Hollywood Video: There can be only one

Hollywood Video is located in As Lito and is open from 12pm to 6pm daily. (Contributed Photo)

Hollywood Video is the Connor McLeod of the video rental business on Saipan. And if you don’t get that, you haven’t watched ’80s popcorn epic The Highlander.

After a brief closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the only remaining video rental shop on island is back. Hollywood Video owner Bernard Gafney said he was forced to shutter temporarily last March 29 to comply with the government’s measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Since reopening last month, Gaffney said sales at Hollywood Video have been surprisingly brisk.

“We have a sale on DVDs, Blu-ray, and older games. We were most likely the only place to get controllers for game systems since we were closed when the run on these things happened, then our reopening with stock on these items helped business out,” he said.

Sales on the meat-and-potatoes of Hollywood Videos’ operations, however, remain lukewarm. “Business has been slow as far as rentals are concerned, but I think that’s because we are behind schedule on new releases. We cancelled all our orders for the month of April and May until we decided to reopen, then we had to reorder movies again. It has taken three weeks to start catching up,” said Gaffney.

Hollywood Video has been in business on Saipan for more than 28 years; at one point it operated three branches on island. It originally opened in March 1992 in Kagman 1. Then later that year another location in As Lito was opened. In 1994, the Kagman 1 location was transferred to San Jose (then transferred to Chalan Kanoa) and in 1996 Hollywood Video opened a third branch in Garapan.

Gaffney said 1997 was the start of the golden age of video rentals on island as “things started to take off.”

Hollywood Video’s new releases. (Contributed Photo)

In 2004 Hollywood Video opened another Kagman location (since closed). Super Typhoon Yutu then destroyed its Chalan Kanoa location in 2018. Hollywood Video then had to move its Garapan location from Middle Road to Beach Road, which shuttered in October 2019 due to staffing woes.

Hollywood Video has weathered the ebb and flow of the CNMI economy and even overcame the arrival of a mainland-based video rental giant. “Ten years ago business itself was good, but started slowly declining as people started downloading illegal copies from the internet. Blockbuster [Video] charged a huge amount for their rentals and people still went there (never could figure that out), but I outlasted all of them,” said Gafney, adding that he actually bought all of Blockbuster’s fixtures when they closed.

He worries, though, that the addition of a new cable company and faster internet will pretty much “drive the last nail in the coffin” as far as the video rental industry is concerned. “Hulu and Netflix are just a couple of the offerings and you also have Amazon, CBS, and a host of others. But people don’t realize how much they are paying for second- and third-run movies. And if you want to watch a new movie you need to rent that from them also, they’re not free, usually between $3.99 and $6.99, when you can come down to your local video store, and get the same rental for $2.75,” he said.

Currently, Hollywood Video only has one location open—in As Lito—and Gafney said the location has undergone minor refits to cope with the new normal brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have installed a Plexiglas divider between customers and staff, 6-foot social distancing stickers on the floors, and the disinfection of rental items with alcohol spray on return,” he said.

Hollywood Video has installed a Plexiglas divider between customers and staff, 6-foot social distancing stickers on the floors, and disinfects rental items with alcohol spray on return. (Contributed Photo)

As far as popular video rental titles go, Gaffney said it used to be action movies that are rented the most and most likely still are, but what’s new always goes first.

Currently, Hollywood Video has a sale on previously viewed DVDs for $1.50 a pop or 10 for $9.99. Blu-ray discs can also be had to $4.99 each or 10 for $39.99. Games, any format, are $19.99.

Before renewing your Netflix, Hulu, or HBO Max subscription, residents should first consider renting from Hollywood Video, Gaffney said, as it’s actually cheaper on a movie-by-movie basis to go to your local video store. “Instead of giving your money to a global conglomerate and having it leave the island, the money you spend on local business gets spent here and helps the local economy. Our employees live here, buy food here, pay rent here, go to the laundromat here, eat in local restaurants, and pay taxes here.”

You can probably even rent The Highlander, where McLeod uttered his famous line, “There can be only one”—a phrase Gaffney and Hollywood Video know better than anyone else.

Hollywood Video is located in As Lito and is open from 12pm to 6pm daily. For more information, call (670) 288-1254 or visit them on their Facebook page.