Video Vern's, a landmark rental site for rare and out-of-print movies, is closing its doors after 15 years in business.
Claiming to be Utah's biggest video-rental store, Video Vern's was well-known for its unusually large selection of movies, carrying 20,000 titles at its Holladay Boulevard location.
But after what the owner calls consecutive years of financial losses, the store has begun selling off its vast inventory.
"There's a lot of them that you can't find anymore. They're not making them. They won't even come out on DVD," said owner Vern Dickman.
Movies like "The One and Only Genuine, Original Family Band," starring Walter Brennan and Buddy Ebsen, and foreign productions like "Santa Sangre" are some of the more unusual finds.
The store also carries a number of classic selections like the Abbott and Costello and Laurel and Hardy series, very few episodes of which will ever be converted to DVD.
"He's got a great foreign selection and a great classic selection," said Richard Heiner, manager. "They are one of the few small guys left that has a large selection of videos."
At the height of his business, Dickman rented videos under the name Video West throughout 400 grocery stores across five states. In Utah, the chain operated from three other locations in Sugar House, Brighton Pointe and Price. However, those stores were later closed or sold off.
Since it's opening in the late 1980s, the Holladay headquarters was expanded four times to its present size of 13,000 square feet, with an additional 5,000 square feet of video storage in a basement.
Kerry Brown, a pharmacist at Olympus Pharmacy, which sits adjacent to the video store, said the store's instant name recognition provided the best set of directions for customers seeking to find his pharmacy.
"It's kind of been a business landmark in this area for a long time. We're sad to see him go," Brown said.
Yet, come January, the neon red letters on top of the building will come down.
Dickman will now focus his attention on his new wireless telecommunications company, called Spring Communications, which already operates 18 stores along the Wasatch Front.
"We've been in the business a long time," said Dickman, who added that competition with Blockbuster and Hollywood Video proved too much.
"It's kind of the last of the little guys, I guess. But it's been good to our family, and it's been enjoyable."
E-MAIL: danderton@desnews.com