Beau Newsome recounts his time as employee at Howard Hughes Video Store. He discusses beginning as a regular employee and then becoming a manager. Newsome's sister also spent time as an employee when the video store was located on the corner of Washington Street and Fifth Street. Newsome discusses the popularity of movie rental locations within the area. He mentions the shift from VHS tapes to DVDs (and later Blu Ray)and how that affected the store and customer relations. Purchasing procedures mentioned like going through VHS distributors and how DVDs suddenly were a cheaper option. He also discusses how store sales began to decrease due to bigger competition from other stores, or online purchasing options (like Netflix DVD deliveries), and eventually streaming services.

Monique Lillard: Alright, it looks as if we are recording.

Monique Lillard: Is march 17 2021 and we are doing a recording for the University of Idaho law, excuse me, the University of Idaho library oral History project concerning the video rental store in Moscow Idaho.

Monique Lillard: we're going to go on for about one hour and we can meet again if you if you think there's more to say, and we were just talking before the recording started that you might want to add in some dates and all that and that's totally fine okay.

Monique Lillard: And you can you may review this.

Monique Lillard: This transcript or this tape and even make corrections, if you want.

Monique Lillard: It just so you know, so you don't have to worry just say what you want to say, and then, if there's something wrong, we can just fix it later.

Monique Lillard: Okay, and I wanted to ask you, while we're recording have you signed the waiver release.

Monique Lillard: Great.

Beau Newsome: Pretty smooth actually excellent excellent it wasn't too hard, I have to say yeah.

Monique Lillard: Can you state for the recording your name, and if you don't mind your birthday.

Beau Newsome: my birthday is June 9 1977.

Monique Lillard: All right, all right, can you describe your relationship with the video store under whatever name it was when you first encountered it.

Beau Newsome: When I first encountered, it was Howard Hughes video, so I was basically an employee there for number of years now, I want to guess maybe seven.

Beau Newsome: And I was manager there for probably another seven years so.

Beau Newsome: Oh no about 14 years off and on I was kind of involved video store.

Beau Newsome: yeah.

Beau Newsome: So, and then my older sister who's eight years older than me she worked there the very.

Beau Newsome: Beginning of the story, which was on Washington, the corner of Washington and fifth, which is now a farmers building in farmers insurance building used to be just that corner was the original.

Beau Newsome: Video store and then the appliance store was on the other side on the fifth street side.

Beau Newsome: My remember my sister working there and I actually.

Beau Newsome: went in and helped her a couple times just go pull some movies vhs tapes of Kampala and stuff like that I was like wow this is pretty cool.

Beau Newsome: Like we can all these cool movies and stuff.

Beau Newsome: So that was my first memory of of Howard Hughes video basic so.

Monique Lillard: that's a great story that's a great story, so how often did you visit the store back then, and then you know kind of maybe.

Beau Newsome: Quite a quite a bit, but there was a lot of video stores in town actually there was the one downtown there was tr video which had two locations in town.

Beau Newsome: And the Moscow mall how to rent a video rental store.

Beau Newsome: Pluto small I think had aloha tan and video which for you can rent videos and there was also I don't know if there's any like big chains or anything, when I was younger.

Beau Newsome: So, but yes movie renting was definitely a thing, but maybe not so much Howard Hughes video until they slowly started to kind of died off.

Beau Newsome: Our users kind of the final one so.

Beau Newsome: So yeah often on as a as a kid going there.

Monique Lillard: Was there anything unique about the Howard Hughes video, as opposed to the others in your earlier memories.

Beau Newsome: um other than working there is, you know, to go in there, behind the counter as a kid which is cool yeah um they.

Beau Newsome: They had the actor wall and director wall of thing.

Beau Newsome: And that was a very incarnation, the little store.

Beau Newsome: So I guess there was three incarnations there's a little store on Washington and fifth which grew and then the play store moved and then the video store expanded into basically all a fifth street building.

Beau Newsome: And then.

Beau Newsome: Then the last incarnation was the video store on Main Street our use and then became.

Beau Newsome: The Moscow Moscow co op.

Monique Lillard: Or that Main Street video co op.

Beau Newsome: Music ministry video card yeah.

Beau Newsome: So.

Beau Newsome: What was the question again.

Monique Lillard: I think what was was there anything unique about the Howard Hughes.

Beau Newsome: Well yeah so the.

Beau Newsome: They incorporated the actor wall and direct the wall, so that was the one unique thing that carry through.

Beau Newsome: For most of it and that's where it originated was the small store.

Beau Newsome: yeah.

Monique Lillard: What was your favorite section of the store because they were there were different sections What was your favorite one.

Beau Newsome: As an employee or as a.

Monique Lillard: Young dancer.

Monique Lillard: And you get might have changed over the years.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: As a teenager it was the Sean penn sex, for some reason I was like wow there's a shelf that has all of his movies, and I can just pick through and watch this one watch this one, because I didn't really.

Beau Newsome: As a young teenager I didn't really care about directors so much at that point so.

Beau Newsome: Then, when I started working at the I didn't work at the littles section of the store I worked after it expanded on Washington and fifth.

Beau Newsome: And the director wall then became my favorite section, because you would sit of getting in an actor's you would get into directors and be like Okay, this is cool I can see all of.

Beau Newsome: Its car movies, are all here on one shelf or I can watch all of.

Beau Newsome: You know, James Cameron movies, are going down keno or something like that so.

Monique Lillard: When you were working there which section, do you think saw the most traffic which section rented the most.

Beau Newsome: um new releases, I guess, I guess, new releases generated the most money because you know it was just a one two day rental and it was like.

