Erin Udell

erinudell@coloradoan.com

After renting videos to Fort Collins for more than 25 years, Scott Shepherd isn't ready to call it quits.

"I love what I do," said Shepherd, who opened the city's only remaining video store, The Village Vidiot, in the early 1990s. "But if I'm selling personal property to make up for things, then it's time — you know — the community made its decision."

Faced with bills and crippled by construction at Shields and Elizabeth Streets, Shepherd said he has lost about 40 percent of his business in recent weeks.

If there isn't a change soon, Shepherd said he'll be forced to sell off his inventory and close the store.

The decline in Vidiot rentals coincided with construction closures at Prospect Road and College Avenue and the underpass project at Elizabeth and Shields Streets, which will stretch into August, according to Shepherd.

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"Certainly, none of the businesses look forward to something like this happening," said Chris Howard, the owner of nearby Sport About, which sells sports gear and offers custom shirt printing and embroidery. "It's not as bad as I feared it was going to be, but it's certainly not good."

Located across Elizabeth Street from the Vidiot, Howard said Sport About has been less susceptible to losing customers because, unlike the Vidiot, it doesn't rely solely on the customers who walk through its doors.

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Before the construction, Shepherd said he'd see roughly 800 customers walk through his doors on a weekly to 10-day basis. Now that number hovers closer to 400 or 600.

"It's 1:30, we opened at 11," Shepherd said Thursday afternoon. "By now, I would have had 10 people come in (before the construction). Today, we've had two. Yesterday was the same way."

"People are staying home, and that’s directly related to not being able to get here," Shepherd said. "I know that.”

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Many video rental stores have struggled to keep their customers since the advent of online streaming services like Netflix. The Video Station, a video store in Boulder, closed earlier this month after 35 years in business, citing the "economics" of its brick and mortar store as the shop's undoing.

But, with more than 40,000 DVDs lining its sprawling Campus West shop, Shepherd said he hopes the crowd funding campaign, which launched Monday, will bring attention to the struggling store. Ultimately, it's up the customers, he said.

"I keep saying this is 40,000 movies you'll never find again," Shepherd added. "I just hope they give us one more look."

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