Vanishing Video Stores..yikes

[Relic]

A while back, I was really bummed because our local video store: "Planet Video" closed down. Now that was a great video store, they were fully stocked with some great obscure films, some of the foreign artsy or low brow stuff my wife loves along with all the up to date newer movies. They carried games galore for the PS and Xbox systems, and there was virtually always a line there. Never would I have guessed that they were not turning a profit. But..alas, I went there one day to return a movie and they were closed... I still have that movie!
So we switched over to Blockbuster and used them for a few years and it was great because there were two in our area, actually pretty much the LAST two video stores in our area in fact. The newer of the two had just opened last year.
Went to the newer one on Wednesday evening to rent a movie and.... they were liquidating their stock in preparation for going out of 'biz, all movies were being sold for rock bottom $. Oh well.... I figure that I'll just go back to using the older of the two stores. Surprise - that one's closed already having just went under the week before.
So that's it. There are no more video stores at all in my immediate area. I may have to go to a neighboring town, whatever no biggie, but how long until they're gone too?
I spoke with the gal at the closing Blockbuster and she was telling me that it was a combination of the economy and the fact that the industry's changing as to make video stores obsolete... I really had no idea. I guess I'll just have to get with the times but I will really miss that Friday night trek to the video store to rent something....

[jokn388]

Extremely relevant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TrPwOrf4sM

[Yerf Dog]

Netflix and redbox FTW

[Honk'n_down-low]

can you say NetFlix

[Lady Kayri]

It's not just the rental stores going under, either. Suncoast Video in the mall up the road here has closed down. We've lost some Blockbusters, too. Mind, Walmart, Kmart, FYE, Best Buy, etc. still carry DVDs for sale, but they don't have the selection or the back stock that was available at Suncoast. Guess I'm going to have to go to Columbia House online and amazon.com in order to buy some of the more esoteric / older stuff I'm interested in.

[RWP]

Our local Block Buster is still here but moved a few doors down to a much smaller location. I suspect next they will be gone. It's hard to stay in business when your competition is a Red Box vending machine the size of a Coke machine with movies $1.00. But movies on demand will really spell the end. I still have Netflix but not sure why.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by RWP

Our local Block Buster is still here but moved a few doors down to a much smaller location. I suspect next they will be gone. It's hard to stay in business when your competition is a Red Box vending machine the size of a Coke machine with movies $1.00. But movies on demand will really spell the end. I still have Netflix but not sure why.

It's interesting that this same gal mentioned that Blockbuster will be experimenting with small one-man kiosk type stands soon as a test. That will be weird to see..

[Relic]

Originally Posted by Lady Kayri

It's not just the rental stores going under, either. Suncoast Video in the mall up the road here has closed down. We've lost some Blockbusters, too. Mind, Walmart, Kmart, FYE, Best Buy, etc. still carry DVDs for sale, but they don't have the selection or the back stock that was available at Suncoast. Guess I'm going to have to go to Columbia House online and amazon.com in order to buy some of the more esoteric / older stuff I'm interested in.

See, that's the thing that kind of alarms me - we're both in NJ and are seeing the same thing in our respective parts of the state. NJ has the highest population density in the country, so if these video stores are losing money HERE, then that's pretty much it's swansong.

[DWBass]

The future is downloading digital files and using either your laptop connected to your TV or using one of these (which I do) connected to your TV! I haven't bought or rented a dvd in years!

[DudeistMonk]

Yeah Netflix...I have it and more and more people seem to be getting it, I give away netflix memberships as presents and everyone loves them.

EDIT: I do feel bad for the mom and pop video stores (Raritan Video, and Palmer back in my home town) but block buster has been putting them out of business one by one for years anyway...and I hate block buster, overpriced, content controlled, staffed by morons....

[MonetBass]

Netflix here too for several years now. Their selection is outstanding and we usually get the movies the next day after they ship. For convenience (especially now that you can watch certain movies & TV shows online), it can't be beat. THAT'S why the video stores are going away. Good riddance too -- I don't miss those excusions.

[superbassman2000]

Originally Posted by Relic

See, that's the thing that kind of alarms me - we're both in NJ and are seeing the same thing in our respective parts of the state. NJ has the highest population density in the country, so if these video stores are losing money HERE, then that's pretty much it's swansong.

haha if a lot of NJ video store employees are like Randal from clerks, then i think i know why video stores are closing haha!

There is a movie rental place called Movie Gallery that just filed for bankruptcy--i don't know if they are national, but i know they are regional.

personally, i completely understand why these video rental places are going out of business--I have never had a good movie rental experience--all the good movies were always taken, they were overpriced for the time you got to rent them, and I could never find a decent selection because they would have to put 30 of the same movie or video game on a shelf to keep up with demand, which took away room from other movies.

I just signed up with netflix a few weeks ago and it's been great. There are a lot of good movies, the price is fair, and you don't get burned because you were 20 minutes late in returning it.

[hrodbert696]

Originally Posted by DudeistMonk

Yeah Netflix...I have it and more and more people seem to be getting it, I give away netflix memberships as presents and everyone loves them.

