Have the platforms killed the DVD? No!

How many times have we heard all kinds of prophecies about the apocalypse of cinema in physical format? Dozens, hundreds, thousands of times? Most likely. “Today everyone watches movies and series on streaming platforms,” is the trendy catchphrase that has been around for years. Well then, if you visit number 79 Carrer dels Tallers, they will give you a good handful of reasons to understand that this truth that seems so irrefutable is much more refutable than you think. 79, yes, the store takes its name from the street number it occupies. And it already has seventeen years of history, bumpy and unstable at the beginning and completely consolidated and going strong in the present. Countless are the times that we cinephiles have visited it and it is always a pleasure to drop by, browse the new arrivals shelf, the promotions table, the sections of the genres you feel like watching to discover or revisit films in DVD, Blu-ray, or the most recent 4K format. At 79 they have it all.

Everything that has been released in our country, also a good assortment of out-of-print titles and plenty of imports. We could say that they have practically everything and if not, they can get it for you without a problem. Between 35,000 and 40,000 references, which is easy to say. We visit the store with Joan Castelló, its manager, captain of the business's eight employees. “Eight employees?”, we exclaim incredulously. Yes, yes, eight. You have to be very aware of the new releases, orders in the store and online, the restocks that are needed every day, the customers' questions, etc. A whole universe of cinema of all kinds, a delight for the cinephile and the collector, the two client profiles that have founded the fame and prestige of El 79 and that today are its backbone.

They have their own publishing house with which they bring to the market all kinds of rarities and films never released before. Their specialty is fantasy and horror cinema –they have a fruitful and very solid collaboration with the Sitges Festival–. In the store, we can dive through a thousand or so different sections and subsections, among genres, subgenres, filmmakers, and actors and actresses. In the science fiction and horror space –under the direct baton of Joan– we find all the directors you can imagine, from Peter Jackson to Cronenberg, Lucio Fulci, Argento, Joe Dante, Spielberg... And the sagas: Star Wars, Friday the 13th, Star Trek, Matrix, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre...

Impossible to list everything. All the rarities, all the B-movies and Z-movies. But in the other room, all the classic and auteur cinema, westerns, war cinema, comedy, Spanish cinema... “Every day many people come, every day we sell more,” relates Joan. “Our audience has nothing to do with Amazon or Fnac,” he adds: “Large retailers hardly sell cinema in physical format anymore, and that benefits us a lot.” And he emphasizes an important detail, a large part of their loyal audience is young people. Nothing like that nostalgic profile of the video store of the eighties and nineties! A profile of a young person who is already a bit fed up with platforms and prefers to have the cinema physically at home. Just as it happens with deluxe editions of comics or vinyl records, for example.

It was in 2009 when Joan decided to take over the family business that had occupied the premises for many years. The legendary and missed Discos Castelló, founded by his grandfather Antonio Castelló and continued by his father Joan. Castelló managed to have a dozen music stores in Barcelona. Impressive. "Napster killed us," says Joan. Napster? Perhaps the younger ones don't remember it, but this was the first illegal music downloading system. Its turnover fell by 80% in two years! Thanks to the support of fellow professionals – Discos Gong and Discos Balada – who had a good stock of cinema, El 79 was able to open. And until today.

In the early days, with their memorable offer –1 DVD €2, 3 DVDs €5– they sold 3,000 movies a day. Now they sell 500, but they are more selective and at tighter prices. This year they have been busy selling movies by Robert Redford, one of the greatest cinema stars who recently left us. On the shelves, ESCAC coexists with Lina Morgan, and quinqui cinema with José Luis Garci. Last Saturday, a foreign client spent 500 euros on documentaries. And a final piece of data. In the Spanish state, home video, or rather domestic consumption on physical media, generates about 24 million euros. And with an upward trend. “The digital community –the platforms– clearly outshine us”. But they are not worried. On the contrary!