Employee profile
What was the name of your video store?
Video Library/Blockbuster Video/Wherehouse
Where was the store located?
San Diego, California (United States)
When did you start working at this store?
1988
In your own words, how did you get started working in video retail? What
led you to choose the video industry, and this store in particular?
I applied for what sounded like a fun job. The Sartre-reading manager hired me because I amused him.
Describe your store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
Video Library/Blockbuster went from small chain to corporate chain. Terminals, customer-friendly design, displays. Tags on the floor to shrinkwrapped boxes on the store. Wherehouse - Video department in back of record store. Had adult material in addition to mainstream.
What were your customers like? What particularly memorable customers or events do you remember?
Most safe and sane. Cranks, grumps, drunks. Some thieves. (Always smut. Why?) Some who tried to beat the system. Lots of genuine emotional stories. Loves, losses, the like.
What was your boss like? How did he or she divide the work in the store?
Blockbuster manager got really into Existentialism, decided that work was meaningless, and the whole place went to a chaotic hell in a handbasket. At Wherehouse, I became manager of the department, realized that work really was meaningless, worked myself up to store manager and hired a crew of the sort of people I actually wanted to hang out with. Had a blast.
What video formats did your store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
VHS and Beta at first. Then just VHS. Sometimes, years after Beta got the boot, tapes would show up at random in shipments.
In addition to mainstream Hollywood movies, what other kinds of videotapes
(children's videos or X-rated tapes, for example) did you rent/sell? Where were these
videos found in your store, and how important were they to the business?
Everything. Kids stuff up front. Adult in the back. Don't mix up "Alice in Wonderlands."
What other services/products did you offer besides the rental or sale of
programs? Did this change over time?
Sheesh... I've seen everything. Plans that worked, plans that didn't, pay as you go, cards, tags, and phone numbers.
Did you ever rent VCRs or other hardware to your customers? If so,
how important were hardware rentals to the business?
Yes, not very.
During the period that you worked at the store, what changes did you see take place?
Hundreds of changes, generally towards restriction and tightening of employee privilidge.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
The original Video Library is a Hollywood Video now.