HOWARD, Wis. (NBC26) -- Most video stores closed nearly a decade ago.
"Someday, history classes will talk about how there were movie rental places instead of everything just being readily available at your house," Howard video rental store employee Logan Froelich said.
But one chain managed to beat the odds... until now.
"I think my people and myself did everything possible to make it as long as we could," Northeast Wisconsin Family Video District Manager Doug Seefeldt said. "Things are out of our hands now."
Tuesday marked the end of the movie rental store era. Family Video, the chain that served Northeast Wisconsin for over 20 years, is closing for good, nationwide.
"In March, we had a lot of foot traffic," Seefeldt said."[We] lot of people coming in and then [we] closed down. [And with] movies not coming out... it just dried up."
The locations in Howard and Green Bay are only a few of over 250 stores closing their doors. Family Video says without any new films during the pandemic, customers were fed up.
"You heard it from so many customers that they would come in and they would say there’s no good movies or new movies," Seefeldt said.
Though some locals believe having a video store like Family Video in the community is a nice resource, others believe streaming movies and shows digitally is a lot more convenient.
"There’s kind of a novelty to it, but at the same time, it’s a pain in the butt to come out and rent this stuff when you know you can just to do it at home in the comfort of your couch or on your chair," said local video game streamer and customer Forrest Pelky.
The rental chain says when the pandemic hit, more people subscribed to digital video streaming services.
A lot of people had to get better internet for that [video chatting] to work and then it was just a pushing point," Seefeldt said. "They’re like 'well if we’re paying that, we might as well subscribe to Netflix or whatever else.'"
Family Video says around 200 workers in Wisconsin and nearly 1500 nationwide will lose their job. But Seefeldt is confident in his employees' abilities.
"We hire really outgoing and friendly people that I doubt, even in this economy... I don’t think they’re gonna have a hard time getting a job," Seefeldt said. "They’re great people."
But at the Howard location, three employees used Family Video for their second job. They say they’re glad the business lasted this long.
"It’s more just like what the feeling was here," employee Clarissa Grathen said.
"I mean... we’ve made friends for life," employee Kaitlin Price said.
The 600 N. Military Ave. location, 2598 Glendale Ave. location, and 3921 S. Webster Ave locations are available for lease or purchase. Contact doug.seefeldt@legacypro.com for more information.
