The sloping economy has taken another victim: Mount Pleasant’s Videoland.

The movie and video game rental store at 1022 S. Mission St., will close down toward the end of this month.

Linda Onstott, owner of Videoland, said she is closing down basically because of economic problems.

“The economy is just not in good shape around here or in Michigan for that matter,” Onstott said.

The store has been getting fewer and fewer customers, especially when finances are tight, she said. Since the lease for the building was already up at the end of April, it just seemed like a good choice, she said.

“I’m not sure of the exact percentages, but there has been a steady decline in both customers and sales in the last couple months,” Onstott said.

Online movie services like Netflix are also becoming a bigger problem for video rental stores, Onstott said, Netflix seems to be drawing everyone in because of its convenience.

“Netflix has reasonable prices, and customers don’t have to physically move to watch movies,” she said. “I definitely believe this growing trend could potentially affect many movie rental businesses besides just us.”

Onstott said right now there is a $2 table with movies for sale, but she does not know what sales specifically will be going on later this month.

“There will be closing sales during the last couple weeks of the month,” Onstott said.

In addition to competition, Onstott said that not being a chain business has only hurt the situation.

“It doesn’t help that people naturally prefer to go to chain businesses like Family Video or Blockbuster. Since Videoland is just a local business it often gets overlooked,” she said.

Not all movie rental places in town are hurting because of the economy, however.

Family Video floor manager Amanda Neil said the franchise store at 317 N. Mission St., has not been affected by the economic times.

“We are surprisingly doing okay right now. Sales have been steady and even up at times in the last few months,” Neil said.

Netflix has also not become an obstacle for Family Video, she said.

“I’m not sure if Videoland’s closure will make a difference in our sales or customers, but we are really hoping that it brings more people into the store,” Neil said.

metro@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: Chelsea White