PORT ANGELES — Star Video, one of the last traditional movie rental stores on the North Olympic Peninsula, will close its doors June 2 after 21 years in business.
Manager Genna Ferrie said the closure was a business decision the Seattle-based owner made and has nothing to do with competitors Netflix and Redbox.
“Business has never been better,” Ferrie said.
“That’s the sad thing. It’s sad for the community.”
Star Video supported local schools by offering free movies to students on the honor roll, Ferrie said.
With a restaurant opening in the store’s space in Port Angeles Plaza shopping center at 1940 E. First St., the owner was unable to find a new location, said Ferrie, who’s worked at Star Video for the past 15 years.
“A lot of people are so sad and feel bummed, but there’s nothing I can do.
“It’s a bummer,” she said.
Star Video opened in Port Angeles in 1992.
Star Video was sold six years ago. It currently has seven employees.
With fewer than two weeks before the closing date, the business is offering “sales galore,” Ferrie said.
Top-shelf DVDs are selling at $4.99, bottom-rack DVDs for $3.99, blu-ray high definition videos for $6.99, and games are $14.95 plus tax.
Classic VHS movies are being sold for $1.
The 6,000-square-foot space that houses Star Video will reopen as a restaurant, Ferrie said.
Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Russ Veenema said a county health official was seeking information Monday about the owner of a Chinese restaurant supposedly moving into the space.
Veenema did not know the name or the owner, nor could he confirm that a Chinese restaurant is moving in.
Clallam County Environmental Health Director Andy Brastad said he had no information about the restaurant.
Star Video is the latest North Olympic Peninsula movie rental store to close in recent years.
The Port Angeles Blockbuster store and Hollywood Video stores in Port Townsend and Sequim closed in 2010.
Blockbuster reopened five days after it closed as the Movie House, but it, too, has since closed.
Vasu Video still rents DVDs at 1030 Lawrence St. in Port Townsend. Forks Outfitters at 950 S. Forks Ave. rents movies on the West End.
Movies also can be rented or purchased at area Safeway and Walmart stores and at 13 Redbox DVD rental machines on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
