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The closures of hundreds of movie rental business around Australia did not stop Albany man Nigel Heinz to recently opened a new DVD stores in town.
Camera IconThe closures of hundreds of movie rental business around Australia did not stop Albany man Nigel Heinz to recently opened a new DVD stores in town. Credit: Laurie Benson/Picture: Laurie Benson, Laurie Benson Albany Advertiser

Despite the closure of hundreds of DVD stores across the nation, Albany man Nigel Heinz has decided to swim against the stream and open a new movie rental business.

With his passion for the pictures spurring him on, Mr Heinz launched Galaxy Movies two weeks ago on the Albany Highway.

The store has more than 5000 movie titles in its collection, including blockbusters Mr Heinz has been collecting for more than a decade.

He also bought hundreds of movies from Albany Mega Movies, where he used to work.

Albany Mega Movies closed earlier this year after a long battle against the digital streaming trend, leaving the city without a movie rental store.

Mr Heinz struggled to find a new job in town after the shop’s closure and that was when he decided to go out on his own.

“I love movies. It’s a business that still has plenty of life in it,” Mr Heinz said.

“There’s still a lot of people who want to be a part of this, but it’s just not the size that it used to be.

“I signed up about 90 customers in the last two weeks and every single one of them who come in said thank goodness we’re still here.”

The downfall of the traditional movie rental store has been well documented, with the closure of a Blockbuster store in Perth making global headlines in May.

The closure meant the Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon was the last one left standing.

Mr Heinz said he was not going to be disheartened by the rise of digital streaming services such as Netflix and Stan.

“Streaming to me is very impersonal, it’s not very well presented and it’s hard to find stuff,” he said.

“Most of the streaming services also don’t get the new shows or the new movies.

“There’s a lot of movies I have in my weekly sections and you can’t buy them or get them anywhere online.

“I know because I look.”

Galaxy Movies has gained hundreds of followers on Facebook in its first fortnight — people Mr Heinz hopes will become customers.

“I love dealing with movies and dealing with customers about movies. It’s just one of my favourite things,” he said.

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