Employee profile
What was the name of your video store?
Rocky's Video
Where was the store located?
Rockville, Maryland (United States)
When did you start working at this store?
1993
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 loved horror movies and I knew the manager at Rocky's. This was the "indie" video store of the area.
Describe your store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
It had these neon signs all over the stroe which labeled the various sections, ie...action, drama, etc. They made the store HOT as HELL and they burned out like every other week. The stores primary color was red and we had these blood red bags that the movies went in. And we were the only place that had porno as well.
What were your customers like? What particularly memorable customers or events do you remember?
The customers were almost all assholes. Rockville, Maryland is a very upper class area so we got everyone from snotty teenagers to crusty old people. Very few people had any taste in movies. I remember the same group of people came in every Tuesday to get their hands on the NEW RELEASES. Also, we were the first and only store in the area to Rent laserdiscs. I had a LD player because I'm a total movie geek and I was excited at first because I thought other geeks would be drawn into the store by the Laserdics rentals. (The only other local laserdisc supply was Tower Records and SUNCOAST, but they were sale only.) However, the only people who rented laserdiscs were rich assholes who only had a player for their "home theatre" and only rented action movies for the special effects. I could write 10 pages on how sneaky and creepy the regular porno customers were.
What was your boss like? How did he or she divide the work in the store?
The owner was a dick who was only interested in making more money than the local blockbuster. The manager was pretty cool. I was the assistant manager. There were only five full time employees other than me and the manager. I opened the store on Friday and Saturady at 10 am and closed it on Sunday and Monday at 1 am.
What video formats did your store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
VHS and Laserdisc. Also around 1995 we startes renting videoganes. Super Nintendo and Genesis.
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?
PORNO!! Hidden away in their own room at the back of the store. Probably like 45% of our business.
What other services/products did you offer besides the rental or sale of
programs? Did this change over time?
Did you ever rent VCRs or other hardware to your customers? If so,
how important were hardware rentals to the business?
we had two VCR's we rented. They usually went to porn customers.
During the period that you worked at the store, what changes did you see take place?
I watched video customers become more obssesed with renting new releases. I had a customer threaten to fist fight me because we didn't have any copies of ACE VENTURA for him to rent.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
Yes it is still open. It is a place of EVIL.