Walking by Video Forum today, our beloved video rental place on Seventh Avenue between Garfield and Carroll, I saw a sign on the window that said “Store is Closing.”
Yes.
I almost fell over as I was returning the disk of “It’s Kind of a Funny Story.” Interestingly, that’s a film directed by Park Slope filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
This is not a funny story.
The last few months have been terrible for the video rental shop. Employees in the shop think the drop in sales is attributable to Netflix streaming video, a service that enables consumers to stream movies and TV shows onto their television sets.
Sean, who has worked at the store of five years, says that rental revenue dropped precipitously in the last couple of months. When the lease came up, the owner, who also recently closed his longtime stationery shop on Flatbush Avenue (near Seventh Avenue), decided “he was done,” Sean said.
The shop will officially close at the end of March. In the meantime they are selling off the entire stock of DVDs and VHSs.
“it’s Kind of a Funny Story” is also based on a book by Park Slope resident, Ned Vizzinni.