MIDDLEBURY — Addison County resident Jeanne Montross is organizing an effort to acquire the movie inventory from Waterfront Video’s Middlebury store.
Waterfront Video recently announced it was closing its Middlebury store. Managers had announced a movie sale to the general public during the month of May, but Montross — with others — hopes to pull off a bulk purchase of the store’s more than 16,000 titles and eventually make them available for loan to the community.
Montross is trying to assemble at least 12 investors willing to put up $1,000 each for a stake in the massive collection, though she said lesser amounts would also be welcomed. As of Friday, $4,500 had been raised, according to Montross. Plans call for the movies to be temporarily stored in a downtown location, then rented out using a database through which people could reserve copies for pickup and drop-off.
Anyone interested in purchasing a stake in the movies should stop by the Middlebury Waterfront store to leave their name and phone number, or leave a message for Montross at 388-3608, ext., 239. She said Waterfront Video has established a deadline of Friday, May 6, by which Montross and her associates must assemble most of the funding for the purchase.