Survival of Australia’s last video shops

Once a cornerstone of the high street, the video rental store was where weekends began. On Friday nights, families wandered the aisles debating overnight versus weekly rentals, teenagers argued over which horror flick to hire, and everyone hoped their first choice hadn’t already been snapped up.

In an era now dominated by streaming services, that scene feels like a relic of another time. But across Australia, a small network of independent video rental stores is keeping the 90s dream alive.

Galactic Video in Adelaide’s Gawler Place has been operating since 1995. While quieter than in its heyday, it still has more than 15,000 DVDs available to hire and around 3,500 members – a figure that continues to grow by about one new member every day.

“What’s interesting is that it’s usually people in their 20s,” said owner Stephen Zivkovic. “You’d think younger people would prefer to download or stream everything, but a lot of them still enjoy renting or buying physical media.

“I think they like the tactile experience of holding a DVD or Blu-Ray in their hands. They also enjoy the social aspect of coming into the store and having a conversation with staff about movies and TV shows.”

Mr Zivkovic said Galactic Video initially specialised in science fiction, Japanese anime, horror and cult television, but has diversified in recent years to appeal to a broader customer base, adding drama, western and comedy sections.

“Horror is probably my most popular genre. A lady joined up today to rent a horror film from 1986 starring Gene Simmons because she couldn’t find it on any streaming service. I have lots of rare stuff on DVD that you can’t readily find on streaming services or YouTube.”

Stephen Zivkovic, owner of Galactic Video, is seeing an upswell of younger folk visiting his shop, hungry for physical media. Picture: Supplied

More than 700km away in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Picture Search Video offers a similarly nostalgic experience.

Operating since 1983, the business was rescued from closure in 2000 by current owner Derek de Vreught, who was working there one day a week when he noticed a sign in the window announcing a closing down sale.

“I thought, you can’t close down this great collection of VHS,” he recalled. “So I bought the whole lot from the owners for $5 each.”

Today, Picture Search Video has a collection of around 45,000 titles – mainly DVDs, but some VHS – for hire.

“It’s a passion, I guess. A service to the community. It’s never been about making money.”

Picture Search Video in Richmond, Vic, has been operating since 1983. Picture: Supplied

Australia’s disappearing video stores

Stephen Zivkovic estimates there are now just 25 independent video rental stores left across Australia.

Economic pressures and the rise of streaming have steadily thinned their ranks, leaving Adelaide and Melbourne as the only Australian capital cities still home to a video rental store.

Brisbane lost its last stores in 2018, followed by Canberra and Hobart in 2019. Perth’s final holdout, Network Video Mount Hawthorn, closed in 2021, while Sydney farewelled its last remaining rental store, Film Club in Darlinghurst, in March of 2022.

Mr Zivkovic first noticed the warning signs as early as 2006.

“When broadband arrived, all my members who used to rent Japanese anime DVDs stopped coming in almost overnight. They would download their anime directly from Japan over the internet. That was the first time I saw technology undermining the business model,” he said.

“Then the big chains stores – Blockbuster, Video Ezy – started closing down around 2014 or 2015 because their profit margins became too thin.”

Wingham Movieland has prices many would be familiar with from yesteryear. Picture: Supplied

For Derek de Vreught, diversifying into vinyl has been key to keeping Picture Search afloat, with DVD rentals alone no longer enough to cover the bills.

“That was a good decision. I really didn’t foresee vinyl coming back into fashion as much as it did, but it’s another physical medium younger people are discovering,” he said.

“It’s not easy trying to pay rent in inner-city Melbourne. I’m here from day to night, seven days a week. Sometimes I feel like I could just walk away from the whole thing one day.”

A service for regional communities

For John McKay, owner of Movieland in regional New South Wales, a sense of obligation to his customers keeps the business going.

Operating since 1984, the store continues to serve many locals who either don’t have reliable internet access or simply prefer physical media.

“We get a lot of country people from out of town who don’t have access to the internet and keep coming in to rent weeklies,” he told realcommercial.com.au. “Some of them tried streaming, said it was a waste of money and then came back to us. So we’ve just kept on going.”

Mr McKay said sourcing second-hand stock has become increasingly difficult because so few video stores remain to sell off their collections. Fortunately, new releases are still available through the Queensland distributor All Interactive.

Movieland is also popular with those who don’t know how or can’t be bothered with streaming media. Picture: Supplied

“It’s the only warehouse I know of that’s still around. I used to have accounts with Roadshow, Sony and Universal, but eventually it got to the point where I had to order a minimum number of every title and I could no longer afford it.”

Stephen Zivkovic said the industry’s supporting infrastructure has largely disappeared as well.

“All the trade journals and associations closed around 2014, which makes it hard to source things like parts and accessories for our disc-cleaning machine or even the plastic pouches we use to store DVDs,” he said.

“With the chains gone, the only video shops left are independent operators. I think we need to work together more closely so we can source supplies, share titles and keep physical media alive. There’s still a demand for it.”

A physical media revival?

While streaming continues to dominate, a July 2026 IBISWorld report suggests there may be scope for a modest Blu-Ray revival over the next five years, driven by a growing cinephile culture and a mounting backlash against mass digitalisation.

Pop culture commentator Andrew Mercado believes there are already signs audiences are rediscovering the value of owning films rather than relying solely on streaming.

Video rental stores are banking on the nostalgia wave of tactile media such as vinyl and film cameras to carry over to videos and DVDs. Picture: Supplied

“People are starting to realise that streaming only has a fraction of what has been made over the last century. If you love a particular film, keeping it on DVD is the only guarantee you have of watching it again in the future,” he said.

“Records came back because the term ‘vinyl’ became cool, so I feel like we need a cool name for DVDs. I don’t know what that word is, but I don’t think ‘physical’ cuts it!”

For Mr Zivkovic, growing appreciation for physical media offers hope that Galactic Video can continue to defy the odds.

“I’ve never thought about what I would do if I had to close one day. I’d probably bring most of the DVDs home with me instead of selling them. I hope the day never comes. I want to keep going for as long as I can.”