Employee profile
What was the name of your video store?
Foothill Video #2
Where was the store located?
Claremont, California (United States)
When did you start working at this store?
1987
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 was 16 and I was a huge movie Lover and got my first job at the video store...It was the biggest store in 10 miles and did mega business.
Describe your store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
The store was owned by persians who got in on the ground floor. They owned 6 stores and this was one of the busiest. On a friday and Saturday night between 6 and 9 we had 8 employees and it was slammed to the wall with people trying to rent something new!
What were your customers like? What particularly memorable customers or events do you remember?
The customers were king and so was I...I quickly became favorite employee #1 and was soon given a job to walk the floor and help customers find movies...I knew everyones tastes and was always helping find them find a good movie they had not seen. Several times a month a customer would bring be dinner and I would also recieve christmas presents. One Customer even asked me to be a big brother to her son.
What was your boss like? How did he or she divide the work in the store?
The boss was a short persian guy named Ike and a tall guy named Madje! They were both cool and treated me with respect. I was soon promoter to manager!
What video formats did your store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
The store was mainly VHS...But I knew they carried beta when the opened in 82 because of some Illegal Traci Lords tapes they had in the office.
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?
We carried everything...Rentals were $2.50 + tax and childrens were only $1.00, tuesday thru Thursday it was 3 for $5.00. The Xrated tapes had their own room and they would rent for $3.99. Kind of funny since the supplier would sell them to us for $5.00!
What other services/products did you offer besides the rental or sale of
programs? Did this change over time?
We Rented video Cameras for $39.95 a day...We had 5 to rent and were always booked every weekend. We also had 5 VCR's to rent and they were always booked on the weekends.
Did you ever rent VCRs or other hardware to your customers? If so,
how important were hardware rentals to the business?
It would add an extra $300-500 in weekend sales.
During the period that you worked at the store, what changes did you see take place?
By the time the 90's rolled around business was starting to go down. Blockbuster was in business and kicking everyones ass!
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
this store closed in 1993. Of the chain....Store #1 in La Verne lasted the longest. Closing in 2001.