Customer profile
What was the name of your video store?
The Video Place
Where was the store located?
Fouke, Arkansas (United States)
When did you start shopping at this store?
1986
Describe your video store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
The Video Place was a tin small rectangular building alongside Highway 71. It had a yellow and orange temporary arrow sign. It had the removable letters that we would sometimes change around at night. We could change the names of new releases to things like ROBO COCK or BEAVERLY HELLS COP. It had a small place for a counter and the films were all in a brown wooden room with 20 shelves on each of the four walls. There was a slim closet that held all of the "adult" films. I know this becasue I slipped back there once/
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 owners were the parents of schoolmates. They would hold videos for me. They would rent anything to me even though I was in 6th grade. I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE for example.
What other services/products did the store offer besides the rental or sale
of videos? Did this change over time?
What video formats did the store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
VHS. No.
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 never rented the pornography because I was too young. They had hunting videos in their own little corner.
Did you tend to rent or buy videos? Why?
Rent. They didn't sell videos.
During the period that you shopped at this store, what changes did you see?
The store began to actually collapse due to structural damge. The floor rotted and they stopped getting new releases.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
It is closed, It close in 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?
It was a generic brand from some sort of cheap department store. We loved films and my family spent time together watching the flms. It lasted until 1996.
Did you ever rent a VCR or other hardware (a camera, for instance)? If so,
how often and why?
We rented them about three or four times a year until the purchase as a celebration.