Connor O'Rourke recounts his time as an employee and manager of the Main Street Video Co-op. He talks about how he heard about the store and his experience being hired by the store. He expresses his frustration with streaming services in comparison to the video rental store, particularly in relation to the loss of special features. He discusses store purchasing, building the store's catalogue, and the store's sections. He also describes switching point of sale systems. He talks about cleaning and buffing discs. He and Beau also discuss some of the most disturbing films they had seen. He discusses the process of getting movies and late fees. He also talks about using social media and other advertising techniques used during his time at the store. He details the closing of the store and packing up the inventory. He discusses the top rented films and tv, as well as dealing with stolen titles. He talks about some of the posters and decorations for the store and where it ended up. He goes on to briefly discuss the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre and the opportunities it offers and its relationship with the video rental store.

: Had you minimized for a second was like oh no, what do I do, out of it.

: Yeah. All right, well I'm gonna start recording here.

: Okay. Looks like we're recording, get a little recording sign up. Yep.

: Cool.

: Well my name is Bo Newsome I'm with the University of Idaho libraries oral history project for the Howard Hughes videos last mainstream Video Co Op.

: I'm here with Connor O'Rourke Connor go ahead and say your name, and let me know.

: I guess describe your relationship with the Video Star.

: Okay. My name is Connor rock, and I was an employee, starting in 2016, all the way up until closing day, and March 2020.

: And the last year of the store I was a store manager as well.

: Okay.

: Are you from the area.

: I'm from quarter lane, and I came up here to go to college, and yeah I first heard about the store.

: When I'm in undergraduate just somebody told me that there's a video rental store, and I'd spent most of my childhood like going to the video store in quarter lane they we had a Hollywood video.

: okay my next my next question was the video stores up there. Yeah and I heard that there was one here and I was like I gotta get a job there it's, you know, that thing of hearing like Tarantino worked at one and, you know, watching clerks growing up and

: all that stuff I was like, Oh, that sounds like the perfect job for me that's getting paid to watch movies Perfect, Perfect. I know, I felt the same way.

: Yeah.

: So, you said you were going to college here.

: And how long were you going there before you heard about the video so it was the first.

: Hmm, I think it was like a year or two into me going here. I was in the, I have a degree in a broadcasting and digital media. So a lot of the people that I ran into they would just, they would mention like Howard Hughes, and I didn't know I you know I

: Did you read it. Other ones around town.

: Was there another one here.

: Well into that I'm 2016 maybe they were all gone by then, maybe Hastings, yes yeah i would i would rent stuff from there. Like I never used Redbox.

: I don't know why, but I just would always get stuff from Hastings. And, yeah, I think that might have been the last one. Yeah, because they went out of business right around that time.

: So yeah, I remember they went out of business when I was working at the store, because it's like yes this is going to be a big boost for us.

: And they were like, people trickling in being like, I hear there's a video rental store here so so there must have been somebody who worked there was telling people, you know shutting down like hey, if you're, you know, still want movies you could go

: to this local place here.

: And then we working at the store when you were still going to college. Yeah.

: Yeah, cuz I graduated in 2018. So, okay, that's what I was doing. 2018. Yeah.

: Who hired you think, Ian.

: Yeah. Okay. Is there anything unique about the video store that kind of caught your eyes, unique about that. I was just like shocked that there was like a mom and pop.

: that drew me to it was the selection because that's my biggest, I don't know if this is going to be a question further on, but that's like my biggest like thing I miss about the video store is logging on to the video streaming services and not finding

: the thing I'm looking for, you know, so then I will try to like pirated or something and it's got Russian subtitles on the bottom and horrible quality or whatever and there's no, I'm someone who likes commentary and bonus features are essentially gone

: from streaming services, you're preaching to the choir here man Yeah, I know, but um so when I got there I was just walking around and I was like wow they have every single movie I've ever wanted to see here, this is awesome.

: Yeah.

: Yeah. The

: for me working there.

: Oh, I also forgot to ask you Did you sign the form. Okay, send it off good.

: Yeah, the, the special features you can't get that anywhere. As far as I know, it's like, I think there's like YouTube will occasionally have like bonus feature or something like that, but it's just like outtakes or something.

