The Blockbuster topic in the 2000's part of our little social group has inspired me. I got to thinking of all the different stores around here. I live in a big city. Therefore there have been several over the years. A lot for just Blockbuster plus adding up all the others and the grocery stores that carried movie rentals. I'm really interested in finding out stuff about defunct places and how old certain places are. It's a little bit of a hobby actually. I look on both Wikipedia and elsewhere. So I'm going to compile a list of all the different stores that have been here and still are. I can't guarantee I will find out everything, but it should be interesting.

If everyone else could chime in with listing the different kinds of video stores in your city, and possibly surrounding area as well, that would be great. Or at least Blockbuster. Just how many you have had. Note not your entire state but just your city and cities just outside of it.

I'm going to work on gathering information and report back! I feel like an investigative journalist! 😂

My local video store was Movie Shack. It rented out VHS and video games. The first DVD I recall seeing there was in 2000, when they were renting out Pokémon The Movie 2000 for only 8 hours before you had to return it.  :o

It went out of business I believe in late 2004.  :\'(

I wish I could list more, but that was the only store I rented videos from.

Here are my findings. Both from what I remember and what I have found.

Blockbuster
My City - 12
Surrounding Area - 3

Hollywood Video
My City - 4
Surrounding Area - 0

Movie Gallery
My City - 0
Surrounding Area - 2

Grocery Stores/Gas Stations
My City - 19
Surrounding Area - 10
With this one I am positive there are more but it's impossible to find all the locations since they are no longer listed. This is just the places I remember.

Mom & Pop Stores
My City -
Surrounding Area - 2
I know there were more but I did some research and nothing came up in my area. However, I found a blog post from 2 years ago that listed several in other parts of the continent that were open. Surely some of those are still around since the posting. But nothing near me.

So I had access to 15 different Blockbusters! But I only remember going to a few of them.

There were plenty of Blockbusters in the greater L.A. area.

There was also West Coast Video, which existed from 1983 until 2009 (although few locations have actually remained open, even though the company itself went defunct).

Hollywood Video went defunct in 2010, according to Wiki. My family never rented from there, though.

Family Video
My City - 4
Surrounding Area - 6
These stores are currently open. Though I am quite certain there were more that have since closed.

Here are my findings. Both from what I remember and what I have found.

Blockbuster
My City - 12
Surrounding Area - 3

Hollywood Video
My City - 4
Surrounding Area - 0

Movie Gallery
My City - 0
Surrounding Area - 2

Grocery Stores/Gas Stations
My City - 19
Surrounding Area - 10
With this one I am positive there are more but it's impossible to find all the locations since they are no longer listed. This is just the places I remember.

Mom & Pop Stores
My City -
Surrounding Area - 2
I know there were more but I did some research and nothing came up in my area. However, I found a blog post from 2 years ago that listed several in other parts of the continent that were open. Surely some of those are still around since the posting. But nothing near me.

So I had access to 15 different Blockbusters! But I only remember going to a few of them.


All of these still exist, or are these old ones? Because if the former, I thought video rental stores went the way of the dinosaur!

I grew up in a very small town of about 4,000 so our video rental options were limited. When I was a little kid, we didn't have an actual "video store" in town. The only establishment that offered video rental was our local pizza place, Yo-Yo's Pizza. They had a huge video section with probably about 150-200 tapes that you could choose from while you were waiting for your pizza to get ready. They also had an awesome game room with pool tables, air hockey and Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat arcade machines. I loved going there as a kid. 8)

In 1994, we got our first actual video store. It replaced Cato ( a clothing store) in our downtown shopping center. That was Movie Gallery, and it was the only rental store in this area for about 25 miles. That place boomed throughout the '90s and early '00s, but started to lose business as online streaming became more popular. I think it went out of business in 2009 or 2010.

All of these still exist, or are these old ones? Because if the former, I thought video rental stores went the way of the dinosaur!

