Badmovies.org Forum

   It was once my dream as a small boy to grow up and open my own independent video stores, specializing in cult movies of course. Although these days it seems as if the indies are going out of business left and right in our towns. I have 2 left in my area and both frequent them whenever i get the chance. I cannot say that i am completly guiltless because i suscribe to net flix. How many independent stores do you guys have in your town ? Do you make a point to rent your videos from them ? and finally, do you go to the blockbusters and hollywood videos or avoid them like the aids virus(i actually personally havent set foot in a block buster for years and will wait in the f**king car if i have to, to avoid setting foot in the store).

I think one of the big reasons that indy stores are on the brink of extinction is because of DVDs. For the first few years, a lot of mom & pop places saw DVD as a short-lived fad like LaserDiscs. When they really started to take hold and the technology became more affordable for households (and even the video game systems started to support the format), everybody wanted DVDs instead of VHS. With a lot of these indy places either unable or unwilling to convert to the new format, a lot of customers decided to leave in search of big chain stores that could afford a total conversion to DVD and thus offered a much wider selection for the new medium. It's especially sad too, because there were two great VHS places in my home town that had some of the most obscure and oddball movies you'd ever see. When DVD came into play, they had to make space and thus sold a lot of the movies that made them unique places to begin with. My favorite store had copies of The Final Combat, A*P*E, Kung-Fu Kids Break Away, and an endless supply of cheesy '80s slashers and '70s exploitation gems from all over the world! When they started stocking DVDs of movies they already had on VHS (because they were mainstream and thus more appealing to casual renters) in an effort to compete with chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood, they had to sell off a lot of these under-the-radar classicks (not a spelling error, btw). Sure, it was great to be able to buy stuff like Infra-Man and The Boneyard for $2 a piece, but once they got rid of the tapes, they didn't have anything left for the loyal movie geek customers and thus lost their lingering fan base. Meanwhile, the people/money they were trying to appeal to still insisted on going down the road and getting their stuff from Blockbuster.

Having moved to Brooklyn, I'm fortunate in that I can hop the R or the N in to St. Mark's Place in downtown Manhattan and pick up any number of old obscure flicks or foreign weirdo movies when the need arises, and thanks to the continued efforts of places like Anchor Bay, Blue Underground, Synapse, Tokyo Shock and the like there are a lot of these same flicks now available through outlets like NetFlix or Virgin stores, but I do miss the lovingly worn, old plastic-y scented days gone by at my favorite video rental holes in the wall.

WE have a couple of Mom and Pop video stores here in my little town and most country stores rent movies, one place called 'Downtown Cinema' has it all, I mean everything! They still rent NES, SNES, and every other gaming system upto X360 and PS3 they also have Laser Disc, VHS and DVD's the stuff is stacked to the ceiling and everywhere and if you know what you want and can't find it, they'll know where it is. The other one rents a few games DVD's and VHS, we only 2 of the big chains and one of them really sucks, they only have new releases so it's great place to buy used DVD's they sell them cheap as fast as they come in. The other Movie Gallery carries tons of B and cult movies which is odd for this area but folks eat'em up.

    I like Movie Gallery and Family Video, i don't really catagorize them along with the Block Buster's. They do indeed always have an abundence of b-movies, Family Video actually rent em out for 2 for a buck.

Don't know what makes Blockbuster so evil in the US but they're not bad here.  There's not so many independents around as there used to be, but that's because the chains are usually pretty good anyways.  My local blocky still has very much got an independent feel to it.  They have an excellent collection of arthouse, indy and foreign films and whilst they're pretty much VHS free now, back when the conversion was happening, they made a point of selling only movies that hadn't been rented in a while, until gradually space filled up with DVDs and they just kept selling the VHS for insanely cheap prices ex rental.  Plus they're good value, so that helps!

Last night I bought $60 worth of tapes and DVD's from an independent in the next town over that is closing up after 17 years of business. I was talking to the guy for a bit (he had some cool stories of meeting Tarentino and Ron Perlman) and he said that it's not Ballbuster that is putting him and the other independents out of business but things like Pay-Per-View and Net Flix.

That many of the independent stores failed to embrace DVD as quickly as they should is something that I agree with.  The LD sellers and rental places I knew of, surprisingly, also made that mistake.  By they time they tried to recover, the customers were already going elsewhere.

Blockbuster drove me nuts, even years ago, because their selection sucked. If you wanted a fairly recent release, or an older film that had an established fanbase, you were fine.  Otherwise - sorry, out of luck.

Over the years, I have thought that running a b-movie rental store would be fun - but I know that there would be a lot of bad with the good.  Plus, it would have to be in a city to be viable.

Still, walking into a place that was dedicated to b-movies would be fun, wouldn't it?

It sure would...that would be great to see really.

Indeed although establishing a strong customer base would be near to impossible.

We have one video store in town and I don't go there.  I'm not personally fond of the owner.  I am part of Blockbuster online and have been somewhat happy with them.  Although getting the movies I want i like pulling teeth at times.

I think many independent video stores for years were kept afloat by their adult sections.  Blockbuster and Hollywood video neglects those films because of their family atmosphere.  Of course in our computer age, getting adult material is rather easy on the internet.  Independent stores are sadly becoming extinct.

if i had a million bucks i would just buy a store, stock it too the roof with in b movies and live upstairs. Also my main problem with blockbuster is they try and censor you by not carrying certain titles, example: Short Bus

It's better than the days where they wouldn't carry anything Unrated and 'R' was their extreme. Most Blockbusters I see now carry a fair selection of Foreign titles and no longer hold the prejudice against Unrated flicks like they did 10 years ago.

