Family Video: Final frontier for video stores

After 42 years in business, all remaining Family Video locations, including those in Tiffin and Fostoria, will be closing within the next few weeks, parent company Highland Ventures announced Tuesday. The company's CEO, Keith Hoogland, attributed the final blow to COVID-19, which not only reduced foot traffic to stores, but also reduced the number of movies released in 2020. "What began as a handful of 500 square foot video rental locations, grew to 800 locations with up to 7,000 square feet of video rental and retail," Hoogland said. Since his father, Charles Hoogland, founded the company, he grew up with the business. Family Video survived about a decade longer than other video rental companies like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. At its peak, it employed 10,000 people nationwide. When Blockbuster was first spreading its branches across the country, it stuck to big cities. That left rural and suburban areas, like Tiffin and Fostoria, to Family Video. Those small communities are what kept the company alive for so long, making it one of the last survivors of its industry by 2016. "I am extremely thankful to our employees and customers that were instrumental in Family Video's success," Hoogland said. "Without you, we would not have been the last man standing in our industry." In late 2019, there were nearly 600 Family Video stores remaining. Due to COVID-19, 200 were forced to close in fall 2020. The rest have now met the same fate. Family Video went down, but not without a fight. They sold merchandise, got #SaveTheVideoStore trending on social media and started offering other merchandise in stores, like CBD products. The larger company that owns FV, Highland Ventures, also branched off into real estate, fitness, cell phones and cable. Their Legacy Commercial Property division was largely what kept FV alive; because the company owned all the buildings that franchises operated in, they couldn't fall victim to failed lease negotiations like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video did. Liquidation sales for all remaining locations have begun. All movies, video games, CBD products and store fixtures are available, and each location will officially close once all their inventory is sold. District Manager Scott Jaynes said these sales typically last six to eight weeks. Jaynes managed 20 locations throughout Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, including local stores in Tiffin, Fostoria, Findlay and Fremont. The Tiffin Family Video location at 318 W. Market St. was open since 2002, and the location is now available for lease or purchase. For more information, contact Scott Jaynes at scott.jaynes@legacypro.com.