'We're still hopeful': Why Glebe Video's Peter Senecal is banking on a DVD resurgence

Ottawa movie buffs: when was the last time you rented a DVD?

The popularity of online streaming both legal and not-so-legal has made the humble plastic disca bit of a relic. But don't tell that to Peter Senecal, the owner of Glebe Video International and its stash of some 18,000 DVDs.

Senecal bought the Bank Street store four years ago, and says he's now counting perhaps somewhat counterintuitivelyon a resurgence in the DVD rental market.

"Unquestionably, it was in a sense, quite risky," Senecal told Giacomo Panico, host of CBC'sIn Town And Out.

But as Senecal points out, by the time legal streaming services like Netflix and iTunesbegin offering new releases, they've already been on his shelves for weeks.

• Streaming TV options still limited in Canada, despite year of change
• Canadian broadcasters keeping in-demand shows off streaming services

That fact along with his store's extensive documentary and international film section gives the small handful of DVD rental businesses that remain inOttawa a slight edge, he says.

Then, Senecal adds, there's also the chance to talk film with another human being.

"Yes, it's tight for us. We're just hanging on.But we're still hopeful," Senecal says.

"We see what's happened with vinyl. We see what's happening with booksnow. And I think unquestionably, this is a superior way of viewing film."

Listen to Senecal'sIn Town And Outinterview here.