One of the UK’s last remaining independent film rental stores is right here in Merseyside, and its achievements cannot be overstated.
Snips Movies in Bebington has been serving the Wirral since 1995, offering families a mind-blowing selection of films. Any movie fan who steps through the door will feel like they’re in heaven, with piles of DVDs from all genres lining every inch of the store, from floor to ceiling.
Movie rental shops like Snips have had to deal with the fallout from the introduction of streaming services over the last decade with the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime contributing to the closure of many independent film rental stores. Yes, streaming services are convenient, but nothing can replicate the joy of browsing hundreds of films at an actual shop.
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Many Merseyside families will have had hours of fun exploring video stores over the years, with children excitedly choosing a handful of cartoons and animations while the parents struggle to settle on which one to curl up and watch once the kids have gone to bed. And then there’s the expertise of the staff - if you’re a little indecisive when it comes to picking a film, you can just ask the team for help.
As part of the Liverpool ECHO ’s How It Used To Be series, we spoke to the proud owner of Snips Movies, Dave Wain, about the store's past, present and future. The business was originally owned by Dave’s dad and used to be part of a chain of ladies' clothing stores in Wirral, but with the increasing popularity of retail parks and the man who owned the video rental store next door retiring, a new business opportunity presented itself.
Speaking to the ECHO, Dave said: “Ever the entrepreneur, my dad decided to buy the neighbour’s stock of a few hundred tapes and change the business completely by downsizing to one shop and having a go at movie rental. At the time, it was more of a needs must scenario than any lifelong dream to become the next Quentin Tarantino.
“By 1995, I was just finishing school, and although the initial level of trade was enough to make a living, it was largely unremarkable. Back then, a little village like Bebington had four or five video stores, and Wirral as a whole could boast in the region of eighty. So for a newly opened video store, albeit with an established database, a moderate level of business was enough to be going on with.”
Things began to change for Snips in the early 2000s when the traditional model of the video store began to alter. Dave explained: “Back in the day, a video shop would stock a film before anybody else once it had left the cinema; six months before HMV, 12 months before satellite, and two years before network television.
“If you wanted to see the new Tom Hanks film, for a lengthy period of time, the video shop was the only place that would have it. At the start of the millennium, though, the studios felt this system wasn’t working for them. A new format was in town - the DVD - and there were more people looking to curate their own libraries at home. This meant the traditional ‘rental window’ which gave us such luxurious exclusivity was removed.
“This had a catastrophic effect on many video shops, as almost overnight they had lost the main reason for people to patronise them. For Snips, it ironically had the opposite effect. As our competition gradually began to die out, largely through first generation video shop owners using this change as the opportunity to retire, we began to attract a growing army of customers who were travelling from further afield as they still had a desire to rent movies and there were fewer places to get them from.”
Dave believes Snips is not like the film rental stores of yesteryear. He continued: “We have flexibility over rental periods, no late fees, and more choice than any individual streaming platform. Obviously, the biggest change is the internet. It killed all our competition, including the 9,000 stores that Blockbuster Video operated at one point.
“Although there are a smattering of movie rental shops left in the UK, as far as I’m aware, there are only two with rentable libraries of over 14,000 films – of which we’re one. Does streaming affect us? Yes, absolutely. It’s clear that many customers who used to rent films from us are content with paying a subscription to Netflix and browsing their limited offerings.
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“Convenience is king, but it’s arguably vastly inferior. Our stock of movies is six times what Netflix has, so if you’re really into films, then there really is only one winner between the two. Access to thousands of classic movies made over the breadth of the last century is almost impossible to find on any streaming platform.
“The opportunity of being able to offer people the chance to see these, along with the documentaries, audio commentaries and written material that accompanies physical media, is essential. It’s providing a history of classic and cult movies when they’re on the verge of becoming forgotten to a generation.”
Despite Snips’ incredible success and service to the local community, Dave is understandably anxious about the future. He said: “It’s a good feeling to be still in business, but it’s one that fills me with anxiety. I think about the opportunities that I had as a kid who was bitten by the movie bug, which was an ability to venture down any cinematic avenue that appealed to me. Today that’s not so easy.
“We’re governed by algorithms that dictate what we should watch, which makes straying from a set path increasingly difficult. The chances of a teenager being able to discover films from a different era or country is beset with complications – primarily financial. Every platform is an additional cost.
“Access to multiple streamers is growing unaffordable as we spiral into a recession, so the chances of low income families having the opportunity to embrace celluloid diversity is harder than ever. At three films for a fiver for a week, I like to think that £1.67 is a fair price to pay for any movie from any period. It’s affordable and accessible. However, Snips Movies can’t be in every town, so I worry about people settling for mediocrity.”
Of course, like with all independent shops, Snips Movies wouldn’t still be going without its loyal customers. Dave explained: “Our customers are our heroes. They laugh in the face of cultural conformity. When they wander out on a wintry evening to browse the shelves of Snips, they know that most people are tucked up on the sofa with a cocoa, a blanket, and a Netflix-branded remote control - but they’re fierce in regards to their independence.
“They’re not seduced by what a tax-avoiding multinational has to show them. They want to form their own choices and head in a direction that’s of their own making. A DVD or Blu-ray player might not fit into the minimalistic confines of our modern day living spaces, and ‘get back from the video store and chill’ perhaps isn’t the quip of the zeitgeist, but, in terms of preserving film history and taking control of what you consume, it’s irreplaceable.”
Snips Movies can be found at 22 Cross Lane, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 3AL. The store is open 10am to 7pm most weekdays (closed on Wednesdays) and 4pm to 7pm on Sundays. You can see what films are available at the store by viewing its extensive film collection online here.
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