(Lander, WY) – Video Warehouse and Arcade, MC Dollar Store and Hollywood Tanning will be closing its doors for good by early July, after 12 years of service to the Lander community.
Owners Chad and Melissa Stricklan made the announcement on the business’ Facebook page on June 11th, and plan on keeping the doors open as they sell the store’s remaining merchandise, with July 9th being the targeted end date.
While unconfirmed for certain, this is likely the last video rental store in Fremont County, and definitely one of the last of it’s kind in the state.
“It was just time,” Chad commented, later lamenting on the effects that streaming services and COVID had on business.
When asked how they ended up owning the store in the first place, Chad pointed at wife Melissa, and joked, “It was her fault. We were driving through Lander and saw a ‘Business for Sale’ sign. She made the comment, ‘We should buy that!’ Somehow we did and the rest is history.”
Starting out as just a straight video rental store, Video Warehouse really took off when the other rental store in town closed years ago, Stricklan told County 10.
Over the years, the Stricklans went on to add the MC Dollar Store, Hollywood Tanning, Paparazzi Jewelry, and the arcade to their store offerings.
The arcade was often used as a birthday party location for children, and one of Chad’s favorite memories was a kids’ pool tournament that the arcade hosted along with Tony’s pizza.
In terms of what’s next for the Stricklans, they will be focusing on other endeavors including their vending machine business, side jobs, and taking some much needed vacation time.
The store/family dog Aravon also looks forward to taking a break from all the guard dog duties.
“We just really appreciate the support from the community over the years, and want to say thanks to our loyal customers,” Chad stated.
Be sure to stop by the store and check out the items for sale in the upcoming weeks, and thank Chad and Melissa for providing so much joy and entertainment to the Lander community for over a decade. This may be the last chance you ever get to pluck a movie off the shelves of a video rental store!
As they say in the movie business, that’s a wrap!