Iconic Italian video, DVD store on the market after 34 years of operation
The Tempo Video store at 238 Bell Street, Coburg will be auctioned next month.
A property where an iconic Italian video and DVD store operated for 34 years in Melbourne’s north is saying “ciao” to the market.
Tempo Video owner Anthony Alessi opened his shop at 238 Bell St, Coburg after running a North Melbourne cinema in the 1960s.
However Mr Alessi, 81, said he shut the video rental business due to the rising popularity of online streaming.
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At the store’s peak, Tempo Video stocked about 5000 DVDs and VHS tapes.
Mr Alessi said customers visited the shop from as far away as Springvale to rent or purchase their favourite Italian language films and television shows.
“My wife was very kind to customers and made a lot of friends, who would come to enjoy coffee in the back,” he said.
“We were happy to be there, for us the people who used to come to the shop were like family.
“Everyone would come around and say, ‘Oh, Mr Tempo Video’.”
Many customers would come and enjoy coffee with the Alessi family in the residence behind the shop.
The retro bathroom with laundry facilities.
In the nineties, Mr Alessi also started Australia’s first television station delivering programs to subscribers, which later became pay TV provider Galaxy.
Raine & Horne Brunswick sales manager Pieter Speziale said his own father previously owned a building in North Coburg, not far from Tempo Video, which operated as a pharmacy, post office and store.
“For many of the people I knew through family, friends and businesses, the shop (Tempo Video) was their only link back to Italy in those days,” Mr Speziale said.
“It’s hard to find a property that’s had such a pedigree, a property that has meant so much to many people.”
A counter from where thousands of people from across Melbourne rented and purchased Italian language videos and DVDs.
A north-facing rear courtyard.
Mr Speziale said the former video store, which is set on 202sq m in a commercial 1 zone, has two bedrooms/offices, a kitchen and bathroom with laundry facilities.
There is also north-facing rear courtyard and one off-street car park in a timber garage.
The property will be auctioned noon Thursday, April 7 with a $660,000-$720,000 estimated price range.
The office where Mr Alessi worked for many years.
Tempo Video on Bell St is well known among Melbourne’s Italian community.
“I have received inquiries from professionals, as far as accountants, people in the medical industry and inquiries from people who want to use the whole site as a house,” Mr Speziale said.
The shop is metered separately for electricity, separate to the dwelling.
“If someone wanted to make it into a coffee shop, they could also rent out the back,” he said.
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