On the walls or against the counter located at the entrance, hundreds of DVDs which will remain there “for decoration”. In a separate room, 9,000 others are stored, intended for sale. The Cine-Café Aquarium de Lyon, the city’s newest video club, is stopping DVD rental, giving itself until the end of the year to sell off its stock. Quite a symbol. The profession has identified up to 8,000 points of sale in France. From now on, the last ones still standing can barely be counted on the ten fingers of the hand.
“It’s sad and it’s a shame but we had to face the facts,” admits Damien Vildrac, the site manager. When he bought the establishment in 2016, in the heart of the Croix-Rousse district, the activity of the video club had already declined very sharply. “The previous owner himself wanted to stop because he couldn’t make a living from it. At the time, the faithful mobilized and created an association to maintain the activity. Damien Vildrac, who plans to develop a new kind of cinema club on the spot, promises them to keep DVD rentals at the same time. Word kept.
Seven-year reprieve
“Finally, we maintained the activity seven years longer than what was planned,” he observes. Despite the purchase of new releases, seven films per week, the number of rentals has “decline very steadily, smoothly” over the years. An irremediable programmed end.
“We were confronted with the fact that the DVD came out of common use. Before, it was a tool that everyone used on a daily basis. Today, this is no longer the case,” continues the manager. The reason is twofold, he analyzes. “Streaming platforms have grown, and even more from Covid-19,” says Damien Vidal. And the DVD player has fallen into disuse. “Today, almost no one has them at home anymore, people have gotten used to watching files on their computer or streaming,” he continues.
The counterexample of vinyl
The young man has however tried to resist as long as possible, by recently developing “rental at will” subscriptions at 10 euros per month in order to “get closer to the logic” of the platforms and regain some ground. In vain. The number of subscribers was not enough. “The video club was no longer profitable, especially since it took up a lot of our time. An employee was dedicated to it two-thirds of the time and this prevented the other activities from deploying while we recorded, for them, a 30% increase in attendance, ”explains Damien Vidal.
At a time when vinyl and other vintage objects are experiencing a resurgence in popularity, the question arises as to whether it would have been necessary to bet on the revival of DVDs in a few years. “No, the bet is not good. I don’t think DVDs will come back into fashion,
replies Damien Vidal. Vinyl is a counterexample. It is a very aesthetic object, which keeps well, and whose musical quality is top. Conversely, the quality of DVDs is not incredible and they deteriorate very quickly. »
If in 2016, the decision to stop the video club had caused “a real stir”, this time, this is not the case, observes the manager, stressing however that the first wave of DVD destocking was a real success. “We have already sold 1,000,” he sums up. A second operation is already planned for September 9, during an open day dedicated to the other activities of the Aquarium Ciné-Club.