Grand Junction Hastings Store Set to Close

Western Colorado will lose yet another video retailer and rental store when Hastings on North Avenue closes down. Following a month of bankruptcy proceedings, the store's parent company, Hastings Entertainment, announced it will close all store by October 31.

The Grand Junction area has said farewell to a number of video rental chains over the last few years: Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, and even a handful of locally owned stores. At present, those looking to rent videos from a store have basically two options: Hastings and Grand Valley Video.

According to enidnews.com,  Hastings offered the following statement earlier today (Thursday, July 21):

Five weeks ago, Hastings filed for Chapter 11 protection with the goal of expediting our search for a buyer that would help us complete our remerchandising strategy and position our business for long-term success. At the completion of the sale process yesterday, the winning buyer was a joint venture that will instead oversee a liquidation of our stores to ensure we are maximizing the value of all of our remaining merchandise and assets as we prepare to close.

I, for one, have always thoroughly enjoyed the Hastings store in Grand Junction. It was nice to "see" the box for the movie. In addition, the selection has always been fantastic. For those of us in the "over 40" crowd, it was nice to see some of the older titles.

So, with the exception of Grand Valley Video in Orchard Mesa, are there any other video stores left? Well, two video stores come to mind, but they rent movies geared towards a, shall we say, very specific, adult-oriented demographic. You're not likely to find a copy of "Zootopia" at those store.

Do you remember a time, back in the VHS days, when every grocery store, gas station, and mini-mall had a video store? Seriously, the gas station at the corner of Highway 50 and 27 Road on Orchard Mesa used to rent movies.

Farewell, Hastings. I must have rented a thousand movies from you, and I enjoyed them all... except one. Thank you for the great movies, books, CD's, and odds & ends.