what ever happened............

[dis]

hi all,if you were into films/horror back in the early 80s you must be aware that on every high street,every town had about 3 or 4 video shops.
even the local spar had a video section!
you could even become a member at various petrol stations!!!
nowadays we only get blockbuster!
i know the internet has alot to answer for,but why did all them video shops close?
i always thought video shop owners would never be out of business,how wrong can you be!?

[Paul@Lovelockandload]

Rental has become a bit of an out-modes concept. It's so cheap buying from supermarkets that many of the casual renters who once drove rental revenues have stopped in favour of buying a night's entertainment for three quid in Tesco.

You've also got on-demand services like Sky Box Office too. The landscape changed and the biggest factor is convenience for many people rather than a desire to have a bigger selection to choose from.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

I live in a small town and including the corner shop that used to rent videos, we had 8 video shops! Then Blockbuster came in and the rest shut. That was the last time I ever rented a film. Can't even remember how many years ago that was!

[the blob]

My local video store was a 4 minute walk away in a small shopping precinct. Very handy indeed! About half the size of your average Blockbuster but loads more shelf space.

Rental really became obsolete for me when Blockbuster took over and not being a driver I had to factor in the price but more the effort of making two return bus trips into town.

[Pete]

Global Video was the last decent rental store, they used to have a great mix of cult and mainstream.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Pete

Global Video was the last decent rental store, they used to have a great mix of cult and mainstream.

Cheers Pete. Was trying to rembember the name of the largest video store here before Blockbuster appeared!

[pedromonkey]

right, I have to chime in here being an employee of blockbuster. It's not completely blockbuster's fault that smaller video shops closed, you have to remember that at one point Choices was the leading UK renter, they went bust because they went into sector of retail that they shouldn't have. Yes it's difficult for smaller businesses to compete with a company like blockbuster, but everyone seems to blame the loss of those on one company. Sky box office, Front Row on virgin media and the fact that dvds cost nearly ten a penny these days also have a part to play in why they don't exist and like any company they're there to make money, Specialist renters who only do cult and non commercial films are gonna make eff all because there's not enough of the population that are interested in these genres, and with more films being made available now, the bigger boys can capitalise on them and place them under 100 copies of White Chicks or something that's going to make the company money. If you have 100 copies of Zombie Flesh Eaters, how many people are going to rent that out, not as many people as White Chicks would rent because unfortunately, we, as cult film fans, are not the target customer. Also with companies like blockbuster that did start out as one little shop in texas, who have made money and become a leader in the sector, they can make deals to get certain films before they're on general release, giving people a chance to catch them earlier. I must admit though at one point we did very well on world cinema but for some reason they seamed to have lowered the amount of titles we get. But if you go to blockbuster you will find some pretty decent non commercial films available because when deals are made with distribution companies for a certain film, that deal usually means that thrown in are films that aren't going to make money. But as it's the only way for BB to get that one film, they have to rent out the smaller films per the agreement. Im not saying you must go to blockbuster, but think of it like this, at least there's still a place to go and look around for a film to watch instead of making a list and waiting for the postman to deliver.


As a film obsessive, one of my dreams is to run a small specialist rental store but by the problems that face smaller businesses, it's never going to happen.

[Demdike]

It was the arrival of Blockbuster with their huge shops and loads of copies of each title that killed local rental outlets.

You could call in your local every day for a fortnight and never find the film you want as it would always be out. Blockbuster rarely have this problem.

Other things have happened in recent years that threaten Blockbuster as many have mentioned above, however Blockbuster started it all.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

I want my local video store back, which was no bigger than my living room. I miss it.

[pedromonkey]

Originally Posted by Stephen@Cult Labs

I want my local video store back, which was no bigger than my living room. I miss it.

put all your DVDs in your living room and there you go...