BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Alan’s Alley Video has outlasted the VHS format, bested Blockbuster and managed to swim against the tide of streaming services — but the latest challenge to its brick and mortar integrity has owner Alan Sklar prepping for summer by going into hibernation.
“It’s bad news,” said Sklar in a June 4 email to Chelsea Now, confirming recent murmurs from those who’ve come to rely on his knack for matching wits, helping to refine tastes, and drawing on a 15,000+ collection to supply ad agencies and TV shows with hard-to-find clips.
Less than a year after moving to a fifth floor space on W. 25th St. — after maintaining a storefront presence on Ninth Ave. for a quarter century — Alan’s Alley Video was informed that work on the building’s passenger elevator would begin July 1. “Our weekend and night hours would be impossible to maintain,” Sklar’s email noted, “since the freight elevator cannot accommodate our customers at those times.”
Though not asked to leave, the news has forced Sklar to “immediately have a sale of our DVDs and put the balance into storage” while he looks (so far, unsuccessfully) for another retail space in Chelsea.
“I feel like I can’t move to any other neighborhood because of my clientele. People don’t know what a video store is [anymore],” said Sklar — who made that comment not last week, but while recalling the determination that led him from Ninth Ave. to his current location (see “For Video Rental, Our Alan Beats Their Algorithm,” a March 12, 2015 article on ChelseaNow.com).
Although conditions at the 25th St. location were never ideal (management refused to allow window signs, fearing excessive foot traffic), “It was nice to be here and still see my customers,” says Sklar. “I feel at least we gave it a shot, gave the business a chance to survive. Things have gotten so intense in Chelsea,” he notes, referring to the $7,000 monthly rent for a storefront he just looked at. Meanwhile, the Ninth Ave. location he was forced to abandon still has a “For Rent” sign in its window. “They wanted $15,000,” recalls Sklar, who will keep looking for neighborhood retail space.
For now, the only viable location in Chelsea is the storage locker he’ll be renting. You can help reduce the moving costs. DVDs are on sale “certainly through the next two weeks,” starting at $2. “Our friends can email or call me with lists of movies they would like to buy,” says Sklar, of the rental store whose stock is priced to own.
Alan’s Alley Video: DVD & Video Store is located on the fifth floor (#5D) of 164 W. 25th St. (at Seventh Ave.). Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 10 a.m.–10p.m. Sun., 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Send an email to alansalleyvideo@gmail.com, call 212-645-0999 or visit alansalleyvideo.com.
