Employee profile
What was the name of your video store?
Video Den
Where was the store located?
Kinnelon, New Jersey (United States)
When did you start working at this store?
1984
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?
Began managing a video store after being a movie theatre manager for 4 years. This store was close to home and independently-owned.
Describe your store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
Typical small-mall store of approx. 2000 square feet.
What were your customers like? What particularly memorable customers or events do you remember?
Customers were mostly local residents, very friendly for the most part. A few who would come in every single day and rent at least one movie. Several who would take out 8 movies for two days. And, of course, the silent guy who would slither through the store and head into the "X-rated" section and rent a movie without saying a word.
What was your boss like? How did he or she divide the work in the store?
Bosses were great to work with. Responsibility was shared between them and me, the manager, in many things. The store managers (we had 4 stores) and the owners had purchasing meetings once a month, but each store could adjust as needed.
What video formats did your store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
VHS, Beta. We also carried CED discs until mid-1984. VHS & Beta were kept in separate sections. We only carried about 30% of the titles in Beta vs. 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?
Carried all genres for rent and a few selected titles for sale. X-rated tapes were kept in a separate room - with a closed door - in the back of the store. These accounted for about 10% orf rentals.
What other services/products did you offer besides the rental or sale of
programs? Did this change over time?
Sold VCR's until about 1987 - got out of that end as the discount electronics chains really started low-balling prices on them. Always carried a full line of blank tapes and accessories (cables, a/b switches, etc.). We carried video games - Atari, Intellivision, Colecovision - until late 1984 and then blew them out as that busines went away. We were the one of (if not THE) first store to carry Nintendo products in 1986-7.
Did you ever rent VCRs or other hardware to your customers? If so,
how important were hardware rentals to the business?
We rented VCR's - $9.95 a night including one movie - and camera/portable VCR combos ($25 a night). They rented steadily in 1984-5, but really tailed off in 1987. When we started renting one-piece VHS camcorders in 1987, they went out all the time.
During the period that you worked at the store, what changes did you see take place?
The phasing out of CED and Beta, the lowering and eventual elimination of membership fees, the death and rebirth of videogames, VCR's selling for under $200, the growth in sell-through video - the first big one for us was Star Trek III.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
Closed in 2002 (I believe it changed hands in 1998). I left in 1991.