Limelight Video will close in Vancouver, in part because of Netflix

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      Lovers of classic, foreign, and independent films and documentaries are going to mourn the impending loss of another video-rental store.

      Limelight Video at 2505 Alma Street will close at the end of March, according to a Global BC news report.

      Owner Don Newton told Global BC that the rise of Netflix and other streaming services, as well as rising property values, resulted in Limelight starting to lose money last summer after more than three decades of profitable business.

      It's not the city's last movie-video business. Black Dog Video continues operating at 3451 Cambie Street and 1470 Commercial Drive.

      Meanwhile, Videomatica still sells videos inside Zulu Records at 1972 West 4th Avenue after closing its large rental store in 2011 near the corner of West 4th and Burrard Street.

      Videomatica's collection of 28,000 DVDs, 4,000 VHS titles, and 900 Blu-Rays is now at UBC's Koerner Library. More than 2,500 documentaries formerly available at Videomatica are now housed at Simon Fraser University.

      The Straight previously reported that former SFU continuing education director Yosef Wosk arranged for a donation to cover the cost of purchasing these films.

      One of the city's other last-remaining video-rental shops, They Live Video at 4340 Main Street, closed in 2014. 

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