Employee profile
What was the name of your video store?
Video Craze
Where was the store located?
Hayward, California (United States)
When did you start working at this store?
1985
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?
The money was better than fast food restaurants, and I got perks of taking home videos for the evening.
Describe your store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
There realy wasn't anything distinguishing about the store. It was nestled in a strip mall in a rowdy neighborhood. And I was really a pussycat, but I treated customers with respect, and amde sure they got their videos when reserved, if not, I would offer them comparable titles. Some customers liked that.
What were your customers like? What particularly memorable customers or events do you remember?
Rowdy customers throwing fits because Faces of Death wasn't available. Some were looking for fights, and others knew me by name and would stop and talk to me on the street when I was going home or to work. To this day, I'm still remembered by some customers.
What was your boss like? How did he or she divide the work in the store?
Unknown to me and other employees, this boss was slowly bringing in his family from India, amnd we would be releived of our duties.
What video formats did your store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
Just VHS
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?
The prono tapes were located *ahem* Behind the Green Door. Childrens were up against the wall, and new releases were on removable shelves in front. Porn surprised me when most elderly people were renting them. Not hot shot 20-50 year old renters.
What other services/products did you offer besides the rental or sale of
programs? Did this change over time?
blank videos, memberships and selling ex-rental titles.
Did you ever rent VCRs or other hardware to your customers? If so,
how important were hardware rentals to the business?
We did rent VCRs and video cameras, but they really weren't much of an asset to the store.
During the period that you worked at the store, what changes did you see take place?
When I got there, I was getting non- new releases on the shelves, and into customers homes. That never happend with the other employees. Also, I forged a trust with most of the customers. Something that never happened when I wasn't there.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
Last year. Changed families so often, they just up and quit.