EDIT: I do feel bad for the mom and pop video stores (Raritan Video, and Palmer back in my home town) but block buster has been putting them out of business one by one for years anyway...and I hate block buster, overpriced, content controlled, staffed by morons....

The EDIT here is a good point. The local video store next to our grocery store is going out of business too. But we do have Netflix, and it's just the way of things -- the rental store is going the way of the 8-track, there's a new game in town. But what I do miss is the browsing -- spotting an odd, little-known movie on the shelf and discovering something different.

On a related note, I really hate the demise of the record shop. I teach college and our college town literally doesn't have one! It's partly because it's underdeveloped as a college town, most of the retail is in three somewhat larger towns each about 20 minutes away in one direction or another, but only one of those has a real old-school browse-till-you-drop CD store.

[DudeistMonk]

Originally Posted by superbassman2000

haha if a lot of NJ video store employees are like Randal from clerks, then i think i know why video stores are closing haha!

"...and happy scrappy pup."

[DudeistMonk]

Originally Posted by hrodbert696

The EDIT here is a good point. The local video store next to our grocery store is going out of business too. But we do have Netflix, and it's just the way of things -- the rental store is going the way of the 8-track, there's a new game in town. But what I do miss is the browsing -- spotting an odd, little-known movie on the shelf and discovering something different.

On a related note, I really hate the demise of the record shop. I teach college and our college town literally doesn't have one! It's partly because it's underdeveloped as a college town, most of the retail is in three somewhat larger towns each about 20 minutes away in one direction or another, but only one of those has a real old-school browse-till-you-drop CD store.

Yeah Netflix makes some interesting suggestions though, which I find to be better than blind browsing, plus with all the series (especially the Show Time stuff) and movies on-demand it blows away everything else.

As far as record stores go that's another story, I like buying albums, with the art intact and walking into a run down record shop where I can talk to some random burnout behind the counter about music and get good suggestions (I discovered The Mars Volta by talking to some record store clerk about At The Drive In)....but again FYE and all those mall based record shops are driving them out of business anyway, never mind the internet.

[bongomania]

I don't mind seeing Blockbuster fall under the Netflix wagon, but I will really miss the nearly-extinct mom'n'pop video stores (the good ones, anyway). Our neighborhood video store allows dogs, and they have a little bowl of biscuits on the counter, so we combine walking our dog with getting a video once or twice a week; plus the staff are really friendly and fun, so we get to have a nice human conversation every time we go; plus fairly often we run into somebody we know there, so we get to have a nice conversation with them too. It's not a chore, it's a social event. Can't get that from Netflix.

[hover]

meh, it's a business model that is antiquated, and broken, and they refused to "fix it" until it was much too late. I mean, redbox has been around for a couple years, and Netflix had the better idea in the long run, and the brick and mortar stores hadn't the resources nor the ingenuity to offer or entice people back intheir favor. The writing has been on the wall for years upon years. I take no joy in seeing smaller family run stores like this close their doors, but the big ones like Blockbuster, who continued to charge 3-4 bucks a nite for movies, they deserve it.

Good riddance. I agree. Netflix & to an extent, Redbox ftw!!!

[jumbo_steelie]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I don't mind seeing Blockbuster fall under the Netflix wagon, but I will really miss the nearly-extinct mom'n'pop video stores (the good ones, anyway). Our neighborhood video store allows dogs, and they have a little bowl of biscuits on the counter, so we combine walking our dog with getting a video once or twice a week; plus the staff are really friendly and fun, so we get to have a nice human conversation every time we go; plus fairly often we run into somebody we know there, so we get to have a nice conversation with them too. It's not a chore, it's a social event. Can't get that from Netflix.

You said it brother, we have a chain of video stores up here called jumbo video and it's the same sorta thing. Grab some popcorn on the way in and ask m'man shawn what's good his week. It's too bad that those human exchanges shared at the video/record stores will be lost on the next generation. Much of my music/movie tastes is owed to the fine workers of said establishments.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I don't mind seeing Blockbuster fall under the Netflix wagon, but I will really miss the nearly-extinct mom'n'pop video stores (the good ones, anyway). Our neighborhood video store allows dogs, and they have a little bowl of biscuits on the counter, so we combine walking our dog with getting a video once or twice a week; plus the staff are really friendly and fun, so we get to have a nice human conversation every time we go; plus fairly often we run into somebody we know there, so we get to have a nice conversation with them too. It's not a chore, it's a social event. Can't get that from Netflix.

Believe it or not, we never really had those mom and pop stores in our area, so I totally missed out on that.
We went from renting movies from places like "7-11", to borrowing them from the library. Once Planet Video and Blockbuster came to town, we were in hog heaven.

I do have a "snail mail" Blockbuster account where I can order and have a movie in a day or two, but I really will miss being able to go and rent something on a whim. The mail thing is a pain in the butt for me.

[karrot-x]

I have never in my life seen a "mom and pop" video store. There was always Blockbuster and Hollywood Video; both stores were a let down.