TUCKED away at the back of the Old Post Office Arcade in Windsor, next to a diamond and gold shop and an old lolly store that went out of business, sits one of Sydney’s last remaining video shops.
A rarity in today’s digital age when streaming services have the monopoly on home entertainment, this bricks and mortar DVD rental business has been trading for over 30 years, and if current owner Guirong Wu has his way, it won’t be closing any time soon.
Mr Wu has been at the helm of Civic Video Windsor for 14 years. He has four years left on the shop’s lease with the option to sign-on for another five, and he plans to stay open for as long as it takes to be the last remaining video shop in Australia.
“I want to make history. I’m not doing it for the money!” Mr Wu told the Gazette.
“People come from Sydney and photograph me and put me on internet. I say, I last kangaroo! I want to be last standing in Australia. I will stay here until it happens. I bet you I can.”
Why it works
Mr Wu hails from China, and moved to Australia in 1996 seeking a better education for his son. He didn’t speak English very well when he took over the Civic Video franchise in 2002, nor had he ever rented a movie (there was never an industry for it back home), but he loved films and owning the store helped him learn the language.
He lives in Hornsby, and travels to and from work on public transport - a five-hour round-trip. When he first bought the business, he employed around eight staff members, but as business has declined, he now covers all the shifts himself: 10am until 8pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
“I a machine!” he joked. “That’s why others are closing - they big shops, and can’t afford the wages and rent.”
While he isn’t raking in fortunes, his shop makes enough to pay him, and that’s what matters - and at around 120 square metres it’s a small premises, making the rent manageable. Business is steady, he said; he has a reliable stream of regulars, and he still gets new customers signing-up - not just older generations, but teenagers, too.
Following North Richmond Video Ezy’s closure in July 2016, Civic Video Windsor is now the only video shop in the Hawkesbury, and customers come from all over to get their movie fixes.
In the greater Sydney region, it’s one of only four video shops left standing, along with Video Ezy Mount Druitt, and Civic Video outlets at Five Dock and Bondi Beach (another Civic Video in West Ryde was in the process of closing down at the time this article went to press).
Though Mr Wu will no doubt have some stiff competition from regional stores for the ‘last in Australia’ crown, he is confident he’ll claim the Sydney title at least, mostly due to his location.
“This area different, this area a lot they no got the internet. That’s why I still here. And people change - always got new member. Some people move out and some people move in, when they move in they settle after a few months they need a video!” he said.
Regular customer Claire Young from Yarramundi lives on a farm at the bottom of the valley, and relies on Mr Wu’s shop for her home entertainment. There’s no mobile reception at her house, internet is limited, and pay TV services can’t transmit there.
“We can’t get any modern things like Foxtel or Netflix, it’s just the normal television channels and then when Dad drives past on the tractor, the television turns itself off!” she said.
“I’ve got insomnia, I’ve got all these medical problems, so if it wasn’t for this shop, I don’t know what I’d do - I’d probably go insane!
“I’ve been coming to video shops all my life, until they all started running out. That’s why my brother and I are telling everyone we know, telling them to get down here and start giving [Mr Wu] some money otherwise he’s going to run out and then we’ve got nothing.”
She joined-up at Windsor when the North Richmond video shop closed and when Mr Wu looked at her paperwork, he mentioned he knew her brother who was already a regular. When the Gazette visited the store, Ms Young was inviting Mr Wu to visit the farm like they were old friends.
Reasons to rent
When was the last time you went to a video shop? An article by Gazette sister publication SMH quoted alarming figures from an April 2017 IBISWorld report - Video and DVD Hire Outlets in Australia by analyst Anthony Kelly - which found the industry had fallen from highs of $1.5 billion in fiscal 2004 to a third of this figure, with an annualised drop of 21 per cent tipped until 2018-19.
The research found the number of rental establishments had fallen from 2000 in fiscal 2009 to 650, and the analyst predicted only 100 would exist in 2019.
The main culprit is streaming services. But as Australia moves to an on-demand future, the humble video shop still has its place for many, and old-fashioned customer service will never go out of style.
Twenty-two-year-old Wilberforce resident Erin Mcauley has been going to Windsor Civic Video since she was 10 years old. She has reliable internet at her home and accesses pay TV and streaming services, however she and her boyfriend visit Mr Wu’s shop almost every week.
“[The shop] always has the best selection and movies we wouldn't think of renting. Sometimes Netflix doesn't have the movies we want to watch so we go there,” she said.
“The owner is amazing. One time I wanted to hire a particular movie and they didn't have it in. I ended up hiring another movie that night. The next day when I went to return that movie the owner had actually put my original movie I wanted aside when it had been returned.”
Will she continue hiring movies for the foreseeable future? “Most definitely! [It’s] the service. If I am ever looking around for something the owner will always offer a hand. Or even when I am stuck with what to get he will help me pick something that he's seen that's good.”
