Third Bench Inc (THBD)

[Blue Skys]

The Rees connection is really strong. This is from KSL local news.

BOUNTIFUL — Top Hat Video had already beaten a lot of odds by May 2020.

The video rental store in Bountiful, which opened back in 1983, had outlasted corporate competitors like Blockbuster and even the shift to streaming services like Netflix. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many customers who previously frequented the small store at 521 W. 2600 South finally switched to online streaming due to health and safety concerns. The business was losing money and owners Lee and Lona Earl began preparing to close permanently.

That's when Melissa Handley and her boyfriend David Rees stepped in.

Handley said her son, Cade, is a Top Hat employee and came home upset one night that the store would be closing. After speaking with the Earls, she and Rees decided to take over.

Handley and Rees' intervention ultimately gave Top Hat about 2½ more years. The store announced Oct. 18 that it will close its doors in December, marking the end of its 39-year run.

Handley said the goal when she and Rees bought Top Hat was simply to break even; but "the pandemic accelerated what was already happening," she said. "Once we reopened the store ... it just never fully recovered after that."

Now, she and Rees are losing more money than they can afford to, Handley said.