A look at movie rental shops in the UK.
By my reckoning there are five 'video shops' still in operation offering physical media movie rentals in the UK. They are:
- 20th Century Flicks in Bristol
- TVL Allstar Video in Haverhill, Suffolk
- Snips Movies in Bebington, Wirral
- VideOdyssey in Toxteth, Liverpool
- Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Unfortunately B.V.C. - Bolton Video Centre in Little Lever, Bolton closed in July 2024. We visited that particular video shop on Video Shop Day back in 2020!
It's brilliant to see there are still businesses active in the movie rental sector though!
Signs and traces of video shops
There are still traces of former video shops to be found on the streets, shopping centres and retail parks of the UK. Most of those are old Blockbuster Video stores. But there are still signs of independent video shops to be seen if you're lucky (and actually visit and rent from if you're really lucky!). Some of those we've snapped over the years include:
- Shahenshah Videos in Luton
- Deane Video Centre in Bolton
- Video Box Office at the Happy Shopper Wayfairer Discount Store in Ilkeston
- Video Future in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent
- The Movie Box in Manchester
- Jubilee Films in Ashton-under-Lyne
- B.V.C. - Bolton Video Centre in Little Lever, Bolton (closed down in 2024)
- 20th Century Flicks in Bristol (still operating, but closed on the day of our visit)
- Video Express in Swansea
- Video Rentals at The Village Top Shop in Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham
- Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds (still operating, but closed on the day of our visit)
- TVL Allstar Video in Haverhill (still operating)
Blockbuster Video shops
Former Blockbuster Video store locations we've visited to date include:
- Abingdon, Oxfordshire
- Ashton, Bristol
- Barnsley, South Yorkshire
- Basingstoke, Hampshire
- Billingham, Teesside
- Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
- Chester, Cheshire
- Chorley, Lancashire
- Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
- Colne, Lancashire
- Failsworth, Manchester
- Fallowfield, Manchester
- Felixstowe, Suffolk
- Filton, Bristol
- Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
- Hastings, East Sussex
- Leigh, Greater Manchester
- Luton, Bedfordshire
- Marple, Greater Manchester
- Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
- Nuneaton, Warwickshire
- Oldham, Greater Manchester
- Prescot, Lancashire
- Shanklin, Isle of Wight
- Southampton, Hampshire
- Telford, Shropshire
- Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
- Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
- Wythenshawe, Manchester
5 comments:
There's two in Suffolk. Stones video Library is operating still
Wow! That's interesting to know.
Have looked it up. Will swing by next time we're in the Lowestoft area.
Thank you for your comment and letting us know about Stones Video Library.
And one in Ayr, Scotland. I believe both have stories on YT.
Cool. Just looked it up - Fast Forward in Ayr. Will add it to my 'to visit' list!
Here's an updated blog post taking a look at video and movie rental shops in the UK (July 2025).
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