MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — After more than two decades, Netflix is ending its mail delivery service. Some businesses claim the DVD demand remains strong.
Coming down Lebanon Road in Mount Juliet, you don't expect to see a video store. Yet, there it is — Danger Zone Video.
"People poke their head in the door and say, 'is this real?'" smiled Jesse Butler.
"It takes certain people back," added Brittany Fernandez.
"I'd be doing myself a disservice not putting that on my staff pick shelf," Jesse said, holding up a VHS copy of Robocop.
Jesse and Brittany want their place to feel like those great old video stores.
"That's honestly the best compliment that you could give us," Jesse said. "My childhood video store was Movie Gallery in La Vergne."
"I'm from Clarksville, Tennessee, so we had the Blockbuster in town," Brittany added. "It smelled like candy and stale carpet in a comforting, nostalgic kind of way."
They sell DVDs, Blu-rays, VHSes, and if you can't play the latter, they got ya covered.
"We also sell VCRs!" said Brittany.
It's all a bit of divine nostalgia in a time when Netflix is king. So, how is Blu-ray and DVD doing in the streaming era? According to market research company Circana, Blu-ray and DVD last year alone made $1.34 billion dollars. Sales reached 94 million units, helped by major titles like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick.
Make no mistake, that's down a lot from DVD's peak of $16.3 billion in sales in 2005. Still, Jesse and Brittany said they were able to open their place last year because a consumer demand for physical media remains. Circana said 26% of homes bought either DVDs or Blu-Rays in the past six months. That report also found collector's editions are helping to drive the DVD interest today with sales of those up 85% over last year.
"You don't have to rely on streaming services," said Brittany.
"We need to own things we want to watch at any given time," added Jesse. "Also, there are those in small towns who may not have the best streaming capability."
"There are certain movies that aren't streaming," Brittany continued. "There are obscure movies people want to get their hands on."
"I love the in-person connection," Jesse said of his store. "I think it'll be here for a while."
