Andrew Hawkes, whose parents founded Amalgamated Video, at the Kilbirnie store on Sunday, as it prepares to close.

The final credits have started to roll for one of Wellington's most beloved video stores.

Amalgamated Video's last remaining location, in the southern suburb of Kilbirnie, is set to close next month after 34 years in business.

Andrew Hawkes, whose parents founded Amalgamated Video, said the past six months had seen the business take an insurmountable financial hit.

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Streaming has killed the video store.

"The writing had been on the wall for some time, but this summer kind of topped it off.

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"I suppose it's the inevitable way everything [in the video store business] is going. There's just not enough business to keep the doors open."

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Todd Spencer and 10-year-old daughter Lily-Star hunt for old movies in the Kilbirnie store as it sells off its stock.

The Kilbirnie store was the first in the family-owned Amalgamated Video group. It spread throughout Wellington, but its central location on Taranaki St closed in 2011, to be followed by stores in Lower Hutt and Miramar.

As well as struggling to source brand new DVDs, Hawkes laid the blame on internet streaming sites.

"Pretty much everyone's on Netflix these days," he said. "People bring their kids in here to show them what a video shop actually is."

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF The store is selling off its DVDs before it closes at the end of next month.

He pinpointed 2008, the year of the global financial crisis and the beginning of online streaming services, as the year business began to drop.

"The store was a different beast 10 years ago. In terms of turnover, we were doing four times as much as we do today."

While other video stores began desperately looking at other ways to stay afloat – some selling antiques, others joining up with places such as the $2 Shop –Amalgamated shied away from diversifying. Instead, as new release rentals tailed off, it put particular emphasis on its extensive back catalogue.

STUFF Back in the day: Amalgamated Video's Cannons Creek branch in 2002.

With Amalgamated's imminent closure, Aro Video, Khandallah's Video Time, and Island Bay Video are believed to be the only DVD stores remaining in Wellington's suburbs.

The Kilbirnie store is selling off its catalogue ahead of its last day, which is likely to be towards the end of March. Hawkes said the store's four staff were either retiring or looking at other employment options.

"We definitely held out longer than most, longer than we thought we'd be able to. It's sad to see it go."

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF "The writing had been on the wall for some time, but this summer kind of topped it off," Andrew Hawkes says.

One of those stocking up the home DVD shelves was Todd Spencer, who brought his 10-year-old daughter Lily-Star along.

He wanted her to be able to tell her children about going to a video store – a place that was a Friday night fixture when she was younger.

"It is sad," he said. "The fact that it is closing [means] it is the busiest I have seen it."