Video Rental Store Vs. Netflix (Part I)

It's the age old question for us Gen X'ers and Baby Boomers. Which is better, mom & pop video rental stores (including corporate companies Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Family Video) or Netflix? Most Millennials would say Netflix/Amazon Instant Video/Hulu, but what does everyone else think, as it pertains to VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray rentals?

This will be a 2-part blog. The first featuring the comparisons and second my memories.

Scarlett Johansson traveled back in time and worked at a VRS.

Video rental stores (VRS) started popping up in the late 1970's, the first around 1975 in California (U.S.). By the mid 1980's they were on every street corner, especially with consumers purchasing that gigantic box called a videocassette recorder (VCR), which made its U.S. debut around 1977 and was very expensive. Purchasing a VHS tape wasn't cheap either. The VCR would bring billions of dollars to the video home system (VHS) business for over 30 years. A VCR could play VHS tapes and also record programming as well. The ladies never missed their favorite soap, while the guys never missed a Chuck Norris flick. There's a Chuck Norris joke in there somewhere. :)

You'd hop into your car (or ride your bike depending how far you lived) and when you arrived at your local VRS (by yourself, friends, or family) you'd stare at the huge wooden shelves filled with movies on VHS (Betamax as well during the late 70's/early 80's), and not just new releases, but older films as well. Betamax eventually lost the video format war against VHS. 

VHS tapes included thin cardboard protective covers, and my favorite, clamshell (soft cases), which both featured cool cover artwork, i.e., the Police Academy films. You couldn't rent one movie (like eating potato chips), you had to rent two or three to fulfill your rainy weekend. And lord knows if there was a special going on for older releases, 5 movies for $5.00, and you could rent them for a full week.  I guess you'd call that binge watching back in the day.

You'd grab the plastic rental box, which some stores kept their tapes behind the counter so evil doers (had to use a president George W. Bush line) couldn't steal them. You then head to the register and the clerk would ask for your I.D. or membership card. He/she would check to see if you had any late fees. During my 15 years of renting content (on my own) from VRS, I had 1 late fee, and can you believe it, they waived it off.

Most VRS also rented video games, audio cassettes, documentaries, TV shows, VCR's, and video game systems. You could also purchase VHS/DVD/Blu-ray's as well. They also sold soft drinks, candy, popcorn, among other food items.

Depending which store you went to, most VRS (excluding corporate companies) had a separate backroom inside the store (adults 18+) known as the adult section for adult movies. Depending where you went, that genre brought in 40-50% of its stores revenue.

By the mid 2000's (maybe earlier) most VRS were already renting DVD's and around 2010 Blu-ray's, depending where you went. By this time though, VRS started becoming far and in-between. During the late 90's and early 21st century, corporate Blockbuster started coming around and putting those mom & pop shops out of business. What hurt the mom & pop shops was Blockbuster had tons of new releases (a lot of VHS and DVD's to rent), while other VRS only had a few. Our local mom & pop VRS closed in 2001 and our other closed in 2014. Our local Blockbuster closed in 2008. The closest current video rental store is Family Video, which is about 35-40 minutes away.

There's pros and cons to both corporate VRS and mom & pop shops. For me personally, the drawback was the amount of new releases they had (mentioned above) for a certain film, especially if you ventured into a mom & pop store that only had 5 VHS/DVD's (new release) per movie. Depending where you went, there might have been more. Remember, those small shops had to pay for those tapes/DVD's as well. If you went to Blockbuster, you'd see that they had tons of VHS/DVD's for a specific new release. For me, that was the only good thing about Blockbuster, and you had a more variety of video games to be able to rent for a much longer period than at a mom & pop shop, depending where you went.

Blockbusters rentals were much more expensive for new releases. Our local Blockbuster was $4.99 (at the time they closed) and $3.00 at the mom & pop store. Our local Blockbuster went out of business before Netflix took over.

If you spin forward to the late 1990's, Blockbuster was starting to take over the mom & pop VRS. Depending where you lived, they might have done so years earlier, but we didn't get a Blockbuster near us until 1999. I did like Blockbuster, for the fact that you could rent new releases for 2 nights (3 days) and you could rent video games for 1 week (7 days), but I just thought $4.99 was quite pricey, when you could rent the same movie at home via cable/satellite for the same price, depending which cable/satellite company you had. Blockbuster prices/rental periods may differ from store to store.

28 years of going to the VRS, the only store I didn't like was Hollywood Video, just because the two locations I went to never had the content (older wrestling/WWF/WWE) I was looking for, plus, their tapes were in hard clear plastic cases. Those VHS tapes need comfort. :)

Hollywood Video ceased operations in 2010, while Blockbuster did the same in 2013, though, both may still have stores open in various locations across the country.

Before (and during) Netflix became popular, you could (still can) rent DVD/Blu-ray's via Kiosk and Redbox, the good about that is they're only $1.00 to rent (depending your location), but the downfall is you have to live near one and you have to return it the next day. As mentioned above, you can still rent (including video games) via Kiosk and Redbox, especially inside grocery stores like Kroger, Meijer, and outside pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS among other places.

Netflix- The dawn of a new age started in 1997, as Netflix started out as a DVD-by-mail service, and in 2007 they started streaming content via the Internet.

Once Netflix took to the interwebs, it was over for the mom & pop shops and that included larger companies like Blockbuster and Hollywood video. It only took a couple of years for them to become dust in the wind. As of 2016, Family Video is the largest VRS in the U.S.

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PROS- Mom & Pop Video Rental Stores

* The fun of gathering the family/kids and heading to the local VRS, doing something as a family while your kids get excited about the options they have.

* The smell of old VHS tapes.

* Interaction with people/movie goers, while discussing films.

* Paying for movies/games with cash, thus no bill, unless you pay with credit.

* You can rent adult videos (for those interested).

* You can check out movie posters and sometimes you can purchase them.

* DVD/Blu-ray include 'special features' depending what the studio puts on the DVD/Blu-ray and what film/content you're watching.

* The Nostalgia feeling.



CONS- Mom & Pop Video Rental Stores

* Takes longer to rent your favorite movie(s), meaning you have to transport yourself to the VRS.

* Who wants to go out when it's 5 degrees outside?

* You have to worry about the germs on the VHS/DVD/Blu-ray cases.

* Sometimes people don't rewind the tapes, unless the clerk notices and rewinds it for you.

* VRS are only open certain hours.

* You have to return the VHS/DVD/Blu-ray, which means transporting yourself back to the VRS.

* You're only able to rent the VHS/DVD/Blu-ray for a certain amount of days.

* Netflix picture is much more clearer than VHS or DVD, depending what you're watching.

* You can watch/rent (via DVD/Blu-ray mailing service) movies via Netflix.com at anytime.

* Can't rent/watch as many TV shows as you can with Netflix.

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So it looks like Netflix has more pros than mom & pop VRS. For me personally (being an 80's kid) I prefer (by a hair) mom & pop video rental stores over Netflix. Going to the local VRS with my parents was fun. I'd head to the wrestling section first (a.k.a. the specialty section). I'd get excited just to see what they had in stock, and usually it was a PPV event or special that I hadn't seen before. In later years (while my Dad was at work), my Mom and I would venture off to the VRS and grab a movie or two for the weekend, brain storming what Dad would like to see as well. The nostalgia factor overcomes Netflix, plus you can't rent video games via Netflix . . . . yet.