As we reported yesterday, Leo's Videos, Kelowna's last video store will live on. As of February 1st, the store's ownership will change hands, with a 21-year-old employee taking the helm.
"We worked on negotiations with 30 different people and a couple of my employees approached me a couple of months ago," said a clearly pleased Leo Bartels. "Over those few months, we've managed to negotiate a deal."
The papers were signed Wednesday night. Taking ownership will be Nick Ksyniuk, who plans to run the store with his brother Alex. The pair have plans to add a board game section which may include playing tables.
"We've structured the deal in a way that I get something out of their success," said Bartels, who has plans to become a middle school teacher. So even after the ownership changes hands, he envisions himself staying involved in the operation. "It's beneficial for me to stay involved, I always wanted to stay involved, I want the store to succeed."
Leo's had been selling off videos and about 6000 titles were snapped-up as the price discounts increased, but that still leaves over 20,000 movies for people to choose from. "We're definitely one of the bigger stores in the country," said Bartels.
And despite the disappearance of so many video stores, Bartels said video rentals have a future because they beat online rentals on price.
"When you rent multiple movies at one time, online you get no discount, here you get a discount," he said. "Say you want to rent a Disney movie online or some family film, you're still only getting two days for your rental, here you get seven days."
The location may change and so could the name, said Bartels. The business has lost its current lease, but may be able to find a spot in the existing building.
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