They might be considered to be on the brink of extinction, but two Auckland video store owners believe the industry still has a strong future.
While the glory days of the '90s are long gone, a sense of nostalgia is seeing some switch off the laptop and dust off the DVD player.
Natasha Loh has run Video Ezy in Auckland's Grey Lynn since 2010. She's recently extended the lease on her shop.
She says customers are attracted to her huge back catalogue of movies.
"We have such a good variety. We've got classics pre-1970s. I think people like to come here and actually browse the shelves.
"They can see stuff they've never heard of before and actually have the physical disc in their hand and look at the covers," says Ms Loh.
She also says a sense of nostalgia keeps some customers returning week after week.
"It's like a family ritual, they come in every week and choose their movies so it's a nice experience and creates nice memories for the kids."
Across town Nick Thomas has run Civic Video in Glenfield for the past 18 years.
He believes some customers who he originally lost to the internet are coming back to his store.
"They've been going onto Netflix and they've been giving us the feedback that Netflix hasn't got the depth they want."
He says many still enjoy the experience of visiting the shop and receiving movie recommendations from staff.
But he does admit many of those customers are in the older age bracket.
"We've even got one customer who is in his late 90s and he has special screenings at his retirement village for his friends."
While Mr Thomas is all too aware of the huge challenges facing the industry, he's adamant he won't be retiring anytime soon.
Newshub.
