Last Civic Video shop moves Windsor premises, re-sets longevity challenge

Indeed, the video shop owner is having the last laugh, finding cheaper rent in a shop across the arcade, which he says will keep him going for at least another ten years.

Mr Wu has been widely publicised in this newspaper and other media outlets for taking a stand to become the last video shop in Australia.

The owner of Civic Video Windsor - now located at Shop 4, Old Post Office Arcade (off Windsor Mall, opposite the jeweller) - is well on his way, having kept his business running while every other Civic Video store in Australia - including the head office - closed around him.

He has outlived every Blockbuster and Video Ezy store in the country, all lost to the arc of time and digital streaming services, and remains amid a handful of independent DVD rental stores still holding on for dear life.

But do people still need DVD rental stores?

The answer is a resounding 'yes', according to Mr Wu, who is harking-back to the 1990s with the fit-out in his new (old) shop, packing it with real potted palms and orchids, ex-rentals for sale, and - of course - rows and rows of densely-packed DVDs for hire.

In fact, the shop didn't need much in terms of a fit-out at all; the raw brick walls and large-tiled floor might not have been touched since the era Mr Wu is channelling.

"I'm keeping it like a museum," Mr Wu tells the Gazette.

"A lot of people miss video shops. They come in here and see it has that old feeling about it, when they came with family and bought chips and popcorn - it reminds them of a happy time in their childhood."

If you Google 'last civic video shop in Australia', Mr Wu's name will come up as one of the findings. Apparently a staffer at Google called Mr Wu to check the accuracy of the search result.

"They didn't think I could still be around," he says, adding that - the way he sees it - the shop is good for Windsor, bringing-in tourists keen to check-out his wares. One recent customer even brought in her children to show them what those round discs called 'DVDs' were.

"Windsor is a history town and this shop being here is exactly right," says Mr Wu.

When Mr Wu bought the Civic Video franchise 17 years ago, it was based where Subway Windsor now is and - on a premises of around 250 square metres - his business employed a number of locals.

Now, employing only himself and in a much-smaller 60-square-metre setting, he says the new shop feels a lot more homely.

"People like this shop because it's nice and comfortable," he says.

"It's like a very, very strong tree; the roots keep getting bigger and longer. Maybe in 20 or 30 years time, people will remember this shop."

Well-known around the area as 'The Last Kangaroo', Mr Wu says his new shop is much more fitting for an animal of a smaller-stature - but one that has a whole lot more to say: "The last shop was big for The Last Kangaroo. But this shop is now my new home; it's kookaburra size, small and nice, and sometimes I'm making a lot of noise!"

Civic Video Windsor is open from 10am until 6pm, seven days a week.