After 28 years in business, Star Video, Audio and Appliances is shutting its doors for good.
“I was on the phone with our son, and he asked what I thought about shutting the store down because we don’t go see him enough,” said Kulwinder Manhas, who has owned the store with her husband Gurmit since 1983.
Knowing that Gurmit would be the stubborn one, Kulwinder and her son decided that “dad” could be convinced.
“And then the owner of our building came to me and said our lease was coming up and asked if we wanted to renew,” said Kulwinder. So they decided it was time to pack it in.
When they first opened the store in 1983, they were renting videos to a population that didn’t even own VCRs.
“We used to rent about two movies per day, because people in Golden didn’t know what videos were, or how you played them. So then we had to start renting the VCRs,” said Kulwinder.
“And then I was back in Ottawa over Christmas one year, and was talking to Gurmit on the phone and he was so happy, he had rented out 50 movies that day,” she said. VCRs were a popular gift that year.
Over the years there were a few ups and downs, mostly in the beginning.
“Back then cable was really our competition, because people would wonder why they would pay to rent a movie when they can watch it on tv,” said Gurmit. “So we thought about it, and my wife said maybe we should hang up the town, and shut her down. But I was stubborn and I said no.”
“So we hung in there… and then business picked up,” said Kulwinder.
Now, with competition like Netflix and downloading off the internet, the Manhas’ decided it was the right time to leave the business.
“The community has been very good to us,” said Kulwinder.
“They have treated us very well. For me, it’s the end of an era in the business, but what I’m really going to miss is the people who come in,” said Gurmit. “When I came to Golden I had $2.50, and Golden has, for the whole family, treated us very well.”
The couple has four children, two in Calgary and two in Edmonton, and they are very happy to finally have the time to go visit them more.
“Gurmit will continue doing the satellites, but I am into retirement,” said Kulwinder. “So it will definitely be nice to have time to go see the kids. They will be very happy with that.”
