Video Ezy North Richmond closure marks end to business-owner's 30 years in the industry

It’s the end of an era for movie hire shops, and also the end of an era for Steve Chadevski and his customers - some of which have been hiring movies from him for 30 years.

“There’ve been tears - they are very sorry to see us go. Some of our regular customers have brought chocolates, flowers, and alcohol even!” Mr Chadevski told the Gazette.

“Many of them are saying the same thing: what am I going to do now?

“A lot of people still want to touch and feel and look. I have customers who were children when I first started, and now they’re bringing their own children in.”

I’m sitting in the manager’s office at Video Ezy in North Richmond. It’s bedlam out in the store, with scores of people coming in to nab all the discounted floor stock.

Every now and then, Mr Chadevski - the owner - gets up and pulls another photo album off the shelf, and turns slowly through the pages to jog his memory of names, dates and events.

“I’m starting to get teary now,” he says, as he looks at photo after photo taken during promotional days, fundraising events and special occasions at his two stores.

Photo after photo documenting his three-decade-long history as a ‘video shop’ owner.

“Everyone still calls it the ‘video shop’. Our name is still Video Ezy - it’s not DVD Ezy!,” he says.

The first store he owned was in Richmond, where he stocked both VHS and Betamax videotape formats.

“We learnt our lesson to hang back a bit to wait to see which one dominates,” he says, referring to his more recent decision to stock the Blu-ray high definition disc format over its now-defunct rival, HD-DVD. (As an aside, he stopped renting-out VHS in favour of DVD around eight years ago.)

His second and current store is on Bells Line of Road in the North Richmond Shopping Village. He also owned the franchising rights to a Windsor store, way back when.

In one of the albums, he shows me some photos of Video Ezy staff members dressed up as Power Rangers characters - these were taken during a promo for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, which was released for hire in 1996.

In another album, he hovers over some photos from October 1995: “That was when we donated $1,000 to the Starlight Foundation,” he says.

And then some images from December 1999: “That was when we donated $11,000, a PlayStation and some televisions to the children’s ward at the local hospital,” he says.

“We’ve always supported the community a lot - always donated to the local schools, charities and hospitals.”

It’s definitely a community-orientated business, Mr Chadevski’s video shop. But ultimately, a range of factors came into play when he made the difficult decision to close.  

The shop lease is coming to an end, however the market for businesses like this one has been dwindling for a while.

“It’s just a percentage here and there - the piracy, the theft, the streaming,” he says.

And two-and-a-half years ago a DVD hire machine was installed around the corner.

“That was a hit, but not a major hit,” he says.

“Really, I could’ve kept on going - I wanted to. But it was just the sheer cost of moving, because I don’t need this size shop anymore. It would’ve cost around $50,000 for new carpet, paint, a counter, and the actual moving itself, so it’s not just the rent.”

He’s not entirely sure what he’s going to do next: “At the moment I just want to focus on wrapping this up properly,” he says.

“But I’m going to spend more time with my family. And I’ve never had a four-week break before, so that’ll be a first. And beyond that, I’ll simply get a job - maybe something in business.”

Mr Chadevski grew up in the Hawkesbury and now lives in Richmond with his wife, and their two daughters who are both primary school-age. During our interview, six-year-old Anika comes into the office, donning a tiny Video Ezy t-shirt, a smaller replica of her dad’s.

“She’s helping out around the counter for the first and last time today,” says Mr Chadevski. Both Anika and her sister, Jana (9), had wanted to work at the shop when they got older, so Mr Chadevski printed-up some t-shirts so they could experience it - if only for a day.  

I first approached Mr Chadevski about writing this article a week ago, after a flashing neon sign was installed on Kurrajong Road in the Richmond Lowlands, broadcasting news of the store’s closure and spruiking its contents - all of which was reduced to sell.

It had made me feel sad, and I had decided to stop in for a chat.

Mr Chadevski said he hadn’t even thought to contact the paper: “But that would be nice. That would be a good way for me to say goodbye, and thank you.”

“I’ve really enjoyed the journey and meeting lots of people. That’s all you really want from a business,” he says now.

“I’ve tried to do my best and support the community. I’ve tried to be fair and reasonable with everything I’ve done.

“In 30 years I’ve closed down eight stores - the competition. I’ve made a comfortable living, but I’m rich in the memories and the friendships I’ve made with staff and customers.

“I’d like to thank the staff. We hired a lot of young staff and young people often get a bad wrap. During interviews I’d also speak to their parents, and I’d acknowledge that they would be trusting me with their most prized possession (their child) and that I would treat them with respect – as young adults – and in return they would be in charge of my livelihood.

“We’ve had great staff. We always rated in the top 95 per cent of stores in customer surveys. The customer service we provided was second to none.

“I’d also like to thank the community for all their support - all the people who have dropped in. Even an old mate who I hadn’t seen since school dropped in!

“I really did start off this closure process thinking selfishly: what am I going to do now? But I’ve realised this is bigger than me - and this is coming from customers, staff, people who were kids when we opened and are now adults - this truly is the end of an era.”

Sitting here in his office, looking at his memorabilia, I feel sad again. I was one of those children who frequented Mr Chadevski’s first movie hire shop in Richmond, and more recently, I’ve hired films from the North Richmond store. I remember when he opened it - that was 21 years ago.

And just like Mr Chadevski’s other regular customers, I’m thinking: what am I going to do now?

After I secured my interview with Mr Chadevski I thought of a whole bunch of questions I wanted to ask him, like: what’s the biggest late fee ever? What’s your favourite movie? Do films ever go missing?

But shortly after sitting down with Mr Chadevski in his office I realised that the answers to my questions were supplementary, as the story he was telling me was a story about community.

Mr Chadevski knew his regular customers by name, and knew what types of films they liked.

He gave probably around a hundred local teenagers their first taste of working life - he even went to one of their weddings recently, 15 years after she worked there.

“It’s not a business where you simply go in and purchase something - it’s a recurring transaction with a customer. You build up a rapport with them,” he said.

“You meet people of all walks of life and you get to know them like in no other industry.”

For the record, we did cover-off on the fun stuff, too. Here’s what I learnt.

Mr Chadevski’s favourite movies include The Godfather series, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Fifth Element.

The biggest late fee was approximately $300 when one of his customers held onto around five new releases for a couple of weeks.

He’s heard all sorts of excuses to avoid paying late fees, most memorably a lady who said her grandfather died - six times.

A DVD was returned warped and blistered - it had been in a microwave. A VHS was returned after having been left in a car on a 40-degree day - it was bent at right angles.

DVDs have accidentally travelled around Australia before being returned: one went to Perth with a truck driver before being posted back, and another was posted back from Darwin.