: And I feel like now, people who make movies aren't incentivized to make bonus features, and I remember getting like Monty Python the holy grail like the special edition of it and looking at the back of it, and it was literally just like a wall of text

: of like all the feedback is kind of a joke like look how many extra features around right.

: Yeah, that's amazing like I probably care more about that movie now because I spend you know an extra two hours with it just watching it, like all those stupid little things that were on the DVD.

: Yeah.

: How often did you go in there too so did you rent there before you start yeah yeah I would, I rented there for a while.

: You remember you're pretty.

: what was it, do you remember your account number. Yeah, 8281, I guess.

: I think I stopped my little sticker in my wallet. How do you know when I started working there I was like, Oh, I can change my number to like, you know, 111 or something but as like, I already got this one mark so yeah keep it easy.

: Yeah.

: Yeah, mine was 17681 and that one was kind of funny I'm not like the best with people's names, so I would recognize people by their account numbers. So it's like if they came in I would know it's like, oh, you know, 91 or whatever, you know like, I just

: I had like certain people locked in.

: Did you.

: We used to love doing this the, you'd have their you pull up their account before they said anything yeah I don't shut their notes, because people would always leave like all this guy's a deck or something super nice super nice old lady or something you

: know. Oh, you know, just kind of get like a general vibe, don't read through this guy he'll steal your movies can yeah stuff like that yeah like careful with this guy whatever I'm like, okay, People used to love the fact that we pull up their information

: before they had anything. Anytime anything So, yes, they'd be like oh you know me and be like yeah, like you're in here, as much as I am, you're in here every single Wednesday Friday.

: You know, it's like, At a certain point I get you down. Right.

: So it says cool I mean, you were.

: I mean yeah you said you went out to Hastings and stuff but you're loving the fact that it was a local. Yeah, look at things that have a really good selection too but I also felt a little better about like supporting a local business versus like a mega

: Corporation.

: And I didn't, I didn't rent in Hastings, cuz. Yeah, why would I because I worked at a video store right that was the only thing was there, I know they had a ton of new releases.

: Yeah.

: Was there, old titles for yeah they had a. They actually have like a really good foreign section. That's why you can read it. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Um, I think the reason I started an account there is because I wanted to rent.

: I think was old boy.

: Something I'm just gonna say oh but I think was that and I wanted to buy it, but I took it up there and like it oh it's a rental and it's like, oh yeah, I didn't even know you could rent movies from here like that was when I was like really young.

: And then when I came up here I, you know, they have just as big of a selection here and as the one in Coeur d'Alene. So, what was the one like and Coraline.

: I think it might have been bigger but pretty much same selection like all new releases and stuff like that wasn't a mom and pop kind of no I know it was like a big warehouse target okay store.

: That one that went out went out of business too and they replaced it with like a knockoff version of Hastings it's like they sold and did the exact same thing it just wasn't called Hastings, It was like entertainment plus or something like that.

: Strange quarterly and have any mom and pop video store, they did have one.

: I remember it being like, kind of expensive and it was on the other side of town of for me. So when I was a kid, I would go to Hollywood because it was next to the grocery store so I would just go grocery shopping with my parents because I was like oh

: I gotta rent a movie after this, you know, and then when I was a little bit older, I could bike over there, because you know after high school or middle school I could just bike over there was pretty close to my house.

: So, the other one, there was a mom and pop store but yeah it was like wait on the other side of town, and by the time I was already used to Hollywood so I was like, I'm just gonna keep going to let you know.

: You know, I could have supported that I think they're still there actually.

: Sometimes I can sort of Hollywood video. No, it's like the mom and pop one I don't know that all of it but okay.

: It's every time I drive by it. They still have posters up for like Bohemian Rhapsody and like the shallows I think those came out around the same time, like those are the two like dead center on the front of the windows I'm like, it might have gone out

: of business like 2019 or whatever those came out.

: Kelly and I talked about that kind of Marquis poster thing we have in the window.

: And that was my pet peeve I was like we gotta change those we got to keep on top of that, yes, if you don't you just look like a Video Star that's gone out of business.

