Internet hasn't killed the video store. At least, not yet.
Gainesville still has four locations where people can rent movies the old-fashioned way. Two Blockbuster stores, Video Rodeo and newcomer, Go Video are the town's survivors of the ongoing struggle between physical stores, video kiosks like Redbox and the popular online retailer, Netflix.
"It's not that there's not a demand for a video store, it's that there's not enough of a demand to charge $4 or $5 a rental and all the costs that go along with having your own store," said Patrick Daniel, co-owner of Go Video and former employee of Hollywood Video. "There's no way it could work on a national scale. There's just too much money needed and not enough coming in."
The two Gainesville Blockbuster stores are managing to stay afloat in the new market because they are franchises, meaning they are locally owned and operated. Instead of being corporate stores, the stores pay a franchise fee to have the Blockbuster logo and services. This gives them the freedom to get creative to compete in tough times.
Blockbuster general manager Andy Cohen, who owns both Gainesville locations, said the "Wacky Wednesday" promotion, which allows people to rent any three movies in the store for $5.55, has turned Wednesday from his slowest night into one of his best.
Cohen said he is confident that his stores will remain profitable enough to stay open for at least the next two or three years.
"There's always going to be a want on the customer's behalf for a physical place where they can go and browse for movies," he said.
Employees at both Go Video and Video Rodeo said they believe the stores will be around for the foreseeable future, as well. Video Rodeo has earned the reputation as a specialty store that carries independent and local movies, but Travis Mitchell, an employee at the store, said that they have all kinds of films at the store.
"It's everything," he said. "We've got the ‘Hot Tub Time Machine,' we've got ‘Shutter Island.' We just don't exclusively carry the big hits."
"We try to make the browsing experience an important one," Mitchell said. "It's probably our greatest asset."
Go Video, a video-rental kiosk located inside the Chevron station at Hunter's Crossing on Northwest 43rd Street, was started by two of Hollywood Video's former employees. The store's business model is based off that of Redbox. It charges credit cards by-the-day for unlimited amounts of time, as opposed to setting due dates.
Daniel said that his store offers the convenience of Redbox, but also has a film library and people to help recommend movies.
"We're located in a place that people already go - a gas station," he said.
Daniel said that the most important quality of video stores is the ability of its employees to help customers find movies they'll like.
"We're human beings and movies are art," he said. "And art should only be recommended to human beings by other human beings."
