Reel Video, located at 2655 Shattuck Ave., has tried hard to obtain the money it needs to stay in business, as told by assistant store director James Lemon earlier this week.

However, the drive for donations from the public may be short lived as auditors will soon be called in to ascertain the value of the stock. As yet not even staff are aware of this recent development.

Our sources suggest that the final nail is in the coffin of this illustrious video store, founded by none other than local philanthropist Stuart Skorman, who started it as the retail flagship for his online business empire, Reel.com,  (a precursor to Netflix) which he eventually Sold to Hollywood for more than $100 Million. Only recently, he did make some headway into repurchasing Reel from Movie Gallery, however, nothing seems to have happened and talks have since floundered.

More than 80,000 movies of the highest collectable caliber, many of which are rare or decades old, will depart from a community full of movie lovers and film students at the nearby University of California at Berkeley, Lemon said.

The store’s closure has been on the cards since parent company, Movie Gallery, Inc., which owns Hollywood Video went into bankruptcy last February.

Sources confirm that a free for all closing down sale is unlikely – like those seen in the recent blockbuster cattle markets, where customers wheeled out shopping trolleys full of merchandize for a buck a piece  – Reel Video will not depart this world having been plundered of her treasures, instead, the closure will be quiet and dignified, all stock likely to be formally redistributed among a selection of established video retailers across the country.

Our prediction: Reel Video may be closed by the end of the week bar any last minute intervention by interested parties who have yet to re-surface with an acceptable offer.