Junee video store Movies Plus celebrates its 40th birthday

Junee's Movies Plus video store turns 40 this month and manager Marney Wishart, 48, said they still have a loyal customer base.

But before you assume they're all the older generation, Mrs Wishart said she still gets younger customers through the doors.

"A lot of mums like to bring their young children in," she said.

"[For them], it's the same as if you loan books from a library.

"They come in and get to experience choosing a movie off the shelf and getting an ice cream and some lollies, so it's a bit of an outing for them rather than just pressing a button and downloading [a movie]."

The store was started by Mrs Wishart's parents Graham and Susan Leal, and their friends Greg and Mandy Hanson, in 1983.

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"It came out of a conversation between friends about this new technology called videos," she said.

"It was a big risk at the time because nobody knew the longevity of [videos]. It's evolved over time, but there's still a few of us left [around]."

Mrs Wishart said growing up she was quite popular at school because her parents owned the video store.

"All the kids wanted to get a video. It was a big deal back in the day," she said.

From the late 1980s until about the turn of the century, the store was part of the Video Ezy franchise and Mrs Wishart said there was a very big ceremony when it opened.

"Video Ezy used to sponsor the Canberra Raiders, so we had Laurie Daley and Dean Lance come out for that," she said.

Mrs Wishart said over the years they have even managed to sign up Hollywood great Russell Crowe.

"We dragged him in for a visit one day back when they filmed The Crossing here in 1989. That was a highlight and he's still got his membership," she said.

Mrs Wishart began at the store herself at the age of 19 and eventually took over its management.

Running a small business has had its challenges and she said over the years there has been significant declines in membership.

While there was a bit of a slump due to film piracy, she said things got a lot worse when Netflix launched in Australia in 2015.

"Netflix really gave us the kick in the pants and I believe it was responsible for most of the stores closing," Mrs Wishart said.

But she said they still have loyal customers and the store offers an experience you can't get with online streaming services.

"It's so much easier to press a button and download [a movie] at home compared to leaving the house and speak to actual people or run into [people you know]," she said.

"All that social interaction side of things has gone now."

Mrs Wishart said the secret to their success and not going bust, even through the pandemic, has been to diversify the business and provide a number of different products for customers.

Reflecting on the past four decades, she put a shout out to the people of Junee for riding the journey with them.

"Thanks to the local community for all of their support over the past 40 years," she said.

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