Oregon’s Last Video Store Set to Close for Good

Who remembers the first ever video played on MTV? The Buggles annoying work "Video Killed the Radio Star."  Well, radio is doing just fine, thank you, but in the case of this store in Oregon, you could revise that to "digital killed the video store."

After serving clients for years as a family business, Tony's Hobby and Video in Milton-Freewater is set to close it's doors for good by the end of the week.

The store, which features a variety of hobby products, was also a prominent place (and one of the few in the region) where just a few years ago, video sales were brisk. We all remember the Blockbuster stores, they're gone now, as are most other such chains.  Ten or 12 years ago, you could still rent a video at Winco Foods on Clearwater, but they've long since cleared out the area, which is now extra food storage.

According to the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, the store was a popular place on Highway 11, drawing traffic from Walla Walla and College Place as well as far as Pendleton. But with the surge of digital products, people streaming Nexflix on computers and more, the owners have decided to close the store.

Now, they've got some other businesses on the side and ways to keep them busy. But owner Tony Waggoner admits the 'death' of video cassettes played a part in their decision to shut down. They're running a variety of specials to empty out all remaining product, and unlike rentals, when you pay for these, you won't have to bring them back.

Once the store closes, Tony says, an era end in Oregon. "We're the last," he says. His store was the last one in the entire state that still rented videos.

Digital did indeed, kill the video star.