Owner, employees reflect on 39-year run as Bountiful video rental store prepares to close

BOUNTIFUL — Top Hat Video had already beaten a lot of odds by May 2020.

The video rental store in Bountiful, which opened back in 1983, had outlasted corporate competitors like Blockbuster and even the shift to streaming services like Netflix. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many customers who previously frequented the small store at 521 W. 2600 South finally switched to online streaming due to health and safety concerns. The business was losing money and owners Lee and Lona Earl began preparing to close permanently.

That's when Melissa Handley and her boyfriend David Rees stepped in.

Handley said her son, Cade, is a Top Hat employee and came home upset one night that the store would be closing. After speaking with the Earls, she and Rees decided to take over.

Handley and Rees' intervention ultimately gave Top Hat about 2½ more years. The store announced Oct. 18 that it will close its doors in December, marking the end of its 39-year run.

Handley said the goal when she and Rees bought Top Hat was simply to break even; but "the pandemic accelerated what was already happening," she said. "Once we reopened the store ... it just never fully recovered after that."

Now, she and Rees are losing more money than they can afford to, Handley said.

"I wish that there was a really wealthy person that just wanted to keep it going not as a business ... but as almost like a charity," she quipped. The store will begin selling off its inventory in mid-November with a big event on Black Friday, she added.

Handley became emotional speaking about the impact Top Hat's had on the community and on her family. There's an excitement and energy in the store that can't be replicated by streaming services, she said, plus a lot of fun and nostalgia.

"It's sad that this era is finally over," she said. "I think it's a loss of human connection."

'It's always been about community'

Top Hat Video began in 1983 under the name Adventureland Video. After several moves and a name change, the business settled into its current location.

Shanna Earl, Top Hat's manager and daughter-in-law of the original owners, recalled how Lee and Lona Earl used to drop off VCRs to neighbors in the hopes of selling them on the idea of watching movies at home. From those beginnings, the store has since employed over 300 people, she said.

"It's always been about community. It's never been, for them, about making money," Shanna Earl said. "They were OK if it paid the bills ... and they knew how important it was to the community."

For Earl, the store has also been a second home. She began working for Top Hat at age 19, she said, and after she and her husband got married in 1995, he worked as the manager while she worked as the assistant manager. When he quit about nine years ago, she took over his management position.

After 27 years at Top Hat, Earl said she's not quite sure what she's going to do next.

She cherishes the relationships built with customers and co-workers; watching kids become parents who then bring their own children in; and the excitement of simply browsing shelves and shelves of movies, some of which aren't available on any streaming service.

"I think a video store is this amazing cultural awakening, where you learn so much about film and people," she said. "(Top Hat) ... is a community hub. And I think that that's what people will miss."

Earl said streaming services are convenient, but they can't replace human connection; and an algorithm isn't the same as an employee getting to know customers and giving them personalized recommendations.

"We've always been about customer service. You don't come into Top Hat without being talked to," Earl said. "And I think people just love the physicality of it. ... You're holding a possibility. You come in, you make it an event, you have an intention to get a movie."

Cade Handley, an employee and Melissa Handley's son, added that Top Hat stayed open as long as it did because of the community's love, support and passion.

"I hope (community members) remember the value of having real people to talk to about this stuff," he said. "I just want people to remember the positive experiences."

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