K hatija Mall has loved movies for as long as she can remember. As a young girl she would frequent the legendary Shah Jehan cinema in the heart of Durban to get her fix of gung-ho Westerns.
It was this fondness for the on-screen exploits of the likes of Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson and Steve McQueen that would lead her to pursue her dream of opening a video rental store, with the help of her husband Ahmed.
Last year, Mall’s Video, on the corner of Sparks and Randles roads, celebrated its 30th year in business – and Mall has been at the helm throughout the decades.
She says the secret to her success is passion and dedication.
“My kids were all at school and I was bored at home and wanted something to do. My husband suggested starting a business, so we thought why not open a video store since I watch a lot of movies,” Mall recalls.
The store opened in 1981, when the VHS cassette was the industry standard.
Mall’s has a certificate above the shop counter confirming it once had the largest VHS collection in the country. Those 6 500 cassettes are still there, carefully archived.
“Mrs Mall”, as locals call her, doesn’t use a computer – she says she knows exactly where everything is and which films have come in or gone out, relying only on her notebook.
In the 1980s, Mall’s earned a reputation as being a shop where you could get just about any film.
“I still have customers who want movies on cassettes. A lot of people kept their VCRs and prefer watching cassettes. There are also those who want old movies that were never released on DVD, like some of the Westerns.
“With a loyal customer base, I’ve got to know almost everyone who comes in and what movies they like. I make recommendations,” she says.
Her advice is not to be sniffed at since there is not much she hasn’t seen.
“I watch everything, except maybe the C-grade stuff. You have to watch a lot of movies so you can advise customers.”
Of modern film, she says much has changed. “There are no stories any more. It’s all special effects and you can’t really watch many with the family.”
However, she would not turn down an Al Pacino or Kevin Spacey movie.
She lists Titanic, The God- father and Scarface among the most popular movies she has rented out.
“People still love gangster movies. You can always tell what’s going to become a classic by how popular it is in the shop.”
While DVD technology had had an impact on video stores, phasing out cassettes was not nearly as hard as dealing with piracy.
“Piracy has been a big problem since 2004. We have felt the effects of it, but thankfully not as much as other stores.”
Mall believes that despite internet streaming, downloads and MultiChoice’s video-on-demand Box Office facility, video stores will always have a place in the hearts of movie lovers.
“I don’t think video stores will ever disappear. People will always want to go to a shop and choose a movie off the shelf.”