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Leanne Long has Foxtel and Netflix at home, but her family were still regular visitors to Canberra's last video hire store. "We go not just for the movies but to have a chat with [owner] Josh [Mudford] as well," she said. "He is a lovely man and a great asset to the small business community." Ms Long is one of many customers saddened by the closure of Network Video in Charnwood, which shut its doors on Saturday in the end of an era. "We are losing our ability to converse with each other because online is replacing real life experiences and this is yet another example of it," she said. "Josh will be missed, as will the service he provides. We have Foxtel and Netflix at home but I would still rather support my local and visit Josh's video shop instead." The queue of people hoping to score a rare find at Network Video's closing-down sale stretched so far out the door it almost spilled into the car park. The store's entire stock, comprising some 26,000 discs and 9000 different titles dating back as far as the 1916 silent film Intolerance, was up for sale. The collection, which had been available to rent until Friday, included a number of rare finds like the Alfred Hitchcock films. To put the size of the Network Video catalogue into context, Netflix's largest library, in the US, had just 5579 titles last year, according to Business Insider. James Brown was hunting bargains with his son Lachlan, 6, and daughter Jessica, 4, on Saturday. The Dunlop man said he had converted his garage into a cinema and estimated that between he and his father, the pair had about 10,000 DVDs. Mr Brown was particularly keen to get his hands on some sci-fi films. "I just love a good story," he said. "I went down the mall during the week to buy some CDs and you just can't buy them in a lot of places anymore. [Disc media] is a dying industry." Mr Mudford, who owned Network Video for about eight years, said he was disappointed the independent shop's run had come to an end, but acknowledged it was a sign of changing times. Saturday's sale also included a sausage sizzle to thank the loyal customers who sustained his business for so long in a changing landscape. Mr Mudford said with his lease coming to an end, he wouldn't have felt comfortable signing up for another term. He said there was always a drop in customers during February, when children went back to school. But while business usually picked up again, this year it hadn't. "Our customers still come in. We've still got our regulars that are in a couple of times a week or every week, but we're just seeing more people less frequently, which makes it difficult," Mr Mudford said. "I've had some very upset children because I had to tell them they wouldn't be able to come in anymore." Mr Mudford said customers were keen to snap up titles in the collection that were increasingly difficult to find elsewhere. He said the ever-growing popularity of online streaming services like Netflix and Stan "definitely hadn't helped" his business. Those companies hadn't only made it easier for people to access content, but their popularity had driven down the cost of physical media. "It's almost cheaper to go and buy it instead of renting it," Mr Mudford said. "That's made things difficult as well." Canberra's last Video Ezy store closed in February 2017 and the last Blockbuster in August the same year.

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