: I was like, I kind of toyed with the idea when I was manager of like should I just put like a classic movie poster in this or something like Titanic, or something like that, you know, and it's just be like, hey, just so you know, but I think you're right,

: you do have to keep that with like hey we have john Wait, you know, we have like new things to, you know, classic. It was a good, good way to advertise because yeah you put a little date on it and be like, Yo comes out, but most people would would even

: look at the date that see the poster and be like, Can I rent that, like, and I'm like, yeah, in two months you can.

: They read like a some, I had a poster up, I forget, I think it was like Wreck It Ralph, and it was a, it had the date it was from the Kenworthy, so it had like the theatrical release date on the bottom of it.

: So, like this family came in and they're like, Can we get this and they're like, I'm like oh it comes out, you know next month or something that's like the poster from says it came out this summer I was like, Yeah, I know.

: You saw the little text at the bottom that said this summer coming the summer but you missed like my giant sign that I had made an actual date of the release, not coming to theaters yeah yeah we did the video so yeah, yeah, Yeah.

: Yeah, I think that's why on the other side of that poster. I just have like a Clint Eastwood.

: the other side of that poster. I just had like a Clint Eastwood. Yeah, that's what I was saying like something like that just some regular movie thing you know yeah, just like a classic class Yeah, but you're right I guess that would that would get people to stop and especially for something like, You know I could

: know I could Avengers or something like that, that would get people who are walking by to be like, wait, what is that store, you know, that's yeah yeah that's talked about that little window up front with the bread.

: Yeah.

: And I don't know if that TV was working when you were there, you were trying to get it work. We're trying to get to work.

: They wanted to put like Fantasia, or something on there.

: But just like images that yes, I think they didn't get Fantasia because it would be quiet and you wouldn't have to, you wouldn't have to like, yeah, playing old classics on that TV was the best, you know, yes, I, I don't think it worked when I was there

: because it was never on the entire time I was there. No, that's too bad.

: That was kind of a cool little catch people's attention, kind of thing. Yeah, yeah, just like dangling keys in front of them or something, anything to get them in the store.

: Sure. Yeah, get him in there. geez. Yeah.

: So you were you said you work there for years. Yeah.

: And then, how many of those years were you manager.

: I think just the last year when the star was, I think they were kind of talking about they were really uncertain about the future of the store.

: And right when Ben was leaving, and he was kind of like well you know whatever happens if you want to take over, you can. So I was like, sure, you know, so essentially I kind of looked at my manager, my time as manager, there is just like bonus time,

: I felt like it was supposed to be closing anyways, so the fact that I got another year out of it was like you know that that I guess that was my goal as like I'm just gonna keep this going for as long as I can.

: Yeah.

: That's cool.

: Take it still be there if I really don't know.

: Yeah, I don't know because it's covered made it like crazy I you know if we actually had to shut down. Yeah, I feel like we were already struggling, that would have been.

: But maybe if we got like those loans that they were giving out I think that could have pulled us back, but again it's, it's a minor miracle that video rental store made it to the year 2020 anyways.

: So, again, I was just thankful for whatever time I got with that place but yeah I think about that all the time I'm like, I really do wish that was open.

: Yeah, we've talked about this a little bit is like, if it would have just survived the 14 days shut down or however long it was, yeah, could sustain now like, could you have done a walk up window and right yeah we'd have to change it because that's part

: of the appeal of going to the video stores, walking around for an hour and a mouse around, you know, so even if we had like, I know they were talking about making an online list of like you could browse the catalog and see that, but it's still that's

: different than Oh this looks cool, or what is this. Now, some of my favorite movies I were just things that had cool covers you know, and it's also like, I don't know, it's just like a.

: I don't think that business is specifically designed for you to people to walk around and write all that stuff right.

: Yeah, that was always the, the fine line we had straddle was get so many new releases to appease the masses, but you still got to get the library. Yeah.

: Because that's what we're known for and that's what I know yeah I was kind of treating it as like a I wanted it to be like, Oh, we have every single movie in the story, you know, no matter how obscure, but then I quickly realized like, oh, nobody you

: like at least a couple of people need to rent it in order for it to be right, just for that one weirdos like do you have the most obscure thing ever. I'm like, oh yes we do.