Beau Newsome: 350 $4 or something like that.

Beau Newsome: But other than like a new release the TV.

Beau Newsome: Because when I first started at the video store.

Beau Newsome: It was primarily vhs tapes almost exclusively.

Beau Newsome: And then we started I kind of was helping with the the ordering and putting in my input and stuff like that were kind of slowly getting DVDs.

Beau Newsome: duplicates basically of everything we had on vhs.

Beau Newsome: And that was.

Beau Newsome: Like a kind of like should we do this, know are people going to his DVDs a real thing or you know something like that and.

Beau Newsome: So yeah it was.

Beau Newsome: it's hard to say but TV like TV land DVDs those started to just fly off the shelf very popular section.

Beau Newsome: drama comedy those ones kind of broad sections like that rented quite a bit, but.

Beau Newsome: We had like award winner section and critics choice, which I thought separated us maybe from the other.

Beau Newsome: Not only the.

Beau Newsome: Actual direct wall but cold classics critics choice award winners.

Beau Newsome: Longer I work there, the more excited I got about those sections like okay here's all the.

Beau Newsome: here's all the artsy stuff the award winners, the underground cool classic stuff the.

Beau Newsome: Video clerks tell each other to walk.

Monique Lillard: you're telling me you became a movie connoisseur right.

Beau Newsome: You do it's it's it's weird it's a.

Beau Newsome: kind of a weird little.

Beau Newsome: Film school in a way.

Beau Newsome: You just learn about all these movies, and all these different actors and directors and stuff I know that's how.

Beau Newsome: Terry tino worked at a video store so that was always excited me about working for video store, you know.

Beau Newsome: Well cool it's good enough for turn keynotes good enough for me.

Monique Lillard: No doubt you make me want to ask, do you direct movies, or do you make movies or videos or i've never done any of that.

Beau Newsome: Just just a fan of them I know a lot of lot of employees coming through the video sorry, did you know a lot of our customers so i'm still doing some do.

Beau Newsome: Video commercials and band videos for bands and commercials and stuff like that, but there's some there's some video store employee for movies out there that are pretty.

Monique Lillard: Any filmed in the video store.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah actually there is a student film asked if we could do they could shoot something in our store so he said sure yeah.

Monique Lillard: that's cool.

Monique Lillard: As you were changing from vhs to DVD What did you do with the old tapes did you hold on to them or throw them away.

Beau Newsome: So the old store I don't have square footage.

Beau Newsome: But basically went from the corner of Washington and fifth street which now runs between farmers and the co op that went all the way to the the alleyway so we have that whole building, so we had tons of room, so we were we were just kind of slowly condense vhs.

Beau Newsome: And by condense I mean you have a movie facing this way and sometimes you have to turn so you read the spine instead of seeing the actual box, so you kind of shift vhs and.

Beau Newsome: Start incorporating DVDs with vhs but the more DVDs we got we would just have our own DVD section so you'd have a vhs drama section, you have a vhs or DVD drama section.

Beau Newsome: Award winners vhs award winners DVD.

Monique Lillard: Which of those technologies held up better I mean did the tape start to wear out did the DVD start to wear out get scratched.

Beau Newsome: Oh she's.

Beau Newsome: Pretty durable like because you can splice them.

Beau Newsome: Or you can fix it, you can keep old vhs we have just a box of old vhs.

Beau Newsome: Like car parts basically something breaks on a vhs tape you just dig through the box find it fix it and you can splice the.

Beau Newsome: Actual film or tape or whatever in there and.

Beau Newsome: You know you think you're cutting out a huge chunk of the movie but you're only cutting out like after like the second or something.

Beau Newsome: So, though they were durable that way and DVDs are so much you know sleeker.

Beau Newsome: The skipping to see was a new thing you know you don't have to fast forward to go right to the end of the movie no.

Beau Newsome: yeah menu.

Beau Newsome: But DVDs they were pretty fragile, you know they get they skip a lot we get a lot of complaints about.

Beau Newsome: You know skipping and then we.

Beau Newsome: And there's just nothing you can do once it's scratch deep enough, we can one thing we did by just a side note is a DVD research officer.

Beau Newsome: And that helped with the life of a DVD for a little while, but once it's done it's done.

Beau Newsome: A tape it would just melt it was in somebody's car with melton will be done, but.

Beau Newsome: we're pretty durable.

Monique Lillard: that's good Oh, and did people rewind to them.

Monique Lillard: I suddenly flashed on that movie be kind rewind.

Beau Newsome: ya know, we had.

Beau Newsome: We had to.

Beau Newsome: right there at the return counter we had to just reminders and we'd have a whole stack of movies, that we just throw into rewinder.

Monique Lillard: So, as you think well really from any point of view customer or worker, but I probably more as worker whichever who do you think was the most important person at the store.

Beau Newsome: um good question.

Beau Newsome: As.

Beau Newsome: You know, went through like rhonda drone she.

Beau Newsome: or global women's rhonda global and then run a drone her and her first husband named Brett I don't know brett's last name.

Beau Newsome: They kind of rhonda was the manager, but they were maybe married I think they're the ones that's kind of started the whole director wall after wall.

Beau Newsome: In the beginning in the first smaller portion of the store.

Beau Newsome: And that carried over to the big.

Beau Newsome: Business big store on on fifth and then so that was she was a pretty integral part, and she did all hiring sort of her husband Brett.

Beau Newsome: But then he left and she kind of managed it, but she always.

Beau Newsome: She was kind of good people that was one thing about the video stores you never ever had to advertise that you're hiring never.

