It’s been nearly three decades since Video Fan opened its doors on Strawberry St in the Fan, and long after most video rental places have come and gone, it’s still going strong. A Kickstarter campaign launched today seeks to keep it that way.
It’s been nearly three decades since Video Fan opened its doors on Strawberry St in the Fan, and long after most video rental places have come and gone, it’s still going strong. A Kickstarter campaign launched today seeks to keep it that way. Seeking over $35,000 in contributions to help keep the doors open over the coming year as well as to fund a documentary planned for release in conjunction with the store’s 30th anniversary in 2016, the Kickstarter has an audacious goal–but that may be what’s necessary to keep the store alive. Here’s an explanation of the store’s current situation, from the Kickstarter page:
For years, the staff has done everything in their power to keep the store open, the catalog available and the new releases current — in other words, to provide physical media to a community for whom it still matters. But the margins have grown increasingly slim, and after a bad summer, there’s no more money. Time is up for the Video Fan, unless we join together and make a concerted effort to do something about it.
The building that houses the Video Fan has been put up for lease. It’s a 60-day leasing period, and it began last week. This 30-day campaign is an attempt to raise enough money to lease the space for another year. The reason we feel comfortable making this attempt is this: we believe a new model can be created for sustaining a video store. If we can save the Video Fan now, we can buy enough time to transform it into something that will save itself in the future. The recent successful transition of Seattle’s Scarecrow Video to a nonprofit model has only bolstered our faith.
With Netflix’s catalog steadily shrinking in size as they switch to a streaming-based model, options for finding something to watch other than the latest releases are growing thinner with every passing year. Boutique video rental stores like Video Fan may be the only hope for the future where movie buffs hoping to be able to find obscure titles are concerned.
We’ll have more details about the campaign in the weeks to come. For now, if you wish to support Video Fan, head over to their Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/videofanforever/video-fan-forever
And here’s some film-classic inspiration for you:
