Gary Messenger planted North American Video’s seed back in 1979 in Durham selling and renting out VHS tapes out of his garage. After 36 years of the company growing and thriving opening new stores, then shrinking and deteriorating closing them down, only one store stands today.
When the North American Video store in Cameron Village closed its doors in June, one lone survivor was left in Plaza West.
“We are the last video store in Raleigh,” assistant manager Evan Morgan said. “Then there’s another place in Durham, and that’s it for the Triangle.”
“We were actually here before everybody else,” Morgan said, referring to Blockbuster and other video stores.
As years went by and newer ways to access movies emerged, the downfall of video stores became almost inevitable. The physical medium of movies, music and photos, to some, have become an inconvenience when compared to their digital counterparts.
“Electronic copies are much more practical,” James Huang, a senior studying communication media, said. “We all live on our own devices now.”
Many different factors have brought down the demand for dedicated video stores.
“It’s Netflix, it’s streaming, it’s Redbox, it’s piracy,” Morgan said. “Nothing by itself, everything taken together–it chips away.”
Chip Williams, the owner of North American Video, agrees that people are more “digitally-minded,” especially college students. While he doesn’t consider today’s youth as a lost cause, no efforts are being made to reach out to them.
“I don’t even see college students in there — I’ve been two or three times,” Huang said. “Even professors are showing movies through YouTube.”
“College kids aren’t as loyal to movies,” said Anderson Burrus, a senior studying communication media. “They’re being consumed more, but they’re not being appreciated as much.”
Its clear from current trends that the millennial generation of movie-consumers are not actually going out and buying their own copies of movies and starting up collections.
“I don’t have enough money to buy a ton of hard copy stuff and just get it new from the store, and I’m not much of a collector,” Huang said.
For those who appreciate older and rarer films, North American Video has a huge selection of classic films.
“You can’t find old stuff on YouTube,” said Burrus.
According to Williams, North American Video also has the best adult film section in North Carolina. Most of the business done today deals with these classic and X-rated films.
But this won’t keep the store afloat forever. Williams is certain this last store won’t be around anymore in the next ten years.
“If you still like touching and physically holding movies, come see us before we close,” Williams said.
“It’s tougher and tougher for video stores because they’re so many options and so many ways to get your movies,” Morgan said. “But I kind of like having everything in one place. You don’t have to go to different places to figure out what you want to watch.”
