Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
POCATELLO, Idaho — The last remaining video rental store in Pocatello has officially closed, but community members still have time to get ahold of their favorite titles.
Video Stop, owned and operated alongside K & B Kwik Stop, stopped renting titles to customers on Feb. 1. Customers who visit what was one of the last video rental stores standing in the state of Idaho will now find that they can purchase the titles for discounted prices.
"It's sad to see it go," said David Kraning, owner of K & B Kwik Stop. "It's been a part of my life since I was in grade school, (but) I just don't have that kind of money, burning a hole in my pocket, to keep it going year after year."
Kraning, who has been the owner of K & B Kwik Stop and Video Stop since 2016 after he purchased it from his father, remembers being a child in grade school when they started offering video rentals. In the time since his father opened Video Stop in the 1980s until now, Kraning has seen the landscape of media change significantly, shifting from people owning physical media to subscribing to streaming services.
"I realize technology has changed, people's viewing habits have changed," Kraning said. "But I think of that old song, 'Video Killed the Radio Star,' well, streaming killed the video store."
Despite this change in consumer habits, the way Kraning sees it, owning physical media offers some key benefits over subscription services. Whether someone watches a movie on Netflix or buys it digitally, they don't actually own the title.
"Even though (you), quote unquote, (buy) it, you (don't) really (buy) it. You just (buy) the ability to stream it," Kraning said.
If a company buys the rights to a title that's streamed or offered for purchase on a platform it doesn't own, it has the right to yank that title from a consumer even if they paid for it.
"(With) physical media, you buy it, you take it home. Somebody from the studio is not going to knock on your door asking for the discs back," Kraning said.
The way Kraning sees it, Video Stop was able to continue operating after its former competitors because it was locally owned, allowing him to offer a more "customized" selection. In addition to this, he own's K & B Kwik Stop, which will continue to operate normally.
People who come for Video Stop's liquidation sale will find that they can purchase individual movies for $4.95, 2-3 disc television series for $7.95 and 4+ disc television series for $9.95.
When Video Stop closed, Kraning said that they had thousands of titles available. Now, he estimates that he's down to a thousand titles.
"Liquidating … what we can out of the inventory is better than boxing it all up and throwing it in a dusty corner somewhere," Kraning said.
