The store back in its Broadway Market days (Image: CHS)
Go, ahead. Take your swipes. Yes, it’s not exactly news that a home video store is going out of business. And, yes, it might be news that it still existed, at all. But it is, indeed, CHS news that a business owner with more than three decades in the community is calling it quits. Here’s the statement from owner Paul Dwoskin about his decision to close Broadway Video:
After 30 years of business, Broadway Video has made the difficult decision to close its doors.  The last day of operations for the store will be Monday, March 17.  Broadway Video began life in the back of Bailey/Coy Books, another shuttered Capitol Hill independent, in 1984.  In 1986 the store moved into its Broadway Market location and in June of 2012 moved in to its current location at 512 Broadway E. A fixture in the Capitol Hill business community and the Seattle LGBT community Broadway Video has been serving the needs of cinema lovers faithfully for three decades.  Paul Dwoskin, the owner has been the president of the Broadway Business Improvement Area and was a founding member of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce.  He was a member of the Mayor’s Task Force on the revitalization of Broadway which produced the Broadway Vitality Action Agenda in 2007. He has served as the chair of the Chamber’s Clean & Safe committee, heading up the annual Clean Sweep event that brings hundreds volunteers out every Spring to clean up the retail districts of the neighborhood.  Broadway Video has been an active supporter of the Seattle Film Festival, Three Dollar Bill Cinema, the Greater Seattle Business Association and many other community organizations.
A Capitol Hill neighbor of note with owner Dwoskin (Image courtesy Daniel Dinsmore)
Broadway Video’s original home, the much-loved but Amazon-challenged Bailey Coy Books, went out of business in 2009. Owner Michael Wells, by the way, went on to head the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. The store was part of the Broadway Market shopping center before making way for BECU and Wells Fargo in 2012.
We don’t know what’s next for Dwoskin who has been a busy leader in the Broadway business community but he joins a group of Capitol Hill business owners who have shuttered video stores in recent years as big chains also pulled the plug on Capitol Hill stores. Netflix and online services have continued to grow while in-person rental has been delegated to red-boxed robots.
The closure leaves On 15th Video as the last dedicated movie shop on Capitol Hill.
Nooooooooooooooo. :(
My TV is not HDMI compatible (if it ain’t broke why clutter a landfill?), so I have yet to make the conversation to streaming video. Broadway has been a great resource if I want to see something on a whim. I’m sorry to see them go.
For other techno hold-outs, the library has an exceptional collection and if you don’t mind waiting a bit you can see just about everything you want via SPL.
Goodwill have old rokus for a few dollars. You can connect with av cable, works perfect with my old tv too. My DVD player broke last year, haven’t replaced yet.
thanks for the tip!
That should be “conversion”…
Your basic $50 Roku advertises itself as “works with almost any TV”
http://www.roku.com/products/roku-1 and does seem to have all the usual outputs.
But you will need wireless internet. Only the Roku 3 (HDMI only) has an ethernet connection.
My old (1st generation) Roku has wireless and ethernet and lots of outputs (see note above Goodwill)
I’ll miss the staff so dearly. And yes, me and my partner would still go in to rent videos.
Maybe Wells Fargo can start renting videos now. Money Pit was about refinancing right? PS Bway Market and its remnants are dead. Except for the cobbler.
A pity. I bought a block of prepaid movies there at a discount. Highly unlikely that I’ll be able to get a refund!
I also had movies left on a block. Wondering if the owner Paul was planning on offering people in our shoes some king of compensation or refund.
Strange that the writer of the article didn’t bring that issue up.
Sounds like a business issue you should contact Paul about. I haven’t heard of any other complaints but these. Have you?
Best of luck to Paul in whatever he does next, and with many thanks for all the real contributions you have made to our community!
I knew when they moved away from the Broadway Market it was the beginning of the end. Good luck to them.
In tangentially related news, I hope there is a realization occurring in the community and among city planners that putting a retail bank on a street corner is the surest way to kill a street corner dead. That Wells Fargo at the Broadway Market is a travesty. As is the Umpqua and B of A down the street. I’ll save my complaints about the Chase on the corner of 34th and Fremont for another blog.
In what way does a bank ruin a street corner? You can’t blame Wells Fargo for the demise of Broadway Video.
Did I blame Wells Fargo?
Look at the street corners where retail banks are. Notice the lack of anything happening? Especially after business hours? Now, look at a corner that has a restaurant, shop, cafe (etc) that stays open past 6 PM. What differences do you notice?
I see quite a bit of activity at that corner during the day. A grocery store next door, two popular restaurants and Starbucks across the street, it’s always busy by my observations.
I guess our definition of desirable activity is very different. Cheers.
That Wells Fargo and the Umpqa are vast improvements to what was there before both of them. That corner where the Wells Fargo is was empty for years. I’ll take the current Broadway any day over what was there 10 years ago.
The Wells Fargo is an improvement over a florist and cafe/juice bar? Interesting.
Neither of those business had been in that location for years and obviously weren’t patronized enough to survive anyways. There are a lot fewer chains on Broadway now than there were 10 years ago. That’s an improvement.
Ryan,
Good point. I would be nice if those corner units were occupied by a cafe, restaurant, juice bar or the like — an establishment that permits and attracts people to congregate.
I miss the old Broadway Market which housed Gravity Bar and B&O. Sigh…
All that said, I am really going to miss Broadway Video. I still went there a couple of times a month to get either new releases or old movies that aren’t streamable for whatever reason.
[…] lifespan, over the weekend, CHS reported that Broadway Video would abruptly close its doors Monday after 30 years on the street. While two closings may make a trend, there has also been plenty of new investment on the street as […]
This is so upsetting. Broadway Video was my favorite small business in Seattle. The staff was so genuine and a pleasure to see each week when I rented movies. If Paul and the video gang are reading this, Forrest, Chris and I are already missing you! XOXOXOX
I am so sorry to hear this. Broadway Video was more of a neighborhood hang out. I wish Paul and staff good luck on their next move. I have many great memories of Paul and his great employees
[…] development to the north. Local businesses like The Vajra and India Express remain. Broadway Video abruptly shuttered in March. The single-story buildings neighboring All Pilgrims Church remain mostly unimproved […]
I just returned to town after eight months in New Mexico. I am sorry to learn that Broadway Market Video has closed. Thanks to Paul, Sheila, Chad, Kevin, Tony, and so many others who staffed the store and provided quality service. I probably rented over 700 dvds from the shop over the years. I enjoyed looking at the movie covers and talking with the staff. Good luck to all. I will miss you. Everyone, check out Dark Passage with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and The Third Man with Joseph Cotton, Orson Wells, and Trevor Howard.
[…] operating in meatspace in the neighborhood. Most recently, Broadway Video also gave up the ghost after 30 years of business. Previously, big chains like Hollywood Video disappeared in the dark of night or, like Blockbuster, […]