Aro Video owner Andrew Armitage has been coming up with innovative ways to keep the Wellington institution afloat for the past few years.

The end is coming for Aro Video. The only question left is when the axe will fall.

The Wellington shop, widely regarded as one of New Zealand's best video shop, survived the switch from VHS to DVD.

It faced down video piracy.

KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ Aro Video owner Andrew Armitage believes the end is coming and its only a matter of time before he closes.

But owner Andrew Armitage said the rise of video streaming sites, such as Netflix and Lightbox, "is the straw that broke the camel's back".

"We are closing - it is inevitable where it is going."

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Supplied Andrew Armitage in 1989 at Aro Video. Titles in the new release shelves include Pretty Woman, Heathers, Sex, Lies and Videotape, and Do The Right Thing.

He could not say when the final day would come.

"Things are so precarious financially. I'm looking at ways I can [continue] short-term."

He also had long-term hopes for the collection of videos the store held, which included a vast array of New Zealand films. While no discussions had yet been held, he hoped it could make its way into a film museum, that had long been proposed for Shelly Bay on the Miramar peninsula.

CRAIG SIMCOX/FAIRFAX NZ Flight of the Conchords Bret McKenzie and Jemiane Clement play Aro Video in 2008.

It is a collection he has spent 26 years gathering, starting with just 180 VHS videos in 1989 and growing to pack the two-storey Aro St building top to bottom.

In a newsletter about to go out to customers, he suggested his collection could become part of a public or private collection.

"I can officially declare us open to all offers and possibilities."

Supplied Aro Video owner Andrew Armitage soon after it opened in 1989.

Other options included moving out of the shop and focusing solely on online orders.

He pointed out that his collection of 22,000 titles was up to 20,000 more than some streaming sites and he still had a loyal customer base. There just wasn't enough of them.

"We are too busy for me to run it by myself... but we are not doing [well enough] to sustain the team and business model."

The shop employed four part-time staff as well as Armitage.

"My job security is important to me - I have to keep earning from somewhere."

Internet NZ chief executive Jordan Carter said the rise in legal streaming, through sites such as Neon, Lightbox and Netflix, meant illegal downloading was dropping.

But the convenience of being able to choose movies and programmes from home was the death knell for the humble video store, with the exception of some niches ones or others who managed to successfully adapt their business model.

"The days of people visiting a physical store are probably a bit limited."

Statistics New Zealand figures show that the number of video stores numbers are dropping.

The data, which lumps video rental stores with other electronic media rentals such as gaming, show nationwide in 2005 there were 516 stores. That was down to 330 this year.

In the Wellington region, the number had dropped from 63 a decade ago to 39 this year while in the city they had halved to just 15.

Over the years, the Aro Video had attracted celebrity fans. In 2008, musical duo Flight of the Conchords hosted a surprise concert in the store, cramming the small space with fans. When Viggo Mortensen was filming Lord of the Rings, he would wander in with bare feet and saunter back out with stacks of movies.