I was just thinking about this a few minutes ago. I remember before the era of buying/ordering everything online....everybody went to the video store to rent movies, but nowadays, there are better deals with online clubs which are usually cheaper and more convenient to the consumer.  Even grocery stores are offering $1 movies rentals for new releases. Then you have the pay-per-view/On Demand movies that are available from your TV with a simple click of a button. Honestly, I don't know how video stores stay in business anymore (infact around here they are becoming more scarce, with tons of them closing down at rapid speed).

How many of you still rent movies from the video store?  Personally I do one of the online deals. It's nice because I pay like $12 a month and I usually end up getting my money's worth.

Most video stores now only sell DVDs or may have a few videos with mostly DVD. Even though they keep the word "Video" in their name.

I used to rent like 5 videos for 5 dollars for 5 days. That was great. DVDs were more expensive, back then. Not so much now though.

I don't ever rent movies anymore, becuase usually if I like it, then i'll want to own it, so I just skip that first step LOL

I go to Blockbuster and Jumbo Video alot to buy Pre-Viewed DVDs.  Right now, Jumbo has a deal on .. buy 1 PV DVD and get the second for 50% off.  With deals like that, I'll be loading up BIG time!

I don't see video stores like Blockbuster or Hollywood Video around anymore, even though there's one of each not far from my home. I fondly remember those weekly (sometimes twice a week on vacations) trips to the video store, renting a mix of new releases and older movies.  :)

Yes..my family and I used to rent a lot of movies. Do you guys remember the store, PharMor? They used to have a really nice video section where you could rent movies. It seemed like on Friday nights it would be our usual time to rent movies and get a pizza.

We (very, very briefly) had a Phar-Mor store where I was living at the time. This was about the early 1990's. They were only in business for less than a year before it closed. It was replaced later on with a Best Buy.

When I was a kid, there was a chain of stores called Bandito Video.  The one here was HUGE.  It had a section for Beta, VHS and NES Games.  And in the centre, was a little play fort that kids could play on while the parents browsed for movies. 

There was a Movie Gallery here that had a huge selection of games for the NES, SNES, and Genesis when it opened in the early '90s. It shut down about a month or two ago though, and didn't hardly have any movies or games anymore.

It's been years since I've rented a movie. I have Pay Per View, and I see most movies I wish to watch this way, so I don't foresee ever going to a rental place again.

I don't ever rent movies anymore, becuase usually if I like it, then i'll want to own it, so I just skip that first step LOL


I'm the same, Jason, but occassionally after I have watched a film I think; 'Hmmmm . . . I wish I hadn't bought that', lol.

   I buy pirated dvds from a guy at work for 5 bucks a disc.  He claims he's the man who can get it for ya but he can't find "the Story of O" in which case I'll purchase, on the cheap, from eBay...

   Haven't rented a video in at least ten years...

   This brings to mind our very first visit to a video store, in early 1983.  They wanted an arm to rent a video and a leg for the VCR.  Rather than leave the store as amputees, parents politely declined and we immediately exited stage right, much to my chagrin...

  Oh, the question:  Will vid stores be a thing of the past soon?  Dunno...

Video stores will last for as long as not everyone has the ability to easily download movies over the internet.

It is true that you can download a movie right off the internet and onto your hard drive, but unless you have a super-fast internet connection, you may as well forget it. Of course, not to forget about the services like Netflix that send movies to you, but then again that goes back to the fact that not everyone has fully embraced the internet yet.

I do think that one day they will probably be obsolete, but that could be 20 or 30 years away.

I think they may already be a thing of the past, namewise. Just a few years ago I went into a video store and saw nothing but DVD's. Same with video rental stores.

Pretty much the only place you'll see VHS tapes are in thrift stores these days. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing, though, because it's fun to uncover that hidden treasure that might not be available on DVD.  :)

Pretty much the only place you'll see VHS tapes are in thrift stores these days. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing, though, because it's fun to uncover that hidden treasure that might not be available on DVD.  :)


yes, so very true. I have found a lot of out of print VHS tapes at thrift stores...for like $2.00! :o

Pretty much the only place you'll see VHS tapes are in thrift stores these days. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing, though, because it's fun to uncover that hidden treasure that might not be available on DVD.  :)



