The Decay of Independent Video Stores

[GrandMaster]

   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).

[AnubisVonMojo]

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.

[CheezeFlixz]

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.

[GrandMaster]

    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.

[dean]

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!

[odinn7]

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.

[Andrew]

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?

[odinn7]

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

[Mr. DS]

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

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.

[GrandMaster]

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

[AnubisVonMojo]

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.

[Killer Bees]

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.

[Patient7]

What's a video store????






Just kidding.

[Patient7]

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!

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.

[CheezeFlixz]

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.