This quintessentially Bellingham business is closing after nearly 25 years
A quintessential Bellingham business has decided to close later this month.
Film is Truth 24 Times a Second announced on Facebook that its last day is Tuesday, April 19. The video rental business has been around nearly 25 years, but it couldn’t find a sustainable business model to continue, even as a nonprofit.
“The decision to close had been hanging over the business for several years now, and it was really just pure stubbornness that allowed us to keep going,” said Benjamin Owens, Film Is Truth operations manager, in an email. He noted that the business was able to survive for some time through donations and grants.
Known for its collection of hard-to-find independent and foreign films, the plan is to turn that collection over to another non-profit organization. Owens preferred to let that organization make the announcement when it was ready, but did say the collection, which totals around 25,000 movie titles, will remain in Bellingham and is expected to remain accessible to the public.
Emily Martson and Karl Freske opened Film is Truth in September 1997 and it quickly became a go-to video store alternative for locals over Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. While it was able to go toe-to-toe with the national chains, it could not compete with changing technology, particularly the rise of streaming channels.
Between 2015 and 2018, Film is Truth transitioned into a nonprofit organization. It moved from its Holly Street spot over to the Bellingham Public Market before settling into its current spot at 1418 Cornwall Ave. After the closing of Crazy Mike’s in 2018, Film is Truth became the lone traditional video store in Bellingham, outlasting regional and national chains in the market.
Owens said that Film is Truth surviving nearly a quarter-century “is truly a testament to Bellingham’s community that such a small local business has been able to live for so long.”
“We’ve watched kids grow up in these walls, employees go on to do great things in the world, and beloved customers who passed away entrust us with their own video collections. Film Is Truth has meant so many different things to so many different people, and we feel lucky to have been a part of that,” Owens said in a Facebook post on Film is Truth’s business page.
While the collection will remain intact, Film is Truth does have hundreds of extra DVDs and VHS tapes that it plans on selling.
Further details about the business can be found on its website and on social media.
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