If anyone finds themselves in NYC, ya gotta seek out Kim's Video if you're into indy video stores.

I don't have any independants near me at all.  I used to live near a Civic Video (chain store) but when I moved last November, I ended up being about 2 kms (1.2 miles) away from that store.  And there's no other one anywhere near me.  That's why I signed up for renting through the mail.

There was also a Blockbuster a couple of suburbs over but they went out of business.

What's a video store????






Just kidding. :bouncegiggle:

Blockbuster is evil because it is an enormous chain that provides a wide selection of films for a reasonal price.  We Americans have something against corporations that we want to assume are evil just because of what they are.

IF Blockbuster's stores had a wide range of films AT a reasonable price I'd buy that but they don't. Their selection is very limited, and their prices are average at best.

I find Movie Gallery as far as chains go, much better and cheaper. You can get 5 gallery rents for 5 nights for $2.97 here.

For all the Blockbuster haters, I wouldn't worry.  I heard Blockbuster is standing on shaky legs anyhow.  I recall a news report where they reported millions of dollars in loses.  They tried to be cool with the whole "trade in your online movie in the store while you wait for a new one" thing.  I can't see how that was a smart business move. I took out at least several hundred dollars worth of rentals for free using the in store exchange plan.  Now they cut back because I'm sure they were losing their shirts at an even higher rate.  Thats the thing with Blockbuster, they seem to come up with ideas and not think about them.  Anyone remember the "no late fees" thing.  That was sure short lived. 

Oh I don't hate BB, I have friends that manage them. Put the ONLINE TRADE IN thing was a great deal until they more than doubled the rate and the online service got slower and slower.
You are correct they are in trouble, but so are many of the chain video stores. Even Movie Gallery is a penny stock. BBI is trading at about $3.00 share, Movie Gallery (MOVIQ) is trading at about $0.03 share and is currently in Chapter 11. The only big rental place is Netflix that is somewhat stable (NFLX) and still it all over the board in the last year trading from about $15.00 to a close today of $26.90 still a fairly cheap stock, and I think a good long holder as they year in, year out realize a 5%+ profit margin which is good.

So while all these big chains are eating up a lot of the Mom and Pop shops in the end the Mom and Pops Shops might have the last laugh as they can often change and adapt faster than these big chains and with the always failing price of movies, it's easier to open a store if one should want. In the end it's your business plan, a good solid business plan and a little common sense goes a long way to success.

Not to mention that up until a  few years ago the Blockbusters around where I live refused to carry unrated versions of movies or would carry a censored R rated version that would sometimes be specifically made for their chain (Requiem for a Dream comes to mind).

I agree with everyone that a lot of the mom & pop type stores near where I lived waited way too late to make the DVD jump and ended up getting run out of business.  There's only one mom/pop type store near my house that made that DVD jump right after the advent of the new technology and they're actually still in business and doing very well I might add. 

you're right cheeseflix the mom and pops might have the last laugh, good point sir

That really sucks.  We can even rent softcore at some of the local Blockbusters, and yes Shortbus is on the shelves.  Shame they didn't have it, since it's a great film [if you can make it through the first few minutes, then you've passed the test and can continue]


I personally think the places that give you the cheap deals gets the goal.  There's a place near me that is a M+P store which has a great selection, but is a bit pricey for my blood and the other places nearby are still pretty good enough to go to.  Recently they merged with the nearby newsagent and became a video/paper store.  Makes more sense, I don't see how renting dvds gives you a whole lot of money really.

Tara Sue's daughter, Angel, works at a video store in Gobles called MovieMagic which also is a tanning salon. They have 5 movies for 5 days for $5 . Theres also a used video game and movie dealer in Paw Paw who sells (new) gaming systyms,new and used video games, and used dvds and videos.

 The nearest Blockbuster store around here is in Kalamazoo...which is about 30 miles away....I never been in it,though.

Yeah thats the thing I noticed too. Pay the extra $$$ and you can get unlimited online trade ins.  Of course before that it was unlimited with all plans. 

After last year's big Hollywood Video shake-up, and with Blockbuster creeping closer and closer to the same, maybe Mom & Pop places are due for a comeback! The problem with franchise stores is that one the home office goes under, that's a LOT of stores going out of business because they rely on the corporation to finance them. Meanwhile, once the chain stores disappear from an area, what better time for a little privately owned rental store to swoop in and pick up the already established customer base! And by being a privately owned store, and listening to your customers' requests for titles that chains otherwise don't stock (i.e. out-of-print stuff and porn), you can build your inventory around your customer base, rather than forcing them to mold their tastes around your inventory like the limitless number of "we don't care about what you want, just give us your money!" stores do. It's something to consider...

There are two Mom & Pop's near me here in Chicago, although I'm sure there are plenty more elsewhere in the City. Facets for example has to be one of the primo video stores in the country.  The stores near me are a different story. One is huge and carries a huge selection, but it smells intensely of cat pee and cats roam the aisles. Sometimes you have to shoo them away from your selection. I almost had to kick one to get a copy of Alligator People. I don't go there any more. The other one was a nice general video store but at some point the owner had to move to a smaller store over a Chinese restaurant and dedicate three times more space to porn in order to survive. If B movies would "porn down" or porn movies would "B" up that guy might do alright.

Honestly, I haven't been to blockbuster in a while, but it has a higher selection than the only other video store that's nearby, but we go to that one anyway.