The store's co-owner said it was impacted by the likes of Netflix.
Dana Gentes, a co-owner of Pleasant Street Video, is seen inside the store in 2009.NORTHAMPTON - After 25 years Pleasant Street Video, the place that film aficionados gathered to talk film and life is closing at the end of July.
Manager and co-owner Dana Gentes said that the store’s revenue during the last five years had dropped to about half of what it had been during the late 90s to mid 2000s.
Services such as Netflix “dramatically cut into our customer base,” he said. “Computer culture in general has taken up many of the hours people used to spend watching movies.”
The store is hoping that the 8,000 videotapes and DVDs can find a new home at the Forbes Library. The two are joining to raise $60,000 to make that happen. Money is needed to cover the store’s debt and other costs.
Faith Kaufmann at the Forbes said “it is very sad that they’re not able to stay open,” but she said the plan to donate the movies to the library “is a silver lining to a sad situation.
She said Gentes and former Northampton City Councilor Bill Dwight approached the library with the idea of figuring a way to “to keep the collection in the community.” “The depth of knowledge that went into building (the collection)..They have an amazing collection.. She said the library has about 4,000 titles now and has a budget for only 900 a year. “It’s huge,” she said of how that might grow.
People have asked if they have room for it and she said they will make the space, besides she said, the titles they have are being borrowed so they are never at capacity on the shelves.
The store was started by Richard Pini and John Morrison, who had owned the Pleasant Street Theater next door. The two thought it would be a good companion store to the movie theater. Genetes was hired a year later.
Most of the staff have been there for years including Dwight, again a city councilor hopeful. Pini, who still owns the building put the property up for sale in 2009, according to Gentes. A buyer has been lined up to buy the space.
The movie theater remains unaffected and is operated by the non-profit Amherst Cinema.
For each $8 donated, a film will be added to the library collection. Tax deductible donations can be mada online at http://www.forbeslibrary.org/psv or in person at the Forbes or Pleasant street Video.