Customer profile
What was the name of your video store?
Blue Quill Video
Where was the store located?
Edmtonton, Alberta (Canada)
When did you start shopping at this store?
1981
Describe your video store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
well it was new....and seemed pretty nifty to me....I was 11. It has lots of cool loking James Bond and 70s Kung-Fu movies. If it had an adult sections I was unaware of it. Must have rented Strange Brew from there 10 times. Tt was not part of any chain and only stayed in business about 4 years.
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?
Not really...I was a kid...coudln't even rent videos unless my parents were there.
What other services/products did the store offer besides the rental or sale
of videos? Did this change over time?
just videos. over time they went out of business when every 2-bit convenience store started renting its own videos. 4-5 years later they stopped doing that when the really big chains started gaining prominence in the very late 80s.
What video formats did the store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
Just VHS and a small, very short lived Beta section.
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?
Standard Disney fare, but mostly it seemed to be aminstream
Did you tend to rent or buy videos? Why?
then rent...cause that is what my parents did. I was a kid, remember?
During the period that you shopped at this store, what changes did you see?
the number of new titles appearing on the shelves dimished, then the store disapeared
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
about 1986, if memory serves.
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?
Parents bought it about 1981. it had the first modern looking digital display I had ever seen. I think it was an RCA. It had a remote on a long cord. It had a tuner that could go above 13, meaning we didn't have to use the manual switch to get our very new extended paytv channels anymore.
Did you ever rent a VCR or other hardware (a camera, for instance)? If so,
how often and why?
a vcr once or twice when I moved out on my own (1988) before I could afford to buy one. Once or twice on a family vacation, when we were in a motel. Rented a video camera once from 7-11 cause I didn't own one, obviously.