From: Darren D. MacDonald (100% still not the Sudbury.com journalist)
NORTH BAY — The lights are turned off. The doors are locked. Pixelated Netflix posters printed off of a 12 year old HP printer look on from the walls at the empty shelves… but to be fair, the shelves have been empty for 4 years.
How Convenient… Is This Video Rental Store? started off in the video rental business, but changing times in 2018 forced them to take a new approach: getting rid of all of their physical media and renting out their Netflix password.
Making it work
“My Netflix plan only had 4 screens so we really had to be strict with who used it,” explains owner Rob Stewart. “I don’t think what’s happened is something we can come back from.”
Recently, Netflix has announced a raise in price and a crackdown on people who are sharing their passwords. Tests for this crackdown have changed in the range of $2-$3 per “sub account.” This is a price Stewart just can’t absorb.
Final nail in the coffin
“Our price per password rental would basically double from $2 to $4. I could try to pass the cost to my customer. But I don’t think Penny, Jared, Cortney, Stacy, Josh, Renee, Kevin, James, Kiefer and Darren can absorb that cost!”
“That price increase, and Sharknado isn’t even on Netflix anymore? I think this is the real last nail in the coffin.”
With another North Bay classic coming to an end we can only wonder; who would have thought that a billion dollar company would make it hard on a small Mom and Pop shop to succeed?
“I even tried to legally adopt my customers to see if there is some loophole, but only Kevin agreed, which isn’t enough,” sighs Stewart.
“But I still think he owes me a Father’s Day gift. Maybe a copy of Sharknado!”