Spotlight Video closing after 30 years of shining on video rentals

A staple of a bygone era, Spotlight Video, is closing the doors of its final location after 30 years of business.

Spotlight Video started in 1993, a year where blockbuster cinema was booming with the likes of “Jurassic Park” and “The Fugitive” lighting up the silver screen.

Started in Brookings, Oregon by Tony Hannan, the video store had set up shop in Humboldt County with spots in Arcata, Fortuna, and Eureka.

There are only 668 video rental stores still in business in 2023 according to IBISWorld, with Spotlight having been one of those still in business.

Yet, that era is coming to a close on august 23rd, coming a year after the Spotlight location in Fortuna shuttered its doors. Hannon waxed nostalgic about his time with the store and the memories it holds for him.

“I built this store, I put all these racks together. I met my wife here,” Hannan said. “Just so many, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Spotlight also stood-out among the competition in town with a tanning business within their locations, the origins of which come from an interesting source.

“There were some stores in the Midwest that had done with some success and we noticed there wasn’t a lot of options in the area for tanning, so we thought we try it.” Hannan said. “Honestly, we wouldn’t still be here if it wasn’t for the tanning.”

But the video side of things where going steady with the transitions from VHS to DVD and the rise of streaming, until the COVID-19 pandemic came in.

“I feel like COVID was pretty much the death nail. And then after COVID ended, the business just didn’t come back.,” Hannan said.

Streaming services such as Netflix and Max were powerhouse in the pandemic, but these services still can’t come close to the experience of a video store.

“Coming in and talking about movies with people who like movies, getting suggestions from real people,” Hannan said. “I don’t know if you seen some of the recommendations that come up after something on Netflix but its like ‘what does it have to do with what I just watched?'”

The last day for rentals at this location is July 15th with a liquidation sale where everything must go until Aug. 23.