Beau Newsome: There was always just a slew of people coming in asking for jobs or just resumes and applications and stuff but so i'd say in the beginning rhonda was a pretty integral part.

Beau Newsome: Howard Hughes in the beginning, you know I don't know if I probably have told us to view is that he how he started the video store me.

Beau Newsome: Because of oh is your mind.

Monique Lillard: Oh yeah okay yeah tell me, I think I spoke.

Beau Newsome: Side he started the video store, because it was the appliance store all of it.

Beau Newsome: And he started a little video vhs section in order to sell vcr.

Beau Newsome: And then, it just grew from there, and they will turn it off, and it became Howard Hughes video.

Beau Newsome: And the rest was the appliance store.

Beau Newsome: And then the appliance store moved and then it just grew from there.

Beau Newsome: was pretty integral part yeah.

Monique Lillard: Did you use to rent DVDs or video player sometimes.

Beau Newsome: Oh yeah.

Monique Lillard: yeah that's oh yeah.

Beau Newsome: there's the Moscow mall here in town they had a video store called ventral and video, and I could walk their.

Monique Lillard: adventure land, so what you said.

Monique Lillard: adventure land.

Beau Newsome: eventually end video.

Monique Lillard: yeah cool.

Beau Newsome: But you know they're just a little it's kind of if you go into the Moscow now it's like there's a there was a gnc store there's just a little just a little hole in the wall, but yeah you'd read.

Beau Newsome: you'd rent players for sure, and we, we did when I first started the video store, we would.

Beau Newsome: We I think we had about between six and 10 vcr so we run out a little TV with a vcr in it than we would rent out.

Beau Newsome: And I think a video camera that we could rent out to people oh.

Monique Lillard: that's good so okay more questions about working there because.

Monique Lillard: We were all curious.

Monique Lillard: How did you decide what movies, to play on the monitors so we'd walk in and there'd be something playing who.

Monique Lillard: have to decide and what were there any rules and.

Beau Newsome: Add that you can you know you had to stay away from our.

Beau Newsome: Language Gore nudity stuff like that you know you couldn't just throw in any R rated movie or something like that, and it usually it was an employee's choice so.

Beau Newsome: i'm.

Beau Newsome: just say, it would be my choice I decide to throw something in big play for an hour and then it'd be the next employer to be like Okay, what do you want to watch what do you want to watch.

Beau Newsome: and

Beau Newsome: See yeah there'd be a lot of stuff that just got played over and over again, or certain employees would have their favorites you know, but you just walk in you see something playing songs those working.

Monique Lillard: didn't there used to be.

Monique Lillard: Employed choice movies, or was that maybe that was after your time.

Beau Newsome: working there, there was an employee fix yeah.

Beau Newsome: That was awesome we did about.

: Once.

Beau Newsome: Once every.

Beau Newsome: Four months, maybe, maybe three months just kind of let them rent for a while and you tally them up and it'd be a winner just just bragging rights basically.

Beau Newsome: it's like oh my PICs did the best this this this month or these two months or something so.

Monique Lillard: So there was a good feeling among the employees it's sounding that way as I listened to talk.

Beau Newsome: yeah it was fun like.

Beau Newsome: You know you you deal with late fees is always an issue like people just don't like being late, just like taxes they're like.

Beau Newsome: man like paying late fees.

Beau Newsome: And so you have to do that, you know customer service can always drain on you a little bit But, all in all, it was a pretty good crew lot of turnover, you know a lot of students.

Beau Newsome: A lot of friends of mine worked and other other places know just get other jobs that you know didn't pay very well or just paid minimum wage, it always went up with minimum wage, but.

Beau Newsome: Just a part time gig for most people and whether going to school or.

Beau Newsome: Secondary job kind of a thing or.

Monique Lillard: What were the hours that people would work or that you would work or.

Monique Lillard: Do you remember.

Beau Newsome: Well it's changed through the years when I first started when it was the bigger store on fifth.

Beau Newsome: Thank you think it opened at 10am and then it went till 11pm.

Beau Newsome: Or at least, it was 11pm on Friday and Saturday and then maybe 10 o'clock during the week and then you would have an opener so you'd have somebody come in at 10 o'clock.

Beau Newsome: and work.

Beau Newsome: And then there was a split shift or a mid shift, it was from one to nine.

Beau Newsome: So the one o'clock person would come in and the opener would take their lunch half hour lunch, and then they come back there be two employees until four o'clock.

Beau Newsome: And then two more employees would come on at four o'clock to one o'clock would go to lunch and the opener would stick around for a little bit until things cool down, and they would leave and then the opener the Mitchell come back there be three people there.

Beau Newsome: Until about nine o'clock eight or nine o'clock you can be like all right, you guys need me for anything else that you just you'd leave but, and then the the two employees would stay in close.

Monique Lillard: that's a lot of people what what was the what was the busiest time of day, usually.

Beau Newsome: Five o'clock like after after five just you get smashed yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah like you know the so I manage the video store for just a tiny bit at the big at the fifth street bigger score and then move to Main Street.

Beau Newsome: 520 South main.

Beau Newsome: You know.

Beau Newsome: It kind of dwindled you know sales just just just kind of went like that.

Monique Lillard: Why.

Monique Lillard: Why do you think yeah.

Beau Newsome: For all them the reasons just you better stories coming in, you know, we had a Hastings in a video and stuff like that come in.

Beau Newsome: We were dealing with streaming so much at that point but man, we used to on Friday and Saturday nights you would have to registers, you have lines of people on both registered.

Beau Newsome: Like we're talking.

