoid the draw of the other services.

“It’s a convenience thing,” said Calvert.

“We haven’t gone into a video store in years,” said Karen Haugen, whose family rents almost exclusively from RedBox and On Demand.

“When I pay real money, I want something real in return; something tangible,” said Storck. “The younger generation doesn’t seem to mind purchasing digital.”

“It’s become so easy to get your hands on films,” he said.

(Contact Philip Riley at philip.riley@arguscourier.com)