Customer profile
What was the name of your video store?
Empire Books & Video
Where was the store located?
Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)
When did you start shopping at this store?
1987
Describe your video store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
Wooden shelving painted white, obviously home-made from some sort of pattern. Hand made signs for the categories, movei posters up on the walls around the place. Lots of Sci-Fi movies and they would rent out the R films even if you were under age.
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?
They were always there, unless it was lunch or supper.
What other services/products did the store offer besides the rental or sale
of videos? Did this change over time?
Comic Books and a video store in one, what more could you want?
What video formats did the store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
Beta and VHS, and the kept the two in different parts of the store.
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?
No X-Rated flicks, but they did have a kids section and I believe they
Did you tend to rent or buy videos? Why?
Rent, to buy was to expensive back then.
During the period that you shopped at this store, what changes did you see?
Not so many changes within the store, mainly the entering of bigger chains into the market.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
No, the store closed around 1995
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?
We bought it in 1987 because we wanted to watch movies as a family. We did watch movies as a family, but probably not as much as my parents thought we would. We taped Letterman and watched it the next day after high school.
Did you ever rent a VCR or other hardware (a camera, for instance)? If so,
how often and why?
We rented a video camera once to tape my high school graduation, that was about it.