Customer profile
What was the name of your video store?
Video 2 GO
Where was the store located?
Carmichael, California (United States)
When did you start shopping at this store?
1981
Describe your video store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
Small, about 600 square feet. Grey walls with videos on booksehlves by category spread through the store. Lots of movie posters, and a cash register near the door. It looked very much like the video store in the movie "Clerks", just smaller and more strip mallish.
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 employees were friendly, but not very movie savvy. The shop was run by the owner, and his wife, with an occasional visit by his teen-age daughter who I had a crush on at that time. The most memorable exchanges I have surround reserving a copy of both "On Golden Pond", and "Star Wars", when they were first released on video. I was on a waiting list for about 2 weeks waiting for my turn to rent the two movies. People would be hovering around the counter at 6PM when movies were due back waiting to see if they were the lucky person on the list to get the next viewing. The store only had 2 copies of each movie, and I ended up flirting with the owners daughter to get her personal copy that the owner had for his family. I ended up dating her for quite a while afterward and had little difficulty getting movies for that time period.
What other services/products did the store offer besides the rental or sale
of videos? Did this change over time?
They went out of business before the industry started transitioning to snacks, etc.
What video formats did the store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
VHS, and BETA. Laserdisc at a later time frame. They were kept on racks that were not so clearly identified as Beta, VHS, etc. I on one occasion went home with a Beta copy of "Smokey and the Bandit", by mistake and ended up being very frustrated. It never happened again though.
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?
They didn't have much in the way of children's or excercise, but they had an extensive X-rated section which in a seperate room with a beaded/streamer, Greg Brady looking partition hanging in the door frame. It also had a big neon sign that said "Adult Videos".
Did you tend to rent or buy videos? Why?
Rented for the first 10 years or so, because the prices of the movies were too high (80-100$). When they started to come down to the 29$ range I began to build an extensive library.
During the period that you shopped at this store, what changes did you see?
More of an emphasis on marketing, product placement. Generally, a more focused retail strategy around serving the customer.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
NO, closed in the late 80's, as did the next store I rented from as the "Blockbusters"of the world began to dominate.
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 top-loading Zenith, with knob controls for changing channels, and push buttons, that were much like an old cassette tape recorder. We bought it at a local Gemco, department store, and I think it was specifically because everyone else was getting one.
Did you ever rent a VCR or other hardware (a camera, for instance)? If so,
how often and why?
Yes, while on vacation a couple of times we rented a VCR, and a movie or two.