Customer profile
What was the name of your video store?
Video Factory
Where was the store located?
Tonawanda, New York (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?
It was a local branch in Western New York in Buffalo that had about 15 stores. They are about the size of most of the major chain stores are now. The store was mostly blue. TV screens would play whole movies, not just clips and occasionally there commercials would come on that featured a detective looking for movies.
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?
The employees were always nice to me. One employee would always discuss horror movies with me for hours. I was only 10 at the time and he was in his 20s but we always had good conversations.
What other services/products did the store offer besides the rental or sale
of videos? Did this change over time?
It rented out video games and video game systems as well.
What video formats did the store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
VHS was the majority of the store and it took up the main lanes. They did have laser disc in 2 lanes near the front of the store and kept video games on the left hand side of the store in about 5 rows.
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?
I remember that the store carried playboy and penthouse videos. They were kept in the 2 rows between the action and horror section. My guess is because men are the ones that rent horrow and action and seeing these movies could help sell them. I wasnt allowed to rent them because i was to young at the time.
Did you tend to rent or buy videos? Why?
Rent, i was young and didnt have money to buy. But they did order me a special edition of nightmare on elm street when they didnt carry it.
During the period that you shopped at this store, what changes did you see?
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
Video Factory closed in about 95 when Blockbuster Video payed the owner of the chain about a million per store to become blockbusters and to close its chain of video game rental stores called Zappers. However this year DVD Dot opened which is owned by the same guy. Store only rents DVDs and games.
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?
Did you ever rent a VCR or other hardware (a camera, for instance)? If so,
how often and why?