Family Video closing remainder of its stores

The movie rental chain Family Video will be closing the remainder of its stores, including the ones in Marion, Harrisburg and Carbondale, president and owner Keith Hoogland announced in a letter to employees and customers.

Family Video, which once had 800 stores and 10,000 employees during its 42-year life span, is closing more than 250 stores in 17 states, including 30 in Illinois.

The southern Illinois stores are at 819 W. Main St. in Carbondale, 33 W. Poplar St. in Harrisburg and 709 W. Main St. in Marion. The Cape Girardeau store is at 1330 Broadway St.

Family video stores in Du Quoin, Anna, Carmi and West Frankfort closed in 2010 when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on both the movie and rental industries was citied as a reason for the closures.

"Today, I have to make the difficult announcement that we are closing all Family Video locations," Hoogland said. "The impact of COVID-19, not only in foot traffic, but also in the lack of movie releases, pushed us to the end of an era."

Glenview-based Highland Ventures Ltd., which operates Family Video, will stay in business, said Deanna Flynn, the company's vice president of marketing. It is unknown at this time how many employees will lose their jobs in Glenview as a result of the store closures, she said.

"We are reviewing every possible opportunity to keep as many employees as possible with the closure of the business, but obviously there are some that are impacted," Flynn said.

FamilyVideo.com, Marco's Pizza - which has more than 100 locations - and the company's CBD product line will remain. Stores are company-owned, and other businesses will have the opportunity to lease space in the affected communities, Flynn said.