Family Video Closing All Remaining Locations

As we roll into a new year, the pandemic cuts down its next victim. Family Video. The last remaining video rental chain in America. Started with one store in 1978, the family business grew into a sprawling enterprise that once employed some 10,000 employees. After stepping up to take the place of past failed identical businesses like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, it became apart of national pop culture when it was featured in Netflix's Stranger Things when characters of the show applied to work at their local strip-mall location.

In a letter from the Family Video President Keith Hoogland, he goes on to detail how the reduced foot traffic, due to the lack of new movie releases this past year is and will be the final nail in the coffin that is the last remaining video rental outlets in America, including the Lawton location at 67th and Gore.

It's kind of sad really, knowing that future generations won't know what it feels like to seek out a new release. To constantly look behind display box after display box for the movie you've been talking about seeing all week. I'm not even sure if that scenario still happens, or has happened for a long time. With streaming being the entertainment giant for the last decade, I'm not sure if Family Video store shelves have been empty over the last few years, but it sure does hit you with the nostalgia when you think back to your own video rental days.

While the timeline on which stores are closing when is hard to find online, it was announced that all stores will be finalized, stripped bare, and relisted on the market by March.