Last of the Mohicans: For decades a fixture in even the smallest of towns, the video rental store is now nearly extinct

BRISTOL — "I was sad to hear about the Blockbuster closing," said Sheri RedCloud-Owen, standing in the Video Choice store she's worked in for nearly two decades and has owned since October 2008. "It's scary to be the only one left."

The large Blockbuster store located in the Belknap Mall in Belmont is currently liquidating its videos, games and store fixtures. Banners hung at the front of the store announce a "Moving Sale," and an employee said the store is "moving to the Internet."

Blockbuster employees said the "moving sale" would continue through March 18 and that the next nearest Blockbuster store was in Concord. Further inquiries were referred to the company's corporate office, which issued a statement that read, "Blockbuster continues to evaluate the performance of each store location individually. As we have said in previous statements, we remain committed to maintaining only those stores that we believe will be able to operate profitably."

With the closing, the Lakes Region is losing one of the few brick-and-mortar video rental stores. A decade ago, no village was too small to have its own video store, though. RedCloud-Owen's store in Bristol is one of the last outposts of a statewide empire that was started by Colleen Moon and her now-deceased husband Rock. The Moons, acting with a business partner, once had 36 video stores across the state.

The Moons had impeccable timing. Colleen said she and Rock were barely out of high school when they opened their first video store in Lochmere in 1979, alongside a Radio Shack. Rock ran the electronics store, Colleen oversaw the videos. Then, she recalled, they charged a $50 annual fee for membership and a $5 per night rental charge. At the time, a new VCR would cost $1,000 and new cassettes went for $70.

Those prices seem exorbitant today, especially when adjusted for inflation. Yet, Moon said, their clients didn't blink. "It was just crazy. People would come to the register with 10, 15 movies. You just wondered what they did with their lives," she laughed.

The Moons lived off the income from their Radio Shack and invested all the revenues from their video stores – then called Video Library – back into the business. By the time VCRs dropped to a price palatable to the average consumer, the stores were in place and ready to serve the rapidly growing demand.

"It was a fast-paced, fun business," Moon said. She enjoyed the work, as most customers would stop in after their workday was through and were ready to relax. In 1989, when the video rental market was still hot, the Moons sold all but five of their stores to a company based in Ireland. Per terms of their agreement, the Moons re-named their remaining stores Video Choice.

The customers kept coming for many years. DVDs debuted at prices competitive to VHS and the magic continued – for a while. Although she had developed the local market, her business was vulnerable to a new kind of competition. First came Netflix, which slowly began to peel away customers. Next was the proliferation of Red Box kiosks, vending machines for DVDs, which allowed customers to rent movies for rates less than what Moon could offer — not much more than $1 a day.

One by one, Moon consolidated her stores. In 2008 she sold her final remaining location, in Bristol, to RedCloud-Owens. "It was good while it lasted," said Moon.

RedCloud-Owens, an Alexandria resident, was "just looking to get out of the house and make a little money" when she responded to a "help wanted" sign at her local Video Choice. It was 1993 and RedCloud-Owens was ready to get back to work after spending some time as a full-time mom. RedCloud-Owens, a movie buff, thought the job might be enjoyable. She was right.

When she started working there, Bristol boasted three video rental stores. Within a few years, though, all but Video Choice had closed. Even without the two competitors around the corner, she said business has been "tough." She identified Netflix as her biggest competition, as it took a while for Red Box to spread to her neck of the woods. That moment came about four months ago, when a location opened at a nearby supermarket.

RedCloud-Owens doesn't know yet how that new Red Box will affect her business, as its during the summer months that she pays her bills. A handful of loyal locals stay with her through the winter but it's the high number of seasonal visitors to Newfound Lake that give her a reason to stay in business. Those clients don't want to forward their Netflix account to their vacation home. When they come in, she said, they say, "Thank God you're still here, we don't have any (video stores) back home."

Rental pricing has gone down since Moon first went into business. RedCloud-Owens doesn't charge an annual or start up fee and new releases cost $4 for one night. She's also cut back her expenses where she can, taking care not to affect the customer experience. Still, she said she's "just barely making it."

"I'm hoping for the best," she said. Traffic is now about one-fourth of what it used to be. RedCloud-Owens doesn't know if she should blame the new competitors or the economy. "I hope it's the economy, because the economy will bounce back." She noted that the customers that she's lost have been those most cost-sensitive and those who have been hardest hit by the national recession.

Figuring it's the one advantage that online or automated vendors can't touch, RedCloud-Owens is pinning her hopes on customer service. She knows most of her customers by first name and by their movie tastes, and is eager to make a recommendation or just to talk movies. "I think that's the only thing we offer that Netflix or Red Box doesn't." Her hottest titles right now are "Contagion," "The Help" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." RedCloud-Owens's personal recommendation is "The Tempest," starring Helen Mirren.

One of her most loyal customers is Bob Homer of Alexandria, who stopped by on Friday to return the comedy "Casino Jack" and "Triggerman," a Western. Both earned his review of "pretty good." Homer has been a customer since 1996 and said he stops in a few times each week to pick up a movie.

Homer said he's not "computer-oriented" and chooses not to have cable television. "I pick up a movie every other day and watch it after all the work's done." Asked how his life would be different if the store closed, he said, "It'd be more chores being done."

"I love the place and I'll be back," Homer said as he walked out the door.

"I like doing it," RedCloud-Owens answered when asked why she's trying to keep the business going. "I love my customers, I really like seeing the people that I get to see every week. It doesn't seem like hard work, and I get to talk movies with people all the time."

"If you know a local video store, go in and rent a movie," she said. "I think we're more user-friendly."

CAPTION for VIDEO STORE in AA:

Sheri RedCloud-Owen restocks a returned copy of "Cowboys and Aliens at Video Choice in Bristol. After the closing of the Blockbuster store in Belmont, conventional video stores are increasingly a rarity in the Lakes Region. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Adam Drapcho)