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Community Corner

Requiem for Hastings Video

Last video rental store closes in the Rivertowns after 26-year run.

In the Rivertowns and the rest of Westchester, video rental stores attracted film buffs and Hollywood hounds who engaged in the thrill of the hunt for just the right title to provide an evening’s worth of entertainment and perhaps, if everything went well, a dash of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment.

But last summer, Captain Video in Ardsley closed, leaving Hastings Video as the last place to buy or borrow a physical copy of a movie, TV show season or concert video. Amazingly, Hastings Video still maintains a large collection of VHS tapes, played on an antiquated machine called a video cassette recorder.

And in about a month’s time, there will be no place for film fans to gather and discuss the latest releases or discover a forgotten classic. Joyce Patone, owner of Hastings Video, will be renting her last DVD on May 10. The following day, she will begin to sell off the store’s entire 10,000 title collection.

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“Technology is killing us,” said Patone. “We can’t pay our expenses. It’s a changing of the times.”

Patone had seen this moment coming for a decade, but the pace of technology has accelerated rapidly over the last few years, she said. Netflix, of course provides a deep catalogue, inexpensive price point and convenience that no video store can match.

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“We can’t compete with them,” said Patone, whose store, ironically, was recently named Westchester Magazine's "video store of the decade."

“There’s a whole new generation that never touches a DVD. I see it with my kids; they just watch movies on a laptop.”

Not only do the ever-growing video collections at local libraries undercut her business model, along with kiosks at supermarkets and other retail centers, but first run movies are now available on cable pay-per-view services as soon as the DVD is released. Studios used to give video stores first crack at new titles, holding releases from Netflix for at least 28 days.

“Cablevision gets movies right away and it’s hurting business,” she said. “Studios want it to happen. They’re sharing the revenue and cutting us out.”

Open for 26 years, Hastings Video was just one of ten stores owned by Patone and her husband, including one in Tarrytown and Irvington along with two Yonkers outlets.

“It’s really sad to see this go,” said Andy Young, a regular customer who lives just over the Yonkers line. “And it’s going to hurt Hastings because people come here for a movie and pick up other things.”

He lamented the slow death of small-town USA, especially the proliferation of big-box stores, which also cuts into the business of independent video outlets even though they have a much narrower selection.

Dorothy Kavanah, who has been the stores manager since it opened almost three decades ago, also pointed out that closing the video store will take away one of the few safe hang-outs for local teenagers.

"Kids come after school on Fridays and spend hours choosing movies and just spending time together," she said. "I think they come here because we treat them with respect, the way they deserve to be treated." 

At their peak, about 4,000 mom and pop video rental stores operated across the country, said Erik Gruenwedel, news editor at Home Media Retailing magazine, formerly known as Video Store magazine. About a third of those remain. Even Blockbuster has gone bust: coming out of bankruptcy, the chain will reduce its size from around 1,700 stores to perhaps 600, he said.

“The handwriting is on the wall,” said Gruenwedel. “Video stores have the personal touch along with movie catalog depth, which keeps some of them going, but they are on the edge of the abyss and are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. You can’t just be a video store anymore; you have to have a digital component.”

The Patones didn’t keep all their eggs in one basket. In 2001, they opened Cross County Car Wash in Yonkers, where Joyce will work. The full-service car center also sells gas and offers oil changes and detailing services, which never have to contend with internet competition.  

Though not a movie maniac, Patone will miss the interaction with longtime customers. “Meeting people, greeting them; the personal end kept us in business,” she said. “The suggestions, the conversations; we’re good like that.”

Kavanah isn't sure what she'll do after her last day in mid-May. "My kids are sending me to Florida for Mother's Day to visit a close friend, because they said the thought I would need it," she said. "After that, I'll start looking for another job, hopefully something close by, where everyone can come visit me. We're like family here. I'll miss the people the most."

Word is starting to get out around Hastings about the store's impending closing. “This has been a part of my life for 20 years,” said Young, who said he will have to get his movies from the cable company and will likely join Netflix. “It’s a shame we’re losing it because here, you deal with people. Once everyone realizes this place is gone, they will be crying.”

Hastings Video will begin selling its merchandise on May 11.

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