: is Criterion Collection. Right, yeah. That didn't rent really at all. No, but I just kept you know one in every hundred person who came in, was like so stoked that we have that.

: Yeah, but you're right that was definitely like a.

: I appreciate it. That was great but, um, yeah, there were definitely not renting as well as like the family's action, no family or horror section for some reason was a big, big down action stuff like that.

: Yeah, and TV, like, Yeah. Yep.

: Now,

: so you kind of,

: I guess you were only there for four years so the video store changed much while you were there.

: What do you mean, because we didn't do we did VHS, but they were all behind the counter. Right, yeah that's so somebody wanted like a movie that we did have on VHS they'd have to know the title, right but because I've been toying with the idea of putting

: those out somewhere in the store but again it's that it's like the criterion thing where like, how many people are actually going to be renting some of those.

: Right.

: And the room, we just kept running out of room, like, yes yeah i.

: One of my things I did there was the DVD cases that the rentals came in, we're probably about that thick and I would buy like skinnier ones like that.

: That's like, Oh, this will save me so much space in the back room you know like that. So I went through and it only bought me about like one bookshelves, worth of space.

: Yeah, I was like, oh that's like like two months, like scooting every single case over yeah yeah it was an ongoing problem, it was.

: Yeah and you were here for the when the video store was bigger now on, on Fifth Street. Yeah we Yeah, that was only ever in that location yeah yeah we just, we had so much room.

: And then we moved to this place that was half the size, like how we going to do this, but that was another big problem i thought was everything kind of was like a library where you could just see the spines of the DVD, and I always wanted to get as many

: facing outwards as I could. And, you know, so I had to like pick and choose I would have preferred like you know every single road at like three or four facing out but we just didn't have the space for them.

: Yeah, couldn't do that.

: Yeah, I think.

: Did you, we were kind of, you know, he's like invent new sections and, yeah, like a Marvel movie comic book section and a Studio Ghibli second and I don't think I ever got to invent any digit.

: Okay. I'm the only one I kept running on the space in Star Wars is like every year, there was one coming out and I'd have to buy like four of them.

: So they would big chunks and I was like, because they're I think originally they only have like enough space for this six like the prequels and the original facing out.

: So yeah, that was the space that I was dealing with I was like, yeah, yeah it was just one shelf space right. Yeah, I think the shelf was like usable was when Carrie Fisher passed away, everything was like rented out so I can actually fit everything in

: that section.

: Sometimes leftover.

: That was left over. That was the one time that I could actually like use that space properly. Did you do a lot of Memorial. Yeah.

: Yeah.

: Oh, the only other thing I had it was a there was a section at the front, because there were so many like I was joking about this with one of the workers.

: I forget who but because there were so many like remakes and reboots, and like, just sequels and stuff like that. I made a section of like now in theaters.

: So, whenever a new like Star Wars movie came up for example I would put the other older ones in that section. So if you, a lot of people would be coming in for like I mentioned earlier john like three came out when I was working there.

: So I would put like one and two, in that spot because they would just come right up to the counter and be like hey do you have the first one of this, and I'd be like yeah it's right behind you, satisfaction for that that's that's what was that section

: near the checkout was like right by it used to be. I don't know if it was this when you were working there but it was like a local businesses got to select some movies and put on a rack.

: So I use that rack because I just stopped reaching out to people.

: Yeah, this might be served better is something like every time a new Marvel movie came out, I'd be like, yeah, it's right there, you know, everyone that was asking the same question over and over again.

: Sorry water went down the wrong.

: You're good.

: Mike pick it up. No, no, you're good. That's good.

: Okay.

: Yeah.

: That's cool, like that, that local video store thing I think that was after I left I think I'm Hardcastle, kind of, I tried keeping it up but I just, yeah, it was hard, it was.

: Yeah, it was. Shoot it was hard to get all the employees to pick a.

: I don't know why I was like that is like one of the biggest perks of working here is you get to like, yeah, display your movie taste to people. Yeah, that's, that's what I must pulling teeth getting it to pick out eight movies.

: Right.

: Well, I always had a rule for myself that I can repeat myself. Yeah, I did that.