Beau Newsome: Maybe like eight to nine people per line just waiting and you'd have the third person just kind of grabbing their movies go and pulling them in the back and bringing him because you just bring an empty box to us, we go Paul very.

Beau Newsome: yeah that's decide know one thing about a video store it's not like buying a piece of fruit and then you replace it with another piece of fruit it's just a collection of just grows and grows and grows and grows and grows, so you run out of room really quickly.

Beau Newsome: which eventually leads me to the story of moving to Main Street, but we could probably.

Monique Lillard: Talk okay go ahead and tell it down.

Monique Lillard: right as well.

Beau Newsome: Well it's kind of it's kind of a long story, as far as change of ownership and stuff like that.

Beau Newsome: So it was owned by Howard Hughes.

Beau Newsome: And I think he was had a hand in expanding them he created the little video store.

Beau Newsome: And then don frye and Kevin pietersen who worked for Howard bottom out, but the appliance store so i'm not sure if they owned it when they're at fifth street or if they owned it when they moved out on the pullman highway.

Beau Newsome: But they bought it from Howard, and they just had a manager rhonda just manage the store and.

Beau Newsome: We.

Beau Newsome: You know, worked under them for a long time they had Christmas parties for us and stuff like that.

Beau Newsome: Which is really fun, you know they call us visitors over there, the appliance store, we were the visitors, you know or kind of there.

Beau Newsome: We were still their employees, but they didn't care about us as long as the video stuff wasn't losing money they were like just do what you want over there know what you're doing.

Beau Newsome: we're not gonna we're not going to mess with it because it's making us money I think they were going to just liquidated as soon as it didn't make them money but it never quite got to that so.

Beau Newsome: So that went on for a while and i'm really bad with with dates, but, but then they were going to sell it because I think Howard was going to raise the rent some quote me on that, but I think that was kind of scenario.

Beau Newsome: And we're kind of starting to decline, a little bit we weren't making you know really good we were having a really good Friday and Saturday nights and weekends and stuff like that.

Beau Newsome: So they were going to talking about liquidating it or selling it to somebody else, or they didn't quite know what they're going to do with their kind of may be done with it at that point i'm not sure i'm hoping to.

Beau Newsome: talk with with one of them here soon, but.

Beau Newsome: So they were going to sell it, so I think they decided to sell it and offered around before they decided to liquidate.

Beau Newsome: And and that's when Gary Meyer.

Beau Newsome: patty angle and her husband who i'm blanking on.

Monique Lillard: Neill Franklin I think.

Beau Newsome: And debbie Reynolds and Kelly Kelly more.

Beau Newsome: than I think I quit at that time, because I was working at the red door restaurant was another.

Beau Newsome: Moscow fixture and a lot of people actually worked at the video store that worked at the red doors there's a lot of.

Beau Newsome: You know cross crossing paths they're just kind of cool thing there's a little group of us that have worked in both places.

Beau Newsome: And so they.

Beau Newsome: ended up buying the video store when it was at the fifth street location.

Beau Newsome: But they carry on his own building on 525 South Main Street so Gary.

Beau Newsome: They needed it, so I was working at the red door, they would come into the render quite a bit and they asked if they knew i'd work there, so they're like at interested in managing it because we just bought it or we're going to buy it or whatever.

Beau Newsome: sure.

Beau Newsome: yeah that sounds cool you know because before I was just an employment hourly you know it's still an hourly wage, I believe, but you know you kind of you work in the daytime shift mostly was a manager to work, the daytime chef for the most part, except for weekends.

Beau Newsome: So the model, but then Gary was going to move into 525 South Main Street now if you were to look at both of those buildings, one is a lot bigger.

Beau Newsome: than what it was in was a heck of a lot bigger than the one we're moving into so when I first saw the the 520 South Main Street address, I wanted to cry.

Beau Newsome: Because I was like there's no way we're going to get all these movies into this little store there's just no way.

Beau Newsome: So.

Beau Newsome: So that's so when we moved to the new store 527 mean that's when we kind of shelf the vhs put them in the back.

Beau Newsome: And just focused on DVDs when, instead of having DVDs facing out, we had them mostly on, as you know, looking at spines.

Beau Newsome: And that saved us a ton of room but, again, we went to a smaller space, but we're still getting movies.

Beau Newsome: And we're just always running out of space always trying to figure out.

Beau Newsome: How we're going to move maneuver things to get to organize you know i'm sure any library deals with that are you know.

Beau Newsome: The down Moscow library ui library to they're always worried about space, but.

Beau Newsome: So, what was the original question that led me to this.

Monique Lillard: um you were going to tell about the move itself, I think, and maybe you just did that you.

Beau Newsome: Know that's kind of.

Beau Newsome: So that's kind of how we like got away from.

Beau Newsome: vhs and kind of skirted kind of leaned into DVDs a little bit more yeah and then BLU Ray came along and that's a whole different.

Beau Newsome: ball of wax there was this whole thing hd versus BLU Ray.

Beau Newsome: same same basic principle just BLU rays or hd can hold a lot more on a on a desk like a DVD and it was like.

Beau Newsome: It was like vhs and beta was like which one's going to be popular Luckily, we chose BLU Ray and that's the way it went.

Beau Newsome: beneficial for us.

Monique Lillard: who made those decisions like you know Okay, we should start buying BLU Ray as well as DVD.

Beau Newsome: i'm rhonda a little bit she was the manager and she always kind of had an assistant manager and there was a handful of different people but.

Beau Newsome: And then there's people who were there longer like me I kind of I want to say I was there for maybe five years before I quit and work through that door, and I think it came back to the video source of.

