Employee profile
What was the name of your video store?
Don't Remember
Where was the store located?
Cincinnati, Ohio (United States)
When did you start working at this store?
1984
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've always been a movie buff, and when my family moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1984, one of the ways my parents tried to help me adjust was to arrange a part-time job in a mom-and-pop video rental shop. I was in heaven!
Describe your store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
It was a small, one-room storefront with no distinguishing features, just wall-to-wall films.
What were your customers like? What particularly memorable customers or events do you remember?
They were friendly and most of them were still amazed at this phenomenon of renting any movie they wanted. I remember one time that wasn't so pleasant, when I had "Revenge of the Nerds" playing in the store and a mother wasn't so pleased at an "R" rated film being on while she and her daughter were in the store.
What was your boss like? How did he or she divide the work in the store?
He was cool. He was as much a movie fan as me, maybe more. He did all the book-keeping stuff and managerial duties, and I tended the shop and assisted customers.
What video formats did your store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
Just VHS and Beta, scattered together on the shelves like cousins who hate each other forced to sit at the same table during Thanksgiving dinner.
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?
My boss was very much into concert videos, and we stocked as many of them as we could. No X-rated films, but I seem to remember quite a few children's films in their own section. Most of the business was for the mainstream stuff.
What other services/products did you offer besides the rental or sale of
programs? Did this change over time?
Just renting.
Did you ever rent VCRs or other hardware to your customers? If so,
how important were hardware rentals to the business?
We did rent video players, but that was rare. That was probably my favorite thing to do, because the people renting them usually had never handled a video or VCR before and it was amusing to watch them while you explained it to them.
During the period that you worked at the store, what changes did you see take place?
The main thing would be the phasing out of Beta tapes.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
I'm not sure. I moved away from the area years ago.