This is the last day you can rent a movie from Video Americain in Roland Park.
Annie Solan, who co-owns Baltimore’s last video store with her husband, Barry, says Video Americain will close Monday night, then reopen at noon Friday to begin selling off its collection of more than 30,000 titles that include everything from recent releases to classics to cult films and foreign movies.
The Solans had hoped to sell the entire stock to the Baltimore Video Collective, a group of local film preservationists. But the two sides were not able to reach an agreement. The Collective had planned to use the Video Americain library to operate a non-profit video store.
Annie Solan says she is sad they couldn’t reach a deal so the collection could remain intact. But on the other hand, she says the sale will allow people to own some video treasures. “There are so many gems,” Solan says. “And as soon as they go, others reveal themselves.”
Solan says the Video Americain sale will be go on through March.