Beau Newsome: Just a worker and not a manager, so you it it just kind of cumulative you know I, I made a lot of those decisions to I remember, I was pretty big part of BLU Ray in hd like.

Beau Newsome: And there was a guy that was working for us that.

Beau Newsome: Did the ordering and I would kind of always be over your shoulder.

Monique Lillard: Oh okay.

Beau Newsome: Like let's get this let's get this, we need this, you know you just hear.

Beau Newsome: titles, or I, like my big thing was writing titles down if people came in, I always like took it as a.

Beau Newsome: As a like an insult, not an insult, but I just hated the fact that we didn't have a movie that somebody was looking for, so I just had this eternal list and.

Monique Lillard: I remember that list, now that you mentioned.

Monique Lillard: yeah I get it, this is suddenly reminded me of something else, so let me ask did you have adult titles.

Monique Lillard: While yeah and then.

Monique Lillard: They went away didn't they.

Beau Newsome: yeah they did, like the the the old video store of a small one, it has been an adult section creaky closet door.

Beau Newsome: The whole.

Beau Newsome: The whole store knew that somebody was going in there.

Beau Newsome: And it basically stayed in the same spot when the store expanded.

Beau Newsome: Just the door was on the other side.

Beau Newsome: And it just a little like.

Beau Newsome: Between the size of a closet and maybe a walk in closet you know they they rent they would rent quite a bit you know.

Beau Newsome: And enough for us to keep it until we got to the the.

Beau Newsome: mainstream store, they are the adult section kind of went to the size of a closet and then just eventually tapered off.

Monique Lillard: yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: You could get that stuff on the Internet or whatever it was more there was only the.

Beau Newsome: People who weren't very savvy with the Internet and stuff so rent.

Monique Lillard: And didn't mind being a little indiscreet I guess yeah.

Beau Newsome: A little more industry.

Monique Lillard: In terms of all the movies, now, not those but just all of them where did you buy these titles from.

Beau Newsome: Well that's that's a when I first started, we were buying vhs all the new releases were still vhs and we went through a distributor.

Beau Newsome: We would have to this was before I was doing the ordering but I was always interested in in.

Beau Newsome: you'd have to go through a distributor and she would call you and be like hey you ready to do your weekly order, because you have new releases always come out on Tuesday.

Beau Newsome: Which is kind of cool I think the streaming sites are still trying to adhere to that, like, I think, Tuesday, is when new releases come out don't quote me on that, but I think I think they're trying to do that.

Beau Newsome: But.

Beau Newsome: They.

Beau Newsome: It was like to buy a vhs it was like $80 a vhs or $70 per vhs because they knew, you were gonna you're getting money, I mean you're you're you're buying this you're going to make $70 per new release Facebook.

Beau Newsome: So your budget was pretty strained you know, because if you got six new release titles of whatever Titanic or 10 no that's what $700 just right there if your budget for one title, can I do the math right.

Monique Lillard: yeah I think so yeah I trust you completely.

Beau Newsome: It was told her be no man.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: So, and then some way somewhere down the road when I became manager before I became manager, when we were buying mostly DVDs and some BLU rays, and just totally got away from buying new vhs.

Beau Newsome: If they weren't expensive like that anymore they're around $20 desk or for a DVD so your budget.

Beau Newsome: almost like tripled because you can get more DVDs.

Beau Newsome: For.

Beau Newsome: And we were going through distributed more we were just going through.

Beau Newsome: or sometimes a distributor we are getting in.

Beau Newsome: Wherever we could basically wherever we could find the best price.

Beau Newsome: we'd start ordering and that's kind of how.

Beau Newsome: I was pretty proud of the fact that we were able to build a DVD collection is as good or almost as good as our vhs sex like and that's because I think.

Beau Newsome: prices were low, you can get more DVDs for the price and we're able to get more new releases, for one, which brought in.

Beau Newsome: Because that's the money you know that's the money makers, people are just like you have this new title you're going to get it on Tuesday, is it going to come out.

Beau Newsome: And then, but we also had money left over to get obscure titles or duplicate titles of vhs and stuff like that.

Monique Lillard: yeah.

Beau Newsome: I don't know why it ended up that way, but it did it benefited us.

Monique Lillard: yeah yeah.

Monique Lillard: what's your favorite memory, you have a favorite memory of working there were a series of favorite memories.

Beau Newsome: No, I was thinking of asking that question, too.

Beau Newsome: But now that i'm asked it was like I don't know I mean probably just.

Beau Newsome: The people that I got to work with you know.

Beau Newsome: And when I quit.

Beau Newsome: which was, I think I stopped managing the video store on Main Street and 14 roughly maybe third 2013 2014.

Beau Newsome: And I was just a way for movies, and I was like I miss being around movies, all the time and being able to talk to people about you know.

Beau Newsome: Customers other employees, you always had somebody to engage a movie with now I watch a movie and i'm like that was good, I have anybody to tell it to him I don't have like a shelf that I can put it on and be like hey, this is a really cool movies and check it out.

Beau Newsome: But, so I guess that's kind of what I take from it just being.

Beau Newsome: Just around those movies, and people like movies and stuff you know you're there's always somebody to engage about movies yeah.

Beau Newsome: So I guess it's not one moment.

Monique Lillard: Oh that's a good memory.

Monique Lillard: What do you think ultimately ended the business.

Beau Newsome: Good question.

Beau Newsome: Well, obviously streaming netflix being able to netflix started doing the delivery.

Beau Newsome: Then that hurt hurt us pretty bad not having as many new release titles as maybe one would like.

