Customer profile
What was the name of your video store?
Quikstop
Where was the store located?
Hueytown, Alabama (United States)
When did you start shopping at this store?
1983
Describe your video store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
It was only a video store in the sense that it had some videos you could pay to take home for a few days; really, it was a convenience store on the way out of town towards the river, so you could get a cold drink, sandwich and some bait on the way. They just had a rack with maybe a few dozen videos available.
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?
Interactions were sparse- the owners seemed disinterested in the videos and didn't care whether you kept the videos one or two days, as long as you brought them back within the week.
What other services/products did the store offer besides the rental or sale
of videos? Did this change over time?
It offered all the usual mom-and-pop convenience store items; they eventually phased out the video rental portion of their store over the next few years. But in '83, that was the only place I knew that you could rent a video.
What video formats did the store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
Mostly VHS, a few Beta, no laserdisc.
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 don't remember anything but the most mainstream videos being available, except that I do remember they had Elephant Parts, the comedy skit/music video compilation by Michael Nesmith. My mom loved that videotape so much she and a friend got together and figured out how to make a bootleg copy of it before she took it back to the store.
Did you tend to rent or buy videos? Why?
At the time, we just rented because we were way, way into taping things off the tv, so it did not make sense to buy something you could tape off the television for free.
During the period that you shopped at this store, what changes did you see?
This store did not keep up with the industry. I'm pretty sure by 1986, they had stopped doing the video rental thing.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
I'm not sure- if it has not been supplanted by some corporate-owned store, it may still be there.
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 had neighbors who prided themselves on being on the cutting edge of technology, and even though they were the only people we knew who owned a laserdisc, they still urged us to get a VCR, as they were going to do the same. I don't remember anymore where the VCR came from, but thankfully it was a VHS, and it was a Christmas present for the whole family. The big selling point though was the fact that you could record programs on it.
Did you ever rent a VCR or other hardware (a camera, for instance)? If so,
how often and why?
Nope.