Paris DVD rental store struggles to compete with streaming giants

JM Video, one of only two remaining DVD rental stores in Paris, is a focal point for film lovers and visited by actors like Brad Pitt when they are in the city, but the ever-growing competition of streaming platforms means this Paris institution is fighting for survival.

Choice is not the problem: JM Video has a library of more than 50,000 films, more than some 5,000 on offer at any time on Netflix (NFLO.X), opens new tabs and more than the catalogues of all the major streaming actors combined.

“It’s one of the few places in Paris with a real film collection, you can find things here that you cannot find anywhere else,” said movie buff Virginie Breton, who rents DVDs several times a week. But not enough to keep JM Video afloat.

Sky-high Paris property rents and a dwindling customer base, combined with the arrival of ever-more streaming services like Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Apple TV+ are squeezing the life out of the cave-like shop, where DVDs spill out from floor-to-ceiling racks.

Founded in 1982, JM Video was one of around 5,000 video rental shops in France at the end of last century, well before Netflix switched from being a DVD rental outfit to a streaming pioneer around 2010.

Now, France has only about 10 DVD rental shops, two of which are in Paris. Store manager Theo Bancilhon said JM Video is struggling to pay rent and the salaries for its three employees, and has lost close to 20,000 euros ($24,000) in the past two years.

This month, the store launched a crowdfunding call, raising around 26,000 euros from over 1,000 donors in less than two weeks. But it needs 35,000 euros to secure its immediate future and 65,000 to be safe in the long run, Bancilhon said.

He firmly believes in the DVD rental concept, noting young people in particular are interested in high-quality formats. “We are a beacon in the night that goes against the new ways of consuming a certain culture. It’s good for people to know there is another way of approaching cinema, not driven by algorithms,” Bancilhon said.

($1 = 0.8445 euros)