Getting into the video rental business is an unusual move these days, but it is paying off for a pair of pop culture-obsessed women in outback New South Wales.

Key points: Video rentals still prove surprisingly popular in Broken Hill where internet can sometimes be too slow for streaming

Video rentals still prove surprisingly popular in Broken Hill where internet can sometimes be too slow for streaming Kristy and Sarah Tracey's shop Fandom Culture also serves as a meeting place for gamers to play tabletop games

Kristy and Sarah Tracey's shop Fandom Culture also serves as a meeting place for gamers to play tabletop games The store has also proved something of a nostalgic drawcard to tourists and younger people who have never seen a video store

Kristy Tracey and her sister-in-law Sarah Tracey feared Broken Hill was about to lose its last remaining video shop when it went up for sale last year.

Despite the video rental industry being all but extinct across most of the country, their store, Fandom Culture, has found a niche in the storied mining city.

"Honestly, we kind of live and breathe this stuff," Kristy said.

"[Sarah] and my husband, they've always been into movies and games and they have a huge collection. I love board games, I love collecting things so it was just a natural progression.

"We wanted to keep the video store alive because if we didn't take it over it was going to get shut down, and we'd lose something that had been a part of the community for a really long time now."

Many customers do not have home broadband, or it is too slow to use streaming services.

Others are members of the city's aging population who are not comfortable using electronic devices or the internet.

Still others prefer the familiar weekly routine of visiting a local business, chatting with staff and picking a movie off the shelf from a hand-curated selection.

The video shop has a healthy customer base despite the global trend away from rentals and towards streaming. ( ABC News: Declan Gooch )

Broken Hill woman Amie Regnier visited Fandom Culture with her partner and daughter, and said it was the only easy way her family could find movies to watch.

"We don't have internet at home, so we don't have Netflix or whatever," she said.

"I would have to buy [movies], or I would have to start forking out and buying internet so that we could stream."

And if Ms Regnier wanted to purchase rather than rent DVDs, she would probably have to do so out-of-town or online.

A refuge for tabletop gamers

Perhaps the store's most loyal customers are those who are not browsing the DVDs.

More than 50 tabletop game enthusiasts effectively use the business as a clubhouse, meeting at different times of the week depending on their game of choice.

Keegan Gardoll is one of about 20 who play figurine-based strategy game Warhammer 40,000.

"You buy your miniatures, you paint them, you put them together, you play casual games and then you take them to tournaments," Mr Gardoll said.

"It's played all around the world, and there are millions of us now."

Warhammer 40,000 player Keegan Gardoll is one of millions around the world. ( ABC News: Declan Gooch )

Fellow Warhammer player Tate Dell said the store provided an important social outlet in Broken Hill, better known for industrial strife and mining than for subculture.

"As well as the playing, it's the social aspect — these are my people," Mr Dell said.

"I've met them all through this and it's a nice way to de-stress halfway through the week, which is what the hobby's good for."

Players can buy the components of the game at the counter, carry them over to the next room and begin playing or painting.

"Honestly, there's probably a little too much work that goes into it," Bowdan Visser said.

"Some of the things I've had to paint have taken me weeks, months, still painting.

"I'm unfortunately a bit of a perfectionist."

Mr Visser was painting a figure for a game called Necromunda.

"It's set in the same universe as Warhammer … but it's more just your base humans that are in crime families and gangs, and trying to survive in the slums."

Retro throwback

Bowdan Visser paints a figure for the game Necromunda. ( ABC News: Declan Gooch )

Kristy Tracey said the concept of a video shop had become so unfamiliar, some visitors were excited to see one.

"We have a lot of young kids that come in and they're like, 'oh, this is so cool, I heard mum and dad talking about these types of things and never thought I'd ever see it'," she said.

"We have a lot of tourists that come in and go, 'oh my god, there's still a video shop here.'

"So there's definitely a lot of nostalgia that goes along with it, it's really great. We've had tourists take photos just to show relatives that they were in a video store."

Mr Visser said while video rentals remained surprisingly popular in Broken Hill, he doubted the industry was in for a nostalgia-tinged return elsewhere.

"I can't see it coming back, I'm amazed to see it still running," he said.

"But I'm someone who does stream a lot.

"I'm still finding movies or shows that I haven't seen that are here, so I've got the opportunity to watch without having to pay for another subscription … just to watch the one thing."