Beau Newsome: Like sometimes you would guess like say a pirates of the Caribbean movie would come out and be like Okay, do I get seven of these doing it.

Beau Newsome: Do I get 20 copies.

Beau Newsome: Because they have to make their money back, and then, once they've made the money back, we would sell them like used ones like these things.

Beau Newsome: Then, that was a great was one is we just didn't have enough new release titles, especially if it was really popular we just run out of it and people will be like do you have this and we're like no Okay, and they looked at each other, like am I going to Hastings yeah.

Beau Newsome: We lose we lose a customer parking was a big deal.

Beau Newsome: At the old store the history we had more parking and we did it mainstream so we just lost parking there that was another thing that may be why Hastings or video and they just had ample parking we didn't we never really did, but we lost more of it moving to the new location.

Beau Newsome: So.

Beau Newsome: That had that curtis to.

Beau Newsome: and sleep yeah I guess not having enough titles and just the whole streaming delivering it was starting to get easier to not have to leave your home, especially with netflix.

Beau Newsome: You know, we We talked to a few people about getting our just our library online like you couldn't you could just search our library you couldn't like rent anything or watch anything.

Beau Newsome: We just didn't have an Internet presence at all like hey can we look at your titles online like no.

: i'm really.

Beau Newsome: Just kind of have to ask and browse basic.

Monique Lillard: it's funny if I take your last two answers together it's we're getting increasingly alienated right, so we can't talk about movies anymore, because we just watch them in our home and we don't even walk out of.

Monique Lillard: Our home to rent them anymore, you know as opposed to before any of this getting together in the theater.

Monique Lillard: to watch movie.

Monique Lillard: Right interesting.

Beau Newsome: yeah and.

Beau Newsome: The video store served a purpose, because people still love love to go to the movie theaters and stuff like that, or if they didn't catch it like whoa we're catching on at the video store, you know go get it and.

Beau Newsome: So we kind of went hand in hand with movie theaters or they liked it so much they're like Oh, that was a great movie.

Beau Newsome: that's on the theater I can't wait till it comes out on video they can run watch it again, but I think there was a big buying craze to like I know I was guilty of it, I have a ton of DVDs and I kind of wish I wouldn't above.

Beau Newsome: But there's a huge of people just buying DVDs Left and Right and Hastings offered that you know a lot, because they would get a lot of new release titles and then Selma get a lot of new release titles so long so.

Monique Lillard: So at the Howard Hughes store where the sales of the DVDs was that a significant portion of the income.

Beau Newsome: No, not really it was we only sell it if it made its money back so.

Beau Newsome: If you're buying a new release for $20 in it for $25 and the rents for 350 however many times that is then.

Beau Newsome: You made it's made its money back, and it starts to lose momentum, people are renting and then we'll grab one or two make sure which ones have.

Beau Newsome: rented the most and made their money back, and we put those on the shelf and it was just kind of extra you know we saw for I don't know what they were five bucks six bucks.

Monique Lillard: So now, the Saturday thing, how did you learn the video store was closing for good and where were you and how did it feel.

Beau Newsome: Well, I knew when I left, I was kind of struggling.

Beau Newsome: No, I I knew that it was struggling when when I left, I mean it was just it was basically every year was just a little bit worse like as far as sales, as far as money.

Beau Newsome: But yeah I still was able to order a lot of movies or not a lot, but I was still able to build a library.

Beau Newsome: So when I first heard that it was closing I wasn't a huge shock.

Beau Newsome: But it was still going up until the basically the pandemic yeah you know, like again and probably wasn't thriving.

Beau Newsome: And I think the pandemic just wiped it out like they had to close, you know for the shutdown and all that and I think that just they could come back from that but i'm hearing more and more than it was financially is kind of just just wasn't making any money and.

Beau Newsome: I don't know what they were paying rent the mainstream.

Beau Newsome: But I just you know I don't think it was generating enough to pay because we, like our back to the.

Beau Newsome: The employees, I mean we were basically it was like three employees a day versus the one opener and two closers that was it, you know versus having that extra person there and the hours shrunk.

Beau Newsome: Think of the video, so we have to start off at mainstream start opening at two o'clock versus 10 o'clock but even if the old history store was 10 Min open 11 we nominate noon.

Beau Newsome: To get that runs crowd and then it might to we just weren't making any money until two o'clock.

Beau Newsome: So it was like I think the video store was open from two to nine on the weekdays and two to 10 on the weekends.

Beau Newsome: On the mainstream remember a Friday Saturday.

Beau Newsome: So it's always it's always been a slow decline, so I guess I wasn't completely shocked, but I was always worried about the the library like.

Beau Newsome: I just wanted the library to stay intact, because I I bunch of other people work so hard and trying to gather all those titles on DVD or vhs not selling the ones that we knew were were gen stuff like that.

Beau Newsome: I was always worried if it did.

Beau Newsome: liquidity or sell or close their doors like what's going to happen for the library I don't want that those titles to.

Beau Newsome: To get thrashed, but they did they got they got liquidated sold off know so that was my main So when I heard that it was my first time what's going to happen to the library.

Monique Lillard: yeah yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: That is that's the sad part about this whole thing is.

Beau Newsome: If maybe you I could could have got their hands on them, or if they were willing to there's a price out there, that was it was.

Beau Newsome: good enough that they could have or the the public library or somebody would have got these titles, but it kept it intact somehow but it costs money, it costs a lot of money, you know takes a lot of storage to do anything with these these titles, you know.

Beau Newsome: So that was that was my biggest fear and.

Beau Newsome: liquidated yeah.

: yeah.

