Does anyone else miss video stores?
Or maybe you are lucky enough to live in an area that still has a local video store. Video stores were a huge part of my childhood, I could spend an hour just looking through the racks even if I wasn't allowed to rent anything. I always enjoyed finding a hidden gem when the new releases were checked out. With Redbox or Netflix there isn't that sense of discovery, you pretty much have to be looking for a specific title and even then you may not find it. If you're looking for a foreign or niche title you won't find it at all on Redbox and probably not on Netflix Instant. Plus I miss the interaction, talking to clerks and fellow customers about movies, getting their recommendations. Netflix and Redbox just seem so sterile, I'd much rather talk to someone about what to rent than browse a website.
Besides, is Netflix really that much more convenient? There is a chance the movie you want isn't available for streaming so you have use the mail service and I find it much more inconvenient to wait two days than it is to drive 10 minutes and pick something up.
So in this thread share your video store memories and if you're lucky enough to still have a local video store near you stop by sometime, because once it is gone you may miss it.
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That was Ivan in '04.
Local cable was wiped out for a few weeks.
'Non essential' utility, so it was the last to be restored.
I was at Blockbuster 2 or 3 times a week.
That's also the reason I got Dish satellite.
Didn't even lose reception during Katrina a year later.
Our Blockbuster closed a few months ago.
A walk-in med clinic is going in there.
big corps like Sony and others are the reason .....Now there is a game about theatrical /broadcast release verses on line release
the money isn't too funny anymore . 
Was too shy too, even long after I was of age. I always felt like people would stare at me. I wasn't interested in renting the titles, that's what internet streaming is for 
, I was interested in people watching and gawking at the covers. LAWLS
for them to check in the returns, so I could rent (whatever movie).
And I remember when I rented a movie comprised of vignettes involving women of a certain persuasion . . . 
Wouldn't do that again. Too shy.
The woman who ran it closed it several years ago, and my son and I bought a few tapes at her closing sale. I have our original VCR, bought in 1986, but it's in need of new "belts" inside which are like black rubber bands and get rotten from the hot summers/lack of air conditioning. I found a fix-it-yourself video online a few years ago- I still like some of the movies we have, so I'd like to get the VCR running again. Then my husband can watch Netflix westerns and car chase/gun flicks in the LR, I'll watch Miyazaki films and chick flicks in the BR.
I like technology, too, but equipment becomes obsolete too fast. For instance, if a video is embedded on Facebook, it tells me I need to upgrade Flash to watch it, but my computer is too old to do that.
Before my wife and I were married I was in college and we didn't have a lot of disposable income. There was a video store in a local grocery store where old releases were 42 cents with tax. New releases were 1.99. We usually wouldn't spring for a new release, but every 12 or so rentals you earned a free rental and you could use that on a new release. Sometimes we splurged on a new release. We knew all the clerks and they knew us, and would set movies aside for us even though the store's official policy didn't allow that. It was rather a sad day when they went under.
Where I live now we're fortunate to have an outstanding local and independent video store. They have an outstanding selection of movies including all the hollywood hits, tv shows, independent films, foreign films, and documentaries. And they're inexpensive--we wind up paying $1 for three nights rental. And they're knowledgeable, convenient, and active in the community. I am really going to miss that store when we move.
It helps that they are located right in the midst of a large campus (University of Illinois), so there is a large natural customer base. They've trimmed their late night hours slightly, but their inventory keeps expanding and they are still staffed at about the same. Their prices haven't gone up in the eight years I've been here. And every time I've asked about a movie that they didn't have, they have ordered it if it was available on DVD. (
) So I'm guessing they're doing pretty well.
Here's their website: www.rentertainment.com
If you're really interested in starting a store, I would bet you could contact the owner (Geoff Merritt) and he would give you some advice. I don't know him well, but he is friendly and approachable, and seems genuinely interested in helping support both local stores here in town and local video stores elsewhere. (He's got a list of great locally-owned video stores in other communities, though I'm not sure how up to date it is.)
I'm sure a video store is a challenging proposition in this day and age--but there are still people interested in renting DVDs. There is a regional chain called Family Video (which, with the collapse of Blockbuster and Hollywood) is now the largest chain in the country--we have a couple of locations here in town, and while I don't often go to them, they are always advertising employment opportunities and new stores on their marquee.
San Francsico: Columbus Ave and Bay street.
Its long gone.. I used to go there to buy all kinds of stuff. I am not even sure what is there now.