End of an era: Discount VHS distributor calls it a day

The long, slow death of VHS continues, as a major—and last, apparently—distributor of old VHS movies prepares to dump its remaining stock.

The Los Angeles Times has the strangely poignant tale of the last days of VHS, as Distribution Video Audio—a discount distributor of DVDs, toys, video games, and books—finally pulls the plug on its VHS business.

Wait—didn't the big retail chains stop selling VHS tapes a few years ago? They sure did, but as the L.A. Times story notes, there's still a market for VHS at such discount chains as Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, not to mention libraries, military bases, cruise lines, and just about any variety store with a bargain bin.

Or at least, there was a market; Distribution Video Audio co-owner Ryan J. Kugler tells the L.A. Times that even the discount stores now prefer DVD to VHS. "It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt," Kugler said, adding that he will "give away or throw away" any remaining VHS tapes in his inventory.

Indeed, VHS players themselves are on the endangered list, with JVC—the last major manufactures of standalone VHS decks—finally halting production just a few months ago.

Interesting side note: At the bottom of the L.A. Times piece, Kugler—who's also making plenty of dough distributing cheap DVDs to discount stores—predicts (with "a sly smile") that "the DVD will be obsolete in three or four years, no doubt about it. Everything will be Blu-ray."

A bold statement, but Kugler—whose company makes about $20 million a year trading in discontinued pop arcana—may well know what he's talking about.

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VHS era is winding down [Los Angeles Times]