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WOOD RIVER - Family Video announced today that the remaining stores will close for good, including the Wood River store at 895 East Edwardsville Road. Family Video was the last big chain movie store to close.
In October, the Granite City and Belleville East stores closed their doors permanently. The Wood River store and the Belleville store at 1838 Central Plaza Drive stayed open.
Family Video started 42 years ago, with a handful of 500-square-foot video rental locations, and grew to 800 locations with up to 7,000-square-feet of video rental and retail. It survived 10 years longer than Blockbuster, Movie Gallery, and Hollywood Video.
“My proudest moments are those where our employees, at one point 10,000 of you, and customers came together to support the community through grassroots events, report card successes, holiday meal donations, and the support of lymphoma research," Family Video President Keith Hoogland said.
Company officials said they currently have over 250 remaining locations.
Hoogland said the impact of COVID-19, not only in foot traffic but also in lack of movie releases, pushed the company to the end of an era.
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