Niagara region saying goodbye to last video rental store, That's Entertainment, after 33 years

For the past 33 years, Friday nights for many in the Niagara region meant heading out to rent a movie.

The destination for those loyal customers still choosing physical copies over streaming was the area's last video rental shop — the epicentre of nostalgia in St. Catharines, Ont., with the smell of fresh popcorn in the air, iconic checkered floors and aisles of movie covers. 

But after three decades of service, outlasting rental giants like Blockbuster and Jumbo Video and surviving an impressive time into the streaming age, That's Entertainment is closing. 

It's hard to say goodbye to a community that is sad to see the end of an era, "because it was assumed you're gonna be there tomorrow," said Greg Switzer who has been general manager for 20 years and worked at the store since it opened in 1989. 

"But things can change, especially now."

The store is part of the final wave of video stores across Canada.

Vancouver's beloved Black Dog Video, one of B.C.'s last shops, announced it will close its doors this summer. Movie World in Stony Plain, Alta., west of Edmonton, has a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to help keep the store open. Cyclops Video in North Bay, Ont., closed last year. 

Since That's Entertainment announced its upcoming closure on the store's Facebook page on Wednesday, the community has offered an overwhelming amount of support, said Switzer.

The store will be sharing more information on sales and the closure date in coming weeks, he added.

Pandemic shutdowns for non-essential businesses took too high a toll and has forced That's Entertainment to close its doors, Switzer said.

Traffic was steady at the store before provincial lockdowns, but Switzer said any momentum they had, "just kind of dropped off."

The temporary closures drove the last loyal customers to streaming services, said Rob Maxwell, who has worked as a store manager for 10 years.

"That forced people to go home and get Crave or get Netflix and all that kind of stuff. And then they realized, "I don't have to go anywhere and it's a lot easier than I thought it was going to be," Maxwell said.

"But it's just not the same," he added.