Times have changed. Once on every street corner, the humble DVD rental store is no more.
The shining blue lights of DVD chains like Blockbuster Video are now almost non-existent, except for just two in the world.
One of them is Blockbuster in Dargaville, Northland which boasts a collection of 21,000 DVDs that owner Chris Cucurullo knows intimately.
For 23 years, he's been sharing his knowledge of, first videos, then DVDs.
“If they come in the door, they’re going to get talked to about something whether they like it or not!
“They become friends - they're not just shopkeepers," one customer said.
“There's movies that I haven’t seen for 30 years and the rest, and things I’ve never heard of," another added.
Last decade, the rise of streaming services ended the franchise that once had 9,000 stores, but Mr Cucurullo's store slipped through the cracks.
“Nobody ever contacted us. Our email address changed. Maybe they had the old address.”
The only other store in the world is in Oregon, in the US.
It’s a sort of nostalgic museum dedicated to how things used to work.
"I thought, well, if I got more movies, got more individual movies in, they'd come in," he said, "but, you know, it got to that stage where I couldn't even get people in the door."
Unfortunately, the store hasn’t been able to make a profit for the last six years.
“Not a cent, not a wizzle, and I go, 'Well, that's alright - it doesn't matter. I love it. I love the industry. It doesn't matter.'"
Now, with a second and sometimes third job to keep things afloat, and 14 months of rent due, he was forced to make a decision.
“I have to give up.”
The second-to-last Blockbuster in the world will today close its doors for good.
Even when he's staring at the end of his dream, Mr Cucurullo does it with a grin.
"I’ve kept the smile going. When everyone pops in, I’ll smile and chat, but really, it's a killer.”
While it's not a happily ever after ending, it's given Mr Cucurullo something he's passionate about and a great story of his own.
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