Employee profile
What was the name of your video store?
Captian Video
Where was the store located?
Jupiter, Florida (United States)
When did you start working at this store?
1989
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?
I was in High School, I worked from 4pm to 9pm. I miss that job.
Describe your store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
It was in your typical strip mall, next to an Albertsons. We had a huge, hot pink neon "Captian Video" sign.
What were your customers like? What particularly memorable customers or events do you remember?
You had your "new release freaks". These were the people that knew every release date of every movie and wanted them all. Then you had the "reserve it" folks. These people would reserve a copy of "Batman" the day it hit theaters. Then there was the "porn freaks". The guys that came in from 10AM to 2pm. Weird
What was your boss like? How did he or she divide the work in the store?
I loved my bosses. I worked the store alone, and they were never there.
What video formats did your store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
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?
Porn was kept in a backroom. I would venture to say it accounted for 70 percent of daytime, non-new release business
What other services/products did you offer besides the rental or sale of
programs? Did this change over time?
VCR repair
Did you ever rent VCRs or other hardware to your customers? If so,
how important were hardware rentals to the business?
Yes, but not that important to customers.
During the period that you worked at the store, what changes did you see take place?
Blockbuster attempted to move into the same stripmall, but my bosses has an exclusive in their contract, so they moved across the street and forced the business to them.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
No, Summer of 1991