UPDATE: The Movie People In Lakefield Is Closing
/[UPDATE: December 5th, 2016] We wrote last January (see original post below) about a movie store, The Movie People in Lakefield, Ontario, that was somehow thriving in the age of Netflix. Sadly, it is now closing—one of the last remaining movie rental stores in the Kawarthas. Owner Kevin J O'Callaghan tells PTBOCanada he is devastated but the decline in business over the past year has been dramatic and he doesn't see it ever turning. "With the number of people buying Android boxes and Netflix continuing to expand its library, we couldn't fight that," he says. What's also sad for Kevin beyond losing his store—his passion—in this community he loves is the number of old movie classics from various eras that consumers will no longer be able to view, from Rebel Without A Cause to A Clockwork Orange. Those movies are not as readily accessible anymore on new age tech movie platforms, and are an important part of pop culture history.
Watch the heartfelt announcement from Kevin below in this Facebook video he posted...
ORIGINAL POST (January 19th, 2016):
It may be the age of Netflix but don't tell that to a locally owned and operated movie rental store in the small community of Lakefield, Ont. near Peterborough.
Indeed, The Movie People has not only survived the glut of movie rental store closures—from big box to ma and pa—in the digital age but is thriving through great customer service, diverse selection, pop culture expertise and community love.
Owner Kevin J O’Callaghan tells PTBOCanada that they have been in business since 2010—having moved here from Toronto where Kevin left a corporate career.
"We chose Lakefield as there was an existing movie chain going out of business, and we bought the fixtures and rented the space and started over with our own brand of movie rental store," Kevin says.
While there is no question more people are getting their movies on demand from the comfort of their living room, Kevin tells PTBOCanada his store has not been impacted.
"We have not seen a decline in rentals over the past four years," he says. "We have a very large selection of TV shows, new releases and thousands of older titles—indie films, documentary, classics and so much more. Netflix doesn’t affect us as much as you hear on the street. The Bricks and Mortar store is still a very important part of our community. People like to communicate with other neighbours and friends about their choices and pics for movie night!"
"We have new titles every week that would not be on Netflix and that are much more expensive on pay per view avenues," Kevin tells PTBOCanada. "Ninety nine percent of our titles are available for 7 days rental—the only one day rentals are just the new movies of the week and last week's titles."
Owner Kevin O’Callaghan
