Last of the ‘dinosaurs’: final video store in Moreland to close its doors

PASCOE Vale’s Network Video will close down in the next few weeks, ending 35 years in the business for its owner. But that’s not before about 30,000 DVDs are sold off.

Owners John and Anna Ferraro in the Pascoe Vale Video Network. Picture: Mark Dadswell

PLEASE rewind and return all tapes before the after-hours slot is shut for good — Moreland’s last video store is closing down.

Network Video on Boundary Rd, Pascoe Vale will begin winding down from this week, with about 30,000 DVDs to be sold off.

When he shuts the doors for good, owner John Ferraro will hit stop on 35 years in the movie rental business, a career that started as a distributor before buying his first store in Coburg in 1985.

NETWORK VIDEO MOOROOLBARK SET TO CLOSE

FOREST HILL NETWORK VIDEO SHUTS ITS DOORS

Mr Ferraro — a movie buff who claimed he used to watch two films a night to keep up with new releases — said he had been holding off on rolling the credits because of his love of cinema.

“Free-to-air TV adding multiple channels and playing movies every night was my first inkling we could be in trouble,” he said.

“I thought Blu-ray would be the saviour but it didn’t stop the decline in rentals … it’s become technology driven and these stores are dinosaurs.

“We have been getting a wage out of the store but in the last few years it has been a real grind.”

Dallas Music Library in Broadmeadows will soon be the last video rental store in Melbourne’s north, with co-owner Kenan Hasin conceding, “we’re sort of on the way out”.

Mr Ferraro’s wife Anna works on the front desk in the store and said the Marvel flick Black Panther was the final new movie the come in the doors.

He said that classics were the most consistent seller with The Godfather the most rented, while the film that caused the biggest stir upon its release was ET: The Extraterrestrial.

The remaining DVDs in Network Video will be sold off over the next few weeks, with Mr Ferraro promising a mix of “rare and hard to find films” as well as mainstream hits available before the store is rebooted into a different franchise.