No they're former. But the Family Video ones I posted are still around. And in fact didn't open here until the Blockbusters etc. went away. I don't think it was a business idea to take advantage. They genuinely opened open stores for people like me that still like to rent. But Blockbuster left in 2012 if my memory is correct.

I remember back in the late 80's-early 90's after eating pizza and ice cream for dessert on a Friday night just a few doors down I remember renting movies, those were good times. :)

I remember back in the late 80's-early 90's after eating pizza and ice cream for dessert on a Friday night just a few doors down I remember renting movies, those were good times. :)

That does sound like those were good times, I wish I could have gotten to experience them.

We would rent and then go home and order delivery pizza from Pizza Hut.

We would rent and then go home and order delivery pizza from Pizza Hut.

Sounds very '90s 8).

That does sound like those were good times, I wish I could have gotten to experience them.


Our video store also had an arcade game in the corner of the store.

Our video store also had an arcade game in the corner of the store.

Wow, that's pretty cool.

We would rent and then go home and order delivery pizza from Pizza Hut.


We would do that occasionally, but the beauty of going to Yo-Yo's was that you could pick out a video to rent while you were waiting on your pizza to get done, since they were in the same building. It made '90s "video nights" much more convenient.

I can't tell you how many times as a kid we would go in to get a pizza, and my dad would be all like "We're not renting any movies this time so don't even ask!", and yet, after a little prodding (usually from my mom) we always wound up leaving with a pizza and a video. 8)

We would do that occasionally, but the beauty of going to Yo-Yo's was that you could pick out a video to rent while you were waiting on your pizza to get done, since they were in the same building. It made '90s "video nights" much more convenient.

I can't tell you how many times as a kid we would go in to get a pizza, and my dad would be all like "We're not renting any movies this time so don't even ask!", and yet, after a little prodding (usually from my mom) we always wound up leaving with a pizza and a video. 8)

Damn, you're lucky again (will your luck ever run out? ;)). I can't get to do any of those things because I'm basically 18 and video rental stores don't exist/aren't popular anymore....:\'(.

Damn, you're lucky again (will your luck ever run out? ;)). I can't get to do any of those things because I'm basically 18 and video rental stores don't exist/aren't popular anymore....:\'(.


I think it depends on how you look at it. On one hand, I like the way things are today much better than the way they were when I was a kid. Nowadays, if I want to watch a movie I can usually just go on Netflix or Hulu and stream it at the touch of a button. No having to drive down to the video store and hope they have what I'm looking for, no having to worry about late fees or any of that type of stuff. It's all so much easier now.

But, at the same time, there is a certain nostalgia for the pre-2007 world of renting VHS and DVDs. We used to have a "video night" on Fridays where my parents would let us rent a movie to watch, and I'd always fight with my brother over picking which one we wanted. I like the way things are today, but I wouldn't trade those days either.

I think it depends on how you look at it. On one hand, I like the way things are today much better than the way they were when I was a kid. Nowadays, if I want to watch a movie I can usually just go on Netflix or Hulu and stream it at the touch of a button. No having to drive down to the video store and hope they have what I'm looking for, no having to worry about late fees or any of that type of stuff. It's all so much easier now.

But, at the same time, there is a certain nostalgia for the pre-2007 world of renting VHS and DVDs. We used to have a "video night" on Fridays where my parents would let us rent a movie to watch, and I'd always fight with my brother over picking which one we wanted. I like the way things are today, but I wouldn't trade those days either.

Yeah, I definitely appreciate the ease of access that we have now but like you said the nostalgia of video rental stores is something that I wish I got to experience because when I was growing up in the 2000s, those stores were declining and my mom never had a "video night" for me.

Wow, that's pretty cool.



and when you'd come into the store it would smell of old basement from what I can remember 30 years ago.

and when you'd come into the store it would smell of old basement from what I can remember 30 years ago.

HAHA, I like the smell of old basement ;).

HAHA, I like the smell of old basement ;).


that's what I can remember distinctively.