I own Britain’s last DVD rental shop — business is booming

The owner of Britain’s longest surviving DVD rental store is surprised that business is still booming 40 years after first opening their doors.

Colin Richards, owner of TVL Allstar Video in Haverhill, Suffolk, first opened his store in 1984 and initially leased video tapes to other shops.

But the 71-year-old later started renting films out to customers and now the store has around 8,500 DVDs,  including fan-favourite Forrest Gump which has been borrowed at least 2,000 times.

While the rise of streaming services like Netflix largely killed off the movie rental business, Colin says he has a steady flow of loyal customers who keep him in profit.

And his store in Haverhill, Suffolk, is still renting out DVDs to families for £2 a week, 11 years after Blockbuster shut down.

Colin said: ‘I thought the business would be a five year thing. Then I thought we would transition. But that obviously didn’t happen.

‘When Netflix came about, I think we had already established ourselves in the market place as we had a huge membership.

‘Sky and Netflix really didn’t worry us at all really.’

Allstar video is believed to be the last video rental shop in the UK, but Colin says the secret to staying open has been his talent for diversifying.

As well as renting DVDs, the dad-of-two also sells stationery, repairs scratched DVDs discs and runs a successful photocopying and printing service.

The store has also turned into a hub for the local community and Colin says they have customers who come in for a chat ‘on a daily basis.’

He said: ‘I’ve worked here for over 40 years and although I have retired, I still come in every day.

‘It’s something to get up for and it gives you a purpose – as long as the business can support itself, then I’m happy with that.

‘So many people come in and see us every day, who have all sorts of challenges.

‘We are still helping people out – such as elderly people with paperwork.

‘It’s nice to be a place where people can feel like they can confide in you because you will give them the help and support with whatever they need.

‘Although we don’t earn out of that, so that gives us a lot of satisfaction.’

Colin says that a lot of their older customers will bring their children and grandchildren to the store for the ‘retro experience.’

He said: ‘We’ve got a demographic of families bringing their children in.

‘Obviously people have streaming services at home, but the difference is when you come into the store and pick the movie, you make an effort to sit down and watch it.

‘With streaming, you can easily be distracted and come away from it and do something else.’

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