some more:
Ten years ago, there were roughly 140 independent video stores on the North Shore and along the New Hampshire seacoast, according to old phone records. Now there are fewer than two dozen. The ones that remain face extinction with every new Netflix or digital cable subscriber.
To stay relevant in the $7 billion rental market, many have become ambidextrous -- offering online services, low prices, and specialties such as X-rated videos, pizza, or tanning. "The really smart ones, the good ones, can find their niche," said Revill, who also owns Movieworks's sister store in Brookline. "You have to have something strong to still be in business."
Just consider the competition: Netflix has 6 million customers, no late fees, and 65,000 titles. (The average video store, by comparison, has 8,000 titles.) Then there's on-demand, an order-the-latest-movies-through-your-remote service that comes with digital cable. There's also the fact that DVDs retail for less than $20, with older titles going for as little as $5.
Faced with that range of options, Movieworks has lost about 20 percent of its business since 2003, said Revill. Still, the stores have been able to survive thanks to a "good location, luck, and a lot of movies." Obscure stuff, too: Season one of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" and John Waters's trashy cult classic, "Pink Flamingos," as well as the crackly VHS favorites slowly evaporating from the market.
"One elderly gentleman passes through a door in the back to a beyond not suitable for children."
This article is bigoted against the elderly. And also bigoted against what will be found in the "beyond not suitable for children". Goodness, where is their tolerance? Where is their celebration of diversity? Why is the Boston Globe so judgemental about a hidden area, and stereotyping the type of people who go in there?