Video Store Shorts
Description: At the time of its Chapter 11 filing, Blockbuster said it would keep its 3,300 stores open; however, that December it announced it would close an additional 182 stores by the end of April 2011 in attempts to emerge from bankruptcy. It was reported in February 2011 that Blockbuster and its creditors had not come up with a Chapter 11 exit plan and that the company would be sold for $300 million (~$401 million in 2023) or more, along with taking over debts and leases. Blockbuster admitted that it might not be able to meet financial obligations required under its Chapter 11 filing, a circumstance which could mandate conversion of the bankruptcy filing to Chapter 7 (liquidation).
Description: Despite the name, West Coast Video was a chain of video rental stores founded in Northeast Philadelphia in 1983 by Elliot Stone. During the next three months, Stone established a chain by launching three more stores, growing it to more than 200 locations in 1987. In 1988, West Coast acquired all 455 National Video stores, giving them a total of 660 stores and making them the world’s largest video rental chain at that time. Like most brick and mortar video rental stores, West Coast Video folded in 2009, but some existing stores continued to use the West Coast banner and run independently before eventually folding as well over the years that followed.
Description: If you lived in the greater Northeastern United States in the '80s and '90s, Video King Superstore was most likely your first destination to rent the latest movies on VHS. The first thing you noticed walking into a Video King store was the smell of the complementary hot, buttered popcorn, a favorite of kids accompanying their parents. The rest of the store was pretty standard fare — wall-to-wall videos organized by category, a few toys and collectibles, and eventually, video game rentals. In the early 2000s, as video stores began to buckle under pressure from online video streaming, Video King cut their massive stores in half and dropped 'Superstore' from their name, but this was short-lived, with the chain ultimately closing up for good.
Description: In December 1977, George Atkinson spent approximately $3,000 to buy one Betamax and one VHS copy of each of the 50 available movie titles from Magnetic Video, which were then being sold to the public by direct mail. He announced the availability of the videos for rent in the local newspaper under the business name 'Video for Rent' along with a coupon for readers to fill out and mail in. Atkinson renamed his operation 'The Video Station' and opened what would be the first professionally managed video rental store in a 600 square foot storefront on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. In order to raise capital, Atkinson charged $50 for an annual membership and $100 for a lifetime, which provided the opportunity to rent the videos at a discount.
Description: Despite the name, West Coast Video was a chain of video rental stores founded in Northeast Philadelphia in 1983 by Elliot Stone. During the next three months, Stone established a chain by launching three more stores, growing it to more than 200 locations in 1987. In 1988, West Coast acquired all 455 National Video stores, giving them a total of 660 stores and making them the world’s largest video rental chain at that time. Like most brick and mortar video rental stores, West Coast Video folded in 2009, but some existing stores continued to use the West Coast banner and run independently before eventually folding as well over the years that followed.
Description: A bold, retro throwback to Family Video, celebrating the golden age of Friday‑night rentals and the analog joy of wandering the aisles before streaming took over. The distressed halftone texture and classic orange‑and‑green palette capture the exact look of old‑school video store signage, while the “Save the Video Store” line turns the design into a playful rallying cry for physical media lovers. It’s equal parts nostalgia, humor, and cultural commentary—perfect for anyone who misses VHS boxes, late fees, and the warm hum of a rewinding tape.
