Hawke's Bay's last video store United Video in Taradale, Napier to shut

Phil Ward, owner of United Video, Hawke's Bay's last video shop closing down due to Covid-19's impact on movie releases. Photo / Paul Taylor

Video killed the radio star, but it was Covid-19 that likely killed off Hawke's Bay's last video store, according to owner Phil Ward.

United Video in Taradale will close its doors permanently on Thursday evening after 21 years of being Gloucester St's rainy day go-to.

Ward, who has owned the store for the past 18 years, said the pandemic's longevity and disruption to the film industry, meant there have been no new films to lure their customers in.

"We're closing because the industry is pretty much in lockdown. We can't get any new releases - that's the biggest problem now."

Ward said the peak movie renting time for his Taradale store was between 2005 and 2015.

"We are down to 20 per cent of its peak - since the Covid-19 lockdown it has been around that mark only."

He said online film platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime did take away some customers and slightly changed the business, but before that there was piracy – which was also an issue.

"There was no specific time where you noticed a specific drop, it was just a gradual one. Because the other stores dropped away one at a time we picked up their customers."

Phil and his wife Robyn have managed to sell more than 15,000 of the movies in the store but still have 8000 left on the shelves to get rid of.

"There's still a lot to sell. But, the place is looking pretty bare now."

The second to last standing video shop in Hawke's Bay was Onekawa's Best Video, which closed in March 2019.

The store manager, Kevin, blamed rising rents and theft as the catalysts, not Netflix, which led to the closure.

After almost two decades of running the movie store the Wards have decided to use the opportunity to retire and enjoy some time off.