I agree. With me, that goes beyond just finding movies too. I have found several blank VHS tapes with stuff recorded off TV like 15 to 20 years ago in thrift stores locally. Those are the best, because I like to watch the older commercials too ;)

I agree. With me, that goes beyond just finding movies too. I have found several blank VHS tapes with stuff recorded off TV like 15 to 20 years ago in thrift stores locally. Those are the best, because I like to watch the older commercials too ;)


I found one of those blank tapes not too long ago that was probably recorded in late 1990....I remembered practically every commercial! Those are really fun!  :)

I found one of those blank tapes not too long ago that was probably recorded in late 1990....I remembered practically every commercial! Those are really fun!  :)



great trip down memory lane, huh? ;)

great trip down memory lane, huh? ;)


It sure is!  :)

I found one of those blank tapes not too long ago that was probably recorded in late 1990....I remembered practically every commercial! Those are really fun!  :)



I found one from that same year, the 1990 Super Bowl, at a antique store near here. I got it along with 4 others, and one of the other tapes is a recording of the Disney Channel from '89, when it was still a pay channel. Let's just say it's changed alot since then.

Whether it's VCRs, DVD's, or whatever it still is a movie rental store. Movie stores around here got rid of their VHS stock a number of years ago.

So did ours. I guess VHS's are becoming obsolete :(



Pretty much the only place you'll see VHS tapes are in thrift stores these days. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing, though, because it's fun to uncover that hidden treasure that might not be available on DVD.  :)

I guess so. :-\\

I can still buy blank tapes at Best Buy...and I've been recording things from the tv onto them.

Even with downloading movies over the internet, most stores like Blockbuster Video have features where you can rent them online through their website, and return them to their actual store

With video stores, it's fun to go and browse actual copies, so you can read the reverse and see what the movie is about.  You can do that online, but it's just not the same

A few years ago, I found some old VHS tapes I had recorded many years ago.  On them were a bunch of commercals and promos for forthcoming episodes of "Hardcastle & McCormick", "Head of the Class", "Growing Pains" and "Just the 10 of Us".  It was a total blast from the past 8)

Well at least as media outlets I see video stores being around at least another 10-20 years in my area. In fact family video is still building brand new half-block sized stores here. The problem is that until the average person can quickly dial up a complete library on to their living room TV, people will find it easier just to pop in.

Remember a lot of places predicted to die are still around like libraries, laundrymatts, and guns on fighter planes. 
Not exactly the same.

Video stores, even the big chains like Hollywood and Blockbuster, will most likely cease to exist in five years(or less). "Family Video" building new stores is comical. Should have played it smart by getting into the online aspect of business.

In 2008, here are your options to watch a movie:

Theater of course
Netflix or other online paid service
p2p and torrent sites(free of charge)
Wal Mart, Best Buy,etc.
video stores

Video stores are literally the last option on that list that people take. Its just not feasible in this digital era for people to endure price gouging by their nearest video store. Netflix offers monthly unlimited subscriptions for how much three movies would be at Hollywood. If anyone wants to buy a movie, they'll just go to Wal Mart and buy the dirt cheap copies made by 10 year old kids in China. Other people will just take the five finger discount and download it online.

Where do video stores fit in to the 21st century equation?

Answer: They don't.

Its why people are seeing the "mom and pop" video stores die out, and are also seeing some of their local Hollywood/Blockbuster stores close. Like I said, in five years none of these places(including the ever expanding "Family Video") will exist. Blockbuster knows this, which is why they copied Netflix. Hollywood will soon do the same.

Remember those small arcades that were everywhere in 1975-85?


Remember them in 1995?

Thats the direction video stores are going. Like the death of arcade culture, people have other options and it knocks it down to the last option. In the 90s the video game industry  had a massive boom and kids got to play their favorite video games in the living room. Game Console cost about 100-300 bucks and the games from 10-50. Who's gonna dump truckloads of quarters into machines with that option?

Nobody did, and the same fate awaits video stores.

Yeah VHS went quick like 33 1/3 rds did wow!
I watch all the latest stuff free online so even movie theaters are a thing of the past.....Yet lately I havn't even bothered to watch the latest releases as its the worst time Hollywood has ever gone through!
Not one film has perked my interest since American Gangster was realeased (& I watched that 4 days before the release date)
As Lydon said on "Open Up"
"Burn Hollywood Burn"