Monique Lillard: Did you buy any titles from the kenworthy.

Beau Newsome: No, I didn't like I kind of.

Beau Newsome: I don't know where I was or why I didn't like I can check on the camera the website and look and see mostly to see if there are certain sections that they weren't selling off.

Beau Newsome: But once I heard a few sections like critics choice and called classics that just left the pit in my stomach and.

Beau Newsome: No, I don't want to see those titles go.

Monique Lillard: yeah.

Beau Newsome: So no I didn't buy any of them, but I hear some people tried to and couldn't.

Beau Newsome: Not hundred percent sure about.

Beau Newsome: What happened or or if they have any of those titles left that's what I want to know.

: yeah.

Monique Lillard: I don't know that either, and I don't know how many were bought by the University of Idaho.

Monique Lillard: Because I thought they had bought a fair number so.

Beau Newsome: They did I saw the list.

Beau Newsome: there's a good chunk is it is it's a lot of kind of stragglers.

Beau Newsome: Like our bigger titles, like our drama section TV land.

Beau Newsome: But bits and pieces of TV land and stuff like that i'm just just perusing the list quickly, but I didn't see any of the.

Beau Newsome: The gems on there, like criterion collection is one.

Beau Newsome: I don't know if you're familiar with lexcen yeah that section was.

Beau Newsome: Just the work of art, I mean having those titles was like worth its weight in gold, although it was our most extensive section is our worst renting section basic.

Monique Lillard: You know criterion collection streams So what are your thoughts about the difference between being able to access it on streaming and having the collection of actual tangible TV plus.

Beau Newsome: is cool I mean any criteria, you have at your fingertips is better than nothing.

Beau Newsome: But if I hear that I know subscribe to the criterion channel, but you know I think they rotate titles so think about us, we had a lot I don't know I might have to try and get you those numbers later down the road I don't know how many criterion titles, we had we had a lot of like a lot.

Beau Newsome: For for criterion movies, so it was like okay well, even if you're streaming on the criterion website you don't get your choice and every title So where do you go to get.

Beau Newsome: Another time you go down the videos.

Beau Newsome: It was going to be there because we probably had it and it wasn't rented because it wasn't a very popular section, but yeah.

Monique Lillard: yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: So that's.

Beau Newsome: that's probably a little one of the differences, I guess, to the video store Howard Hughes video store had over like it safe, it was going right now.

Beau Newsome: The.

Beau Newsome: streaming sites are getting are starting you know it started as one like netflix but then now everybody's getting part of the game so it's like paramount plus of a paramount plus is going to do is take their movies away from netflix or Amazon.

Beau Newsome: And then you got to subscribe to them and then it's starting to become just like cable it's like okay Well now, I have to pay for like 10 streaming sites to get all these movies, you know.

Beau Newsome: Other than the video, Sir, we have them all, for the most part.

Monique Lillard: You know.

Beau Newsome: So you just go to one place and get it.

Beau Newsome: But that's where the bread was buttered it was new releases and we just didn't quite keep up.

Beau Newsome: With the demand of the titles and the amount of copies we needed on the end kind of a thing.

Monique Lillard: that's really interesting to me because I don't think as a customer I don't think I realized that part of it, because oh yeah anyway.

Monique Lillard: Well, I didn't realize that.

Monique Lillard: The I guess I just wasn't very aware of the economics of it as a customer walking in, and I think we tended to rent not the new releases.

Monique Lillard: But the other ones, and still dead, you know we that we love yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah unfortunately that's not what was keeping the video store alive.

Beau Newsome: was actually was the new release titles and it was selling candy and stuff like that and selling art or used copies and stuff like that, but it was but it's I think it was our library that kept us open for so long, like.

Beau Newsome: Because it had customers, like you, and they knew we had those obscure titles and basically whatever you're looking for if we don't have it.

Beau Newsome: Then I would run it on my list and.

Monique Lillard: I remember your list remember it yeah.

Beau Newsome: But it didn't it didn't quite pay the bills, you know, but I think it probably it kept us going to yeah.

Monique Lillard: Okay, so on a slightly happier note because we're nearing the end of an hour and I don't want to wear everybody out here, but.

Monique Lillard: it's it's been not quite an hour yet, but we're getting there.

Monique Lillard: So what's the weirdest thing you remember happening at the video store.

Monique Lillard: And it's Okay, if you have more than one weird thing.

: years.

Beau Newsome: And there's lots lots of weird things.

Beau Newsome: Somebody went number two in our adult room.

: Oh.

Monique Lillard: yeah I was weirder than expected.

Beau Newsome: yeah that was weird and I.

Beau Newsome: I found that the next morning in the closer didn't find it The night before and I was really upset.

Beau Newsome: I was like yeah you're using you didn't.

Beau Newsome: check behind doors or whatever yeah so I was, I was pretty weird.

Monique Lillard: that's a weird with.

Monique Lillard: A couple questions about this oral History project because so i'll just say that bow and I are the two interviewers for this oral History project.

Monique Lillard: And this is our first interview, the first one i've done, and so let me just ask you how did you find out about the oral History project and what compelled you to get involved.

Beau Newsome: Now yeah I got an email from Robert who.

Beau Newsome: Who was suggested to me or was suggested to Robert from kristin Henrik Heinrich and who works at the ui library.

Beau Newsome: she's married to Richard park who i'm a good friend, Richard worked at the red door Richard worked at the video store, so I think when they started when they bought the tiles they started to think about this oral history there like.

Beau Newsome: Anybody have any recommendations on who we would ask to start doing interviews and she recommended my name.

Beau Newsome: And I think Robert found an old.

