Are there no darn movie rental STORES anymore???

[TorchTheWitch]

I don't want to do Netflix and Redbox stinks because the selection is crap and they only seem to carry newer films. I can't seem to find a single movie rental STORE anywhere in a 100 mile radius of me. This really pisses me off. I love to rent movies, yet there doesn't seem to be any convenient way for me to do it anymore and get the kind of stuff that I like to watch.

I can't be the only one that wants to be able to rent movies the old fashioned way by going to an actual physical place that has a huge selection.

[Chan790]

1. Strange...

Google lists at-least 8 video rental store within the city limits of Philly, including one of the last open Blockbusters and TLA video which I'm going to assume is related in some way to Theater of Living Arts; thus I assume will have lots of esoteric and old films.

http://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=video+rental+philadelphia

[HERVEPA]

6. TLA closed or shortly closing

[TorchTheWitch]

8. I'm about an hour's drive from the city

Do you really think I didn't do a google search??? I'm not driving an hour or more to a video store, and I sure as hell am not going into the city at night alone.

[Chan790]

14. Okay...

but I looked at your profile to see where you were and I was like "No...there has to be a video store in Philly...hell, there's one here in suburban MD."

[Shagbark Hickory]

2. That was pretty much my impression of the local video rental shops. Most floor space was for candy.

The rest was for dozens of empty boxes of the same new release.

[TorchTheWitch]

10. Hollywood Video was huge with a huge selection

And until they closed a couple of years ago they were only a half a block from my house. There was very little space for candy, and the new releases were just on the shelves along the walls (which was also where the video games were). The whole rest of the floor space was all kinds of movies including tv series, foreign films, documentaries, music concerts, old movies, etc. When I first moved here that building used to be a discount clothing warehouse, so it was enormous.

They suddenly closed without any warning whatsoever. I walked over to return five movies I had rented a couple days before and the place was completely empty and the sign was gone. A few weeks later all three Blockbuster stores in my area also closed. Within a month we went from having many places to rent movies to absolutely NOTHING at all.

[DebJ]

3. Some libraries have older ones available. Also, pawn shops

often have a lot available for $2 a piece.

[Incitatus]

4. Movie rental stores are fading away.

http://www.half.ebay.com has some really good deals.

[RebelOne]

5. The two Blockbusters that were near my house

have been closed for a while now. The only ones now are the Redbox and Blockbuster machines.

[GoCubsGo]

12. The Blockbuster machines seem to have a pretty large selection of movies.

Much better than the Redbox.

[Yavin4]

7. We Had Kim's Video in NYC

which had an amazing selection of foreign films, and it was great wandering around and see what they had to offer.

You cannot get that on NetFlix.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. There Is Still A Small Indenpendent Chain By Us

But, not really near us. One is about 15 miles away and the other 2 about 18 miles, in opposite directions.

It's a family owned business. Always cars there, so i think they're still doing ok.

But, the one large one in our small town, which was there for what seemed like forever, closed not long ago.
GAC

[LeftyMom]

11. There are many here, mostly in immigrant dominated neighborhoods.

They all seem to specialize in imported movies, but carry a good selection of domestic films as well. Some of them used to have US movies that hadn't been released yet as well, I don't know if they still do.

[seabeyond]

13. we have a hastings and our libraries rent movies. i dont rent. i dont watch much

but those are two i know of

[Xithras]

15. There's no money in it anymore.

If Netflix was the bullet that killed the video stores, Redbox nailed the coffin shut. Video rental stores used to make their money on new releases, and the older movies were just gravy. When Redbox is cranking out those same new releases for $1, it's hard to compete.

You can still find comprehensive video stores around, but they tend to be clustered in poorer neighborhoods where a larger portion of the population lacks the credit cards or bank accounts needed to use Netflix or Redbox.

[Colonel Schwartz]

16. Not trying to be a smartass or nothing but, Netflix delivers. n/t

[LynneSin]

19. There are other options like GreenCine

http://www.greencine.com/main

[skypilot]

17. I feel you.

I live in Center City Philadelphia and ALL of the nearby video rental stores have closed including the Philly institution TLA Video. My boyfriend opened a Netflix account this weekend and frankly I was a bit dismayed at how paltry their selection is compared to TLA. There is still one TLA video left in the burbs (Bryn Mawr) near where he lives and we plan to take advantage of that store until it closes, which will be some time next year. I've seen so many people on DU saying such great things about Netflix but frankly Netflix is no TLA. If you've never been to a TLA you don't know what you've missed.

[LynneSin]

18. There are many many options

First, if you have comcast you have access to Comcast On-Demand which has a good selection of movies for free. You also have Hulu, also has a big selection of movies.

As for not using NetFlix, there are other companies similiar to NetFlix like Green Cine. It's the same concept as NetFlix but a more eclectic taste in movies and a progressive company too.


http://www.greencine.com/main

[taterguy]

20. Most indie video stores relied on revenue from "adult" movies and that's no longer viable

No one wants to go to a neighborhood store and rent porn, because they might run into their neighbors.

Before the advent of high-speed Internet access that was their only choice, so they went anyway, even if it meant making six trips to the store until the coast was clear.

I do miss video stores but I understand why they're not around anymore.

The number of people willing to pay money for high quality movies isn't enough to cover rent, labor, etc.