VideoLand owner Phil Davie has seen a lot of changes during his 20 years in the movie rental business.
In the last few years, however, those changes have been extreme as consumers are provided more entertainment options at their fingertips at home.
The industry has seen some of the larger chains closing stores or reducing services, including the closing of the Blockbuster location in Ladner.
Davie, who owns both the Ladner and Tsawwassen VideoLand stores with wife Michele, said he is asked almost daily what the future holds for his stores. Many customers are concerned they might not have anywhere to go to rent or buy their movies and games.
"We're not going anywhere," he said. "We've had great support from both Ladner and Tsawwassen."
The couple has owned the Ladner store for about 20 years, adding the Tsawwassen location about seven years ago.
The entertainment industry, and how people access it, has evolved over time, Davie said. Years ago, for many it was a Friday or Saturday night ritual to head to the local video store to check out the latest releases. Today, movies can be downloaded or purchased without getting off the couch.
However, he said, finding movies at home can't beat the experience of going to the video store.
"We have 15,000 movies in each store," he said.
Davie said independent stores like his are able to change with the times and bring in the newer technologies, such as blu-ray, 3D and the latest video games.
He said in the early days of the movie rental industry there was only one video store in Ladner, and today, with all the changes, again there is room for only one.
Fortunately, he said, both Ladner and Tsawwassen have a VideoLand store that has been able to weather the changes and are still renting or selling both movies and video games.
The Ladner VideoLand is located at 158-4857 Elliott St. and the Tsawwassen location is at 5470-12th Ave.
