Atascadero video rental store closing — now there’s only one left on the Central Coast
A much-loved Atascadero video rental store will close its doors for good this month following a last-minute bid to stay in business.
John’s Video Palace will close its El Camino Real store on Christmas Day after 31 years in business, owner John Taft said. His Paso Robles location will remain open on Niblick Road for the foreseeable future.
“I had to really think about it, because it’s my life,” Taft said of closing the store.
Customers have rented videos and DVDs from Taft since 1988, back when Atascadero had 10 such businesses. Now, Taft’s North County video rental stores are the last ones on the Central Coast — his website advertises his shops as “the only video store around.”
“People just — they want it now,” Taft said of the movie business. “Just like anything else in life.”
In July, Taft moved his store from its longtime location near the Smart & Final Extra! down the road near Bloom N Grow flower shop. He was preparing to close his Atascadero store due to rising rent costs, but Jodi Bloom offered him a last-minute space to keep the store open.
“It’s a total miracle,” Taft told The Tribune at the time. “We thought we were done, but nope.”
But drawing customers to a new location proved to be a challenge, Taft said. Video stores tend to do best close to grocery stores and similar businesses, and Taft struggled to break even.
“People didn’t want to travel that much farther,” he said.
Taft saved some of his DVDs to rent at the Paso Robles store but is selling off hundreds of movies until his store closes on Dec. 25. Older titles will go for $5, and newer DVDs will sell for $7.99, he said.
“We’ve got a lot of good movies here still,” Taft said.
For more information, visit johnsvideopalace.com or call 805-466-5525.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 6:06 PM.
