Employee profile
What was the name of your video store?
choices
Where was the store located?
Peterborough, (United Kingdom)
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?
Distribution company wished to start up a retail chain. Was instrumental in getting them up & running. Had 56 stores by the time I left (1990). Made redundant when I had given them a decent return on their investment!!!
Describe your store - what did it look like? What were its distinguishing
features?
Large "family-friendly" environment (very unusual for retail video)light, large choice and multiple copies. Also stocked music titles, cd's, vinyl tapes posters etc. Even had a large fountain in the first store!
What were your customers like? What particularly memorable customers or events do you remember?
a cross section, mainly working class. One customer was blind, had a friend who described to him what was happpening. Another was an actor who played one of the cenobites in the "Hellraiser" movies, always came in and did free signings etc. Had actors in dressed as Robocop, Darth Vader and most memorably a batman nut who bought a costume like micheal keatons and went around all the stores doing free promotions because he liked dressing up as Batman!
What was your boss like? How did he or she divide the work in the store?
Business owned by 3 people, one was agrophobic so we had to video tape all the store openings and give running commentaries to her while she watched. The camera was the size of a PC tower and very heavy!
What video formats did your store offer (i.e. VHS, Beta, Laserdisc)? Where were
different formats kept in the store?
VHS only.
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?
NO x-rated (family-friendly stores). documentaries, tv series, classics, music video.
What other services/products did you offer besides the rental or sale of
programs? Did this change over time?
music (vinyl, tape & cd) posters, t-shirts, tie-ins with local cinemas, toystores, book stores (i.e. star trek movies we prioritised the soundtracks, toys, books etc)in return for ad's in their stores. Introduced a very successful tie-in with local cinema's (used the competition instead of avoiding it).
Did you ever rent VCRs or other hardware to your customers? If so,
how important were hardware rentals to the business?
No.
During the period that you worked at the store, what changes did you see take place?
Major increase in sell-thru, ex-rental sales, removal of vinyl, increase in cd sales. Increase in requests for old tv series being released on video, introduction of satellite tv & cable into UK - made stores more target/sales focused.
Is this store still open? If not, when did it close?
Main store closed due to location (public transport routes changed so customer flow dropped off dramatically).