Movie Gallery employees: Here are three of the six or seven employees of Movie Gallery that are losing their jobs due to the closing of the DVD rental store on Joel Blvd. They are from left to right, Courtney Wright, associate and manager; Adam Rayhart, an associate, and Tara Buffey, another associate. There are no more rentals and every DVD in the store is for sale. The date of closing has not been announced, but it is believed it will shut down with a few weeks. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Movie Galley on Joel Blvd., next to Sweet Bay Supermarket, is closing down, along with hundreds of other rental stores with the same name across the country. A king-sized banner across the stop advertises Going Out of Business, reflecting what technology in a quick moving industry can do to DVD rental stores.

The store no longer rents DVDs or game DVDs. Everything in the store is for sale, including the equipment and furniture.

“I’m really disappointed that we have to close. We have met some nice customers who come in to rent and we have gotten to know them as friends,” said Tara Buffey, one of the associates in the store.

Another employee, Adam Rayhart, said there are about six people who will be losing their jobs when the doors are closed for good.

But when the store finally shuts down isn’t quite know yet, according to its manager, Courtney Wright.

Door says it all: No more rentals at the Movie Gallery is the message that greets customers at the rental store on Joel Blvd. The store is closing and is selling all of the 7,000 DVDs it had in its collection. All sales are final since the rental store is going out of business, not only in Lehigh, but all across the nation. Photo by Mel Toadvine

“We haven’t been given a date yet, but I believe it will be when we pretty much sell all of the DVDs and games in here. There are no more rentals. Every DVD is for sale. The older ones are one price and the newer ones are more,” she said. “As of this past weekend, we still had a large inventory of DVDs but they are selling fast.”

She said that when Movie Gallery, which has been in Lehigh for close to 10 years, was renting DVDs, they had a collection of about 7,000 and every week when newly released DVDs came out, Movie Galley had them on their shelves. They had a pretty good business, but they noted that technology and other ways to get a DVD is causing their demise.

With the closing of Movie Gallery, that leaves only one other rental store in town. Blockbusters on Lee Blvd., near Homestead Rd. is still open despite the closing of many across the country.

One of the associates at Movie Galley blamed the closing on technology such as Netflix, which now can transmit movies to your home computer and TV. Others who are dipping into the rental market include Comcast which customers can download on demand and watch on their home TVs for a charge.

But the cost to download and DVD on Comcast is considerably lower than renting from a place like Movie Gallery. But Netflex has been in business for several years and they have signed up a lot of people who receive them in the mail and view them and then send them back.

Going out of business: The Movie Gallery on Joel Blvd., next to the Sweet Bay supermarket is shutting down as are all Movie Gallery rental stores across the nation are doing this month. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Just before the announcement of the closing, Movie Gallery had begun a “no late fee” program, but that came to an end for customers due to the closing.

There are “red box” machines in a few sites in the area that customers can rent by using a credit card. Movie Gallery employees said they didn’t expect them to last long either since it is easier to download a movie than to go out apparently and rent one. The machines rent DVDs for a dollar, one of the associates said. “But they have to be returned the next day or they will cost you more,” the employee said.

The for sale items also include a popcorn machine, shelving and other items.

At one time, Lehigh had at least three and maybe four DVD rental stores in Lehigh.

Within the last few weeks, a federal bankruptcy judge in Richmond put a stamp of approval on Movie Galley’s plan to shut down its 1,050 remaining stores and liquidate its assets.

The owner of Hollywood Video, which owns Movie gallery filed for bankruptcy for the second time in three years. According to news reports, it already had closed, or was in the process of closing some 1,400 stores under bankruptcy protection.

The Oregon based company was done in by consumers increasingly getting movies through the mail, vending “red box” machines and high-speed Internet connections.

News accounts report that stores are expected to close by the end of August and “going out of business” sales are expected to generate more than $62 million for Movie Gallery’s estate.