After 35 years waving the banner for video on physical formats in Cook Street Village, Pic-A-Flic Video is moving to a new location.
Victoria’s longest operating video rental store announced on Monday that it will relocate to the Stadacona Centre at 1519 Pandora Ave this October.
With their little corner of Cook Street slated for condo development, owner Kent Bendall says he’s been looking for a new location since he bought the store two and a half years ago. “I knew development was a certainty, plus rent in the Cook St Village is astronomical!” he tells Victoria Buzz via email.
The new location at Stadacona Centre will house Pic-A-Flic’s entire collection of 30,000 titles, as well as a wide selection of movie and pop culture merchandise.
“I’ve looked at a lot of potential locations and the Stadacona location checked off the most boxes!” Bendall says. “The fact that it’s located right at the hub of Fernwood, Oak Bay, Fairfield, and downtown is perfect for our customer base, as they come from all over the Greater Victoria area (and beyond!)”
Despite the growing popularity of online video streaming like Netflix, Bendall says his store fills an important role for people that want a more robust movie-watching experience.
“There’s a common misconception that ‘everything is available online’—it’s not,” he says. “I find once people break the hold of the convenience of streaming, and see what’s *actually* available, they become video store converts pretty quick!”
Bendall also says there’s a social and communal aspect to visiting a neighbourhood store that’s lost when you’re sitting at home scrolling through an endless feed of content.
“Taking a walk, talking to people, supporting the local economy—[these are] things that are far too easy to forget about when you’re at home on your couch pushing a button,” he says.
