Customer profile
What was the name of your video store?
Mr. Muvies
Where was the store located?
Apple Valley, Minnesota (United States)
When did you start shopping at this store?
1990
Describe your video store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
clean environment, depending on the often changing staff.
What were the employees and/or owners like, and what kinds of interactions
did you have with them? What particularly memorable exchanges or events
do you remember?
Some employees did an outstanding job of keeping videos in proper order and keeping the place in very good shape, unfortunately they usually did not last more than about 6 months. The pay was said to have been low.
What other services/products did the store offer besides the rental or sale
of videos? Did this change over time?
Some (actually very few) employees had a decent product knowledge. Somewhat late in adopting DVD's.
What video formats did the store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
VHS, DVD
In addition to mainstream Hollywood movies, what other kinds of videotapes
(for example children's, exercise, or X-rated) did the store rent/sell? Where were these
videos found in the store, and how often did you rent or purchase them?
Some Independent and a few rather unknown titles, kept with regular titles.
Did you tend to rent or buy videos? Why?
I rented, especially when "bargain days" were in effect. To buy DVD's I preferred previewed DVD's from Blockbuster, they were less expensive and had a better selection.
During the period that you shopped at this store, what changes did you see?
I noticed that the store now has a hard time competing with Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. I still rent DVD's from them partially because in a number of instances they had Widescreen titles while Blockbuster only had Full Screen.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
still open
In your own words, tell the story of your first VCR/video player. Where
and when did you buy it, and why did you decide to make the purchase?
I saw the first VCR at my son's and liked the idea of watching movies without the annoiances of the movie theater like noisy and roudy people, shouting and screaming,etc.
Did you ever rent a VCR or other hardware (a camera, for instance)? If so,
how often and why?
Rented a DVD player before I purchased one, to get a better feel for that new medium.