It’s the end of an era for Tamworth.
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Next month will see the doors close on one of the last video shops in country NSW, let alone Tamworth, as the credits roll on the Movie HQ Civic Video store on Bridge st.
The store has been operating since the early 1990’s, powering through the change from VHS to DVD, from blockbuster movies to the rise of TV shows and into the era of gaming, although it just couldn’t withstand the juggernaut of movie streaming, both legal and illegal, and other forms of entertainment.
Manager Tammy Bannister has been on deck since 2005, and will be sad to see the curtain close on what has been the city’s only movie store for the past three years.
“It is the end of an era, and a lot of factors have led to this point but mostly it is that the industry has changed – We hung on as long as we could,” Ms Bannister said.
The store was a rare breed in its later years, one of only 30 Civic Video’s left in Australia after numbering over 400 in their heyday.
Surprisingly the store is still renting a staggering amount of titles each week, whilst also branching into other trades such as American candy, gourmet ice cream, Slush Puppies and a disc cleaning service “as a point of difference to keep people coming in the doors.
“We still rent a couple of hundred to over a thousand movies a day,” Ms Bannister said.
“We used to rent a couple of thousand on weekends, but not so much anymore.”
While the new releases, kids movies, and TV shows such as Game of Thrones are the most popular, academy award nominated cult 1972 classic Deliverance is one of the top rented movies still to this day.
“There is something about video shops that you can’t get with Netflix,” Ms Bannister said.
“People like to spend time in here, read the back of the movies and get some customer service.
“We have a much bigger catalogue as well – we have around 23,000 movies, so you can get random movies, classics, independent films and all the special features as well.
“There are plenty of advantages but ultimately people want convenience these days.”
While the doors will officially close on November 29, this Saturday will mark the start of a four week sale, where literally everything must go.
“I was recently helping a store in Queensland close and it was like a crazy boxing day sale. I think it will be the same here.”