Blockbuster Video Puts Themselves Up For Sale (aka The Death of the Video Store) :-( — Page 2

My supermarket just added a Redbox kiosk.

And ironically, redbox is bringing actual video rentals back to where they started since as I said before, these were some of the first places videos were rented in the formats infancy.

Updated On: 2/22/11 at 03:22 PM

This is what happens when you don't carry THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.

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Where I grew up was VERY different. The first place I remember renting videos (which were mostly Beta until VHS won the war) was Federated Superstore (the model for Circuit City and Best Buy). It wasn't until VHS won out and Federated quickly folded that the little Mom and Pop places popped up everywhere. Now, I suppose if you lived in a big city with access to specialty video stores, you might wax nostalgic for the little Mom and Pop places, but the ones in the northern Houston suburbs had a VERY small selection made up mostly of price-gouging "new releases" (which were always all rented out), schlocky B-movies, or the straight porn behind the swinging door (scrupulously watched by suspicious soccer moms). And to top it all off, they would rarely absorb new releases into the existing regular rental stock, and if they did, it was ONE COPY.

When local Blockbusters started popping up, it was like a heavenly oasis. So much to choose from! New releases that could be rented before they were no longer new! Horror films that don't star Didi Conn! Foreign films! Suddenly I had access to a true film library and it was sensational. Blockbuster had its flaws to be sure, but there was nothing to bemoan about the disappearance of the Mom and Pop video stores in our area.

As for the bookstores...the only Mom and Pop bookstores where I grew up were used books. New books could only be purchased at B. Dalton or Waldenbooks (both of which were popular gay trolling grounds). Then Bookstop started the mega-bookstore craze in Houston. I actually worked at a Bookstop during Christmas season and loved it.

I'm pretty ambivalent about the extinction of video rental stores. I'm a very happy Netflix user and something else will come along. It's the evolution of technology. I'm sort of glad we don't travel in horse carriages any more, too. Pavement rocks.

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Ouch. That's a good one, too.

This makes terribly sad. Jordan, like you, I was a BBV employee for about 8 years working my way up from part time CSR to full time Asst. Manager. It was a heady time when everyone wanted to work at the video store and we had to beat people away with a stick. Oddly, we had a lot of power back in the VHS days and it felt like such power to "grant" someone the New Release they had waited in the store for 2 hours for.

I LOVE film and cinema and I was in my element at the Blockbuster store. Yes it sucked when it rained or blizzarded and you were understaffed and the store got creamed. I'd remember looking in terror at literally EMPTY shelves knowing that on Sunday or Monday we'd be putting them all back on the shelves.

I remember alphabetizing and carrying stacks of 30 films and "running returns." It was crazy at times, but I loved it and I loved my crews. We were all cinemaphiles and had a great time.

It makes me sad that the era of the video store and music stores are over-places I developed my sense of self and became a person.

I also remember how people were so alarmed to find out that one VHS copy of a movie cost $100 bucks and why it was such a big deal if they didnt return it or there dog chewed it (dogs LOVED to eat VHS tapes.) It was a big deal. lol

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"I'm not sure I understand the question... They are the same discs that you would buy at the store so they have all the special features on them."

Actually, that's not always true. Sometimes studios create rental versions of DVDs which have the movie on the disc and nothing else, as opposed to if you were to physically buy the title which would contain bonus features. I can't recall any specific titles that did this off the top of my head, but I know my parents have gotten several discs like this (maybe the recent "Sherlock Holmes" movie?).

Aside from that, yes, they do have an incredibly vast library of titles. If you're really in it for the bonus features, though, you might be stuck at times.

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Pretty sure. I'm thinking more and more that it was a copy of "Sherlock Holmes" my parents had, and I'm positive they don't use Blockbuster or Redbox so it had to be Netflix. I think people on bluray.com have mentioned the titles that are rental versions before, but like I said, I'm having trouble thinking of a list off the top of my head.

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Thanks Jordan for all your answers. Yes, I was talking about the bonus features that came with DVD's.

So, with Netflix you can rent a movie but noy buy it, per se. Is there a chance they might delete films from their catalogue eventually? That would suck, not knowing when they would get rid of them and not having the choice to purchase either. This is all happening too fast.

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Updated On: 10/17/11 at 12:34 AM

I'm just in shock. I can't wrap my mind around not being able to go rent a movie! We are all going to die!!!

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blaxx --- try your local public library for "lesser known" DVD titles. Not only do they have a more eclectic selection than Netflix or other on-demand streaming services, their rentals are free.

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