Mandy and John McKay from Wingham Movieland appeared live on Channel 7s Weekend Sunrise to discuss being one of the last remaining video shops in a rapidly changing industry.

For Mandy and John, their biggest incentive to do the segment was to take the opportunity to thank their community.

Mandy cited the  support of “all the loyal customers in Wingham,” when asked by the show’s presenters Andrew O’Keefe and Monique Wright why the store was still open.

“It is a friendly town for a reason and very family oriented,” added Mandy.

John and Mandy have been supported by the community of Wingham since purchasing the business in 1991 from John’s dad who started Wingham Movieland in 1986.

Since then they’ve kept up with the changes to offer their customers the latest movies in formats which evolved from Betamax and VHS to DVDs and Blue-ray. 

It’s not been an easy ride for the couple over the last few years since the trend to watch movies has shifted from DVDs to digital downloads and online platforms such as Netflix.

“Eight months ago we were feeling it really tight,” Mandy said.

Fortunately for them Movies Games and More closed in Taree and Wingham Movieland received an influx of new customers.

Bolstered by new regulars coming from as far as Harrington to hire movies, the couple are aware they have been offered a new lifeline.

They have even had to invest in extra copies of certain movies to keep up with demand.