They’re probably waiting for me to return that damn copy of Labyrinth.
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C’mon! We should put up a go fundme or something to keep it open as some kind of museum.
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I would return this overdue clay tablet version of “Epic of Gilgamesh”, except the Sumerians shut down the last of their archives, what, three thousand years ago?
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our task is not quite completed yet.
I’m in Denton and I remember Payless video. That was a great store.
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I just want to say that I miss video rental stores, although not Blockbuster in particular.
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I’m with ChuckV. I deeply miss our local video rental store. Had some great times there every week with my best friends all through college. But Blockbuster? They’ve always sucked. Good riddance.
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I know why the rest of them failed and why it was still viable in Alaska, did that change? Is internet no longer too slow/metered/expensive/capped in those areas that streaming is now a viable and more convenient replacement?
I used to walk past* a boutique gentleman’s leathergood store that was a few doors down from a Catholic religious goods store. You could buy beautiful incense, a glow-in-the-dark baby Jesus or a plaster Infant of Prague and then pop a few doors down to pick up a buggy whip and some amusing leather underwear.
I still love the smell of frankincense.
*mostly.
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My former local video rental store owner hated Blockbuster, but also said that if Blockbuster fails then all video rental stores will fail. Sadly his prediction was correct. He had a bad Christmas and decided to sell up before the debts got too bad. He’s making documentaries now.
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There used to be a store in Berlin dealing in devotional objects and second-hand clothes. An unusual combination, but you could find great stuff in either section.
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Just checked to see if Vulcan Video is still open in Austin, TX. Why, yes, it is! Although it seems they moved further away from downtown, presumably to where rents are lower. (I had recently heard that the original Conan’s Pizza, at the same intersection, had closed due to high rents. [And here I’d always thought that the original Conan’s was the one closer to UT, on Guadalupe, that later became a Kerbey Ln. Cafe.])
I remember that Vulcan used to have different sections for different countries. When the Soviet Union split up, the following weekend Vulcan had put “C.I.S.” over the section sign that used to say “Soviet Union.”
When I moved to my current neighborhood, we had a place (figuratively) around the corner called Channel 3. It had a good selection but it seemed to be a (literal) front for the back room where they kept the adult titles. In fact, the last remaining video rental in this area has “adult video and toys.” Adult video seems an even less viable brick-and-mortar business strategy than Blockbuster, but there they are…
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I’ve totally been thinking about Philly’s independent chain, TLA Video. I saw so many wonderful movies that I found browsing or that employees recommended.
Algorithms just aren’t the same as browsing. Not even close. No where near employee picks either.
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Make America Grainy Again
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The new Raleigh Alamo Drafthouse includes a video vortex which lets you rent VHS tapes for free.Seems like @anon73430903 's shop wasn’t quite right. Vortex’s deal seems to be more that the rentals are marketing though, since rentals are free.
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Jon wasn’t my boss, I was just a regular customer.
It is worth bearing in mind that there have been no Blockbuster stores in the UK since the end of 2013 (they started that year with over 500). Videosyncratic (the local store that Jon ran and I preferred) closed down around the same time.
…huh, no clue where boss came from, sorry. I think I meant to type shop and the fingers got confused. Fixed now.
Whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on in Bend!
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