Beau Newsome: For a company that I worked for doing water simulators he found that old email and send it to that so.

Beau Newsome: I saw it was like text Richard I was like hey do you know who Robert their parents.

Beau Newsome: So am I saying it right.

Monique Lillard: I think its parent but i'm not sure we should ask him.

Beau Newsome: Because he's like you know that they were asking about interviews, so we dropped your name and I was like okay I just wasn't making sure it wasn't like spam or something.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah which is cool like I was all in soon as I read it before I checked to make sure it was a fake nose like yeah and good.

Beau Newsome: evening to.

Beau Newsome: reminisce about the video store and keep it alive, so to speak.

Monique Lillard: Listening to you talk really brings it back for me.

Monique Lillard: Other stuff anything else you want to say or anything else that we didn't ask that you'd like to add.

: No.

Beau Newsome: I was kind of going through.

Beau Newsome: Some of these like little questions and stuff but you know I mean I could sit here and talk for forever about it but.

Beau Newsome: kind of.

Beau Newsome: yeah this this no I guess nothing right on top of my head right now.

Monique Lillard: And remember, we can meet again and if some things come to you or you know don't hesitate, we can make another tape I think so.

Monique Lillard: yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: that's great.

Monique Lillard: we're hoping, this one worked, by the way, because these are great stories it says it's.

Monique Lillard: Recording.

Beau Newsome: So some recordings.

Monique Lillard: Will trust the technology.

Monique Lillard: May i'm probably once we sign off the recording i'll ask you if there are other people you think we should be talking to you named a couple in the course of this so.

Monique Lillard: I guess it's probably better to do that off the recording so.

Monique Lillard: All right, um.

Monique Lillard: Well, I guess that's it, I really appreciate your time and.

Monique Lillard: As I say, you brought it completely back to me, and it makes makes me sad all over again.

Beau Newsome: You were.

Beau Newsome: Like how you were approached about this.

Monique Lillard: Oh it's a boy, except that I don't know who recommended me but I got the email from Robert yeah now we're gonna have to ask him how he pronounces his name but yeah and.

Monique Lillard: I think Eric I think it's parents about.

Monique Lillard: yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: I guess, one thing I shouldn't we should know is that when I.

Beau Newsome: quit the video store and 14 or 15 the car the mainstream video clip took over, shortly after that you know when they.

Monique Lillard: want that's a good question it it all started up there were meetings at my house were you still manager when we have those meetings.

Beau Newsome: I don't think I was.

Beau Newsome: No, I don't because I went to a meeting at your House, I think i'm still.

Monique Lillard: i'm gonna have to check on those years actually.

Monique Lillard: yeah same same.

Beau Newsome: About just something happening like something different, like because Devon Kelly weren't sure where they were going and.

Beau Newsome: Pat, you know because Gary passed away Gary Meyer, who, on the building and part owner of the video store, so I think pat took over the building in Devon Kelly and pat all owned it together.

Beau Newsome: So yeah I think I we there's talks there's just it was up in the air, I think that's why, when you came in and we're talking about getting a new.

Beau Newsome: system and maybe becoming a Co op and and all that stuff right right.

Monique Lillard: looking for a private buyer I remember, they thought about that too, who would buy the whole thing but.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: You know where was queen turn to when you.

Beau Newsome: Exactly to a local video store and he's never gonna come.

: Back right.

Monique Lillard: Right yeah.

Beau Newsome: Two huge ones over in Seattle.

Beau Newsome: Seattle portland there's movie madness in portland.

Beau Newsome: And scarecrow video in Seattle, which I tried to contact them a few times and be like what's what new sit with system are you using because our system was archaic and it was a DAS based system.

Beau Newsome: But and I knew turn Tina was a fan of scarecrow videos I was like, why not how to use video to he said that he had like triple our title selection yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: Nice to swoop in and so.

Monique Lillard: yeah would have it would have yeah just said yeah.

Monique Lillard: Historic holder on to the collection type of an endeavor but.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah oh no I think it's the collection that.

Beau Newsome: was most important, not the new releases, not the for sale stuff it was just the obscure titles that's that's what I think our doors open, I mean it didn't make us the most money, it was the new releases but it's because you could get anything.

Monique Lillard: that's right you had those two for one like it get to old old ones and get one new release or there were a whole lot of deals that would come up.

Beau Newsome: always try new.

Beau Newsome: stuff like that can your story was it was only dollar Tuesday and Thursdays.

Beau Newsome: spike for dollar days for the whole titles.

Beau Newsome: yeah Thank you 50 then it was one point, we came up with the five for five, so there are 250 much any day of the week until you unless you got five of them, it was five movies $5 five days, and then a new releases were always just one day for 348 I think the minute and.

Beau Newsome: Then we kind of lowered the price a little bit, and then it was like rent to get one free and there were three day new releases.

Beau Newsome: And then it kind of merged into a you'd have your really new new ones would be one day, and then they all do a three day rental mental five day rental and then it was when I was still there was seven day, we were all the old non new release titles where.

Beau Newsome: I was five movies $7 76.

Beau Newsome: which we got two extra dollars, you know, we have the library, so we can afford people walking out the door with a stack of movies five movies, but it was easier for them, you rent it on a Monday to do back on a Monday.

Beau Newsome: So.

Monique Lillard: Well alright on this note i'm going to say a formal Thank you.

Monique Lillard: And i'm going to stop recording and we'll just stick around for a second and and maybe we'll do a second one will see oh.

Beau Newsome: Thanks for.

Monique Lillard: sure.

Monique Lillard: Okay, I want to start.