HASIn the old days of the VHS tape, France before Netflix had up to 8,000 video clubs. How many of these stores dedicated to movie rentals (now on DVD) are there today? “Only three, to my knowledge: one in Paris, one in Essonne, in Savigny-sur-Orge, and… mine”, believes Daniel Lecointre, the boss of Dan Video Club, at Loroux-Bottereau (Loire-Atlantique). An institution in itself, an anti-dematerialization bastion that this 60 square meter shop, promised to near disappearance. Reaching retirement age, “Dan”, 62, will definitely draw his curtain on October 30, closing the door on thirty years of commitment to the service of home cinema.
“Customers may be nurtured by digital technology, but they feel the need to see and touch these objects that are DVDs. To exchange, also, in person »
It’s because it took time to build customer loyalty for so long, in this small town of 8,000 inhabitants. Not content with offering polycarbonate discs in the era of streaming, Dan Video Club has the particularity of being open seven days a week and three hundred and sixty-five days a year, “even on Christmas morning”. Single without children, his manager attributes his hard work to a long stay in the United States. Enlisted at the age of 20 by an airline in Miami, he forged his passion for the 7e art through the Blockbuster Video VHS rental channel. Back in France, eight years later, he decided to open his own brand in the city where he grew up. “The town hall told me at the time that this kind of activity would never work in a rural town, he remembers. The beginnings were dazzling. The consumer society was in full swing. All households were equipped with readers. »
Young couples with children
America has not ceased, since then, to watch over the destinies of this trade, today wedged between a shop of esoteric products and a pizza delivery man. The star-spangled banner floats on its front; inside, the pennant of a hockey team and an effigy of the Statue of Liberty interfere in the middle of a set of shelves abundantly lined with boxes. “My store is atypical, acknowledges the lessor. This is also why customers continue to cross its threshold. Surprisingly, half of them are young couples with children. They may be nurtured by digital technology, but they feel the need to see and touch these objects that are DVDs. To exchange, also, in person. »
You have 40.55% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.