: And, and then I, I would try not to pick anything that I knew another employee had picked. Yeah, yeah, yeah I always tried to initially I was just doing like my favorite movies or whatever, but I quickly ran out of that.

: So I just would like pick a theme. So, I don't know, I'd like a certain actor or I tried to do one where it's like the colors of the rainbow, like, you know, Green Mile or blue ruin you know stuff like that like just anything, because I just couldn't,

: I was like, I just can't you'd like random movies anymore. I need something to help me pick something. Yeah.

: Speaking of movie.

: Oh, you got some cool ones behind you. Yeah.

: And now this is the only like movie stuff all over my house but none of them are like appropriately located for a zoom interview. So, just got my disciple know that that's a cure curious I was wrong.

: Right, yeah. And then tell them where you got the Hitchcock one that's well I got the Ron and it's actually says it's actually like the film The Curacao because it's from France but I just like it because our, and then I got the psychosis, or psycho from

: when I was in Spain, I just. That must have been the Spanish name for it. I thought that's so funny. I was like, Yeah, I gotta, gotta have it. Yeah.

: Yeah. The, the employee pics were fun because I would like give myself homework to do like well haven't seen that and I think I might like it. And again, I would do that too.

: I take it home and didn't like it, and I'd be like, Oh, great, now I gotta find something else to watch. Yeah, I'd be like, I put something on there because I just had been sitting on my watch list, like I just had an IMDb watch list or whatever for like

: hundreds of movies on them like okay I'm gonna force myself to watch this movie I'm going to put it if I put it on my employee pics, I will have to watch it within the next month, you know.

: Now since you.

: Did you guys keep tally and have it yeah yeah we did that too. Okay so bender bender that when I started working so I just kept doing it too. I thought that sounds fun.

: You ever when I think I won all but one of them.

: I think I won all but one of them. Okay, yeah. So people were zoning in on Connor specs.

: Well there are people who would come in and specifically just rent like from certain people like if they found that their tastes aligned with certain person.

: So then there's some people, plus i don't think other people cared as much as I did. So I would like give them a bit harder sell on some of my movies you know if someone came in is like you have any recommendations I'm like yeah I got some right behind

: you on that wall if you want to check them out.

: Like, maybe something else, maybe something on that top shelf there you know those ones look for you.

: I'm the inverse of that was always funny when people would be like trash talking pics or whatever.

: I had a. There was a Tim Heidecker movie called comedy.

: You heard of it or.

: Have you heard of it or. It's not a comedy, it's basically high Decker is a hipster in his kind of way. Is that the one where he takes the girl on the boat at the end of it. Yeah.

: Oh I have seen that. Yeah.

: And some girl returned it. And she goes, who's Bo Bo's pics are awful.

: And I was, I was the only one in there and I go, oh yeah he's an employee. She goes, who are you and I go I'm Ben.

: She's like, he's like the comedy is not a comedy that is an awful movie. I was like, Well, yeah, I will let him know I'll let Bono next time I see him yeah yeah that happened to me.

: Um, I had like get out on there, and somebody came back and they like that was the worst movie I've ever seen. I was like, wow, I don't know, maybe we just have different tastes in movies right yeah, there might be certain reasons you know like that movie

: in particular I don't

: remember yeah back at the old star guy was like, kind of acquaintance, friend of a friend, and he's like, give me a movie to watch and I'm like, how about this French movie Emily's like, Okay, Thanks at home.

: And he's returning it and all he did when he returns it just goes, No dude. No, and then returned it

: was feedback. What did you like about it, just.

: He was like, not my, not my kind of movie, I guess. Yeah, I always kind of hated that when people were like, I love recommending movies to people and stuff like that but if they just would like point blank like name a movie.

: I'm like, Well, what do you want to watch.

: Or like they kind of be like, what's a good horror movie I'm like, you want aliens Do you want zombies you want goes like. Right.

: Yeah.

: I was just gonna say, um, you said like, pick a movie that I had seen recently that I'd like so I'd be like, okay, you should watch the witch or hereditary or something, you know, and then usually they'd come back and based on their feedback, I would

: know. Okay.

: So if they're like oh I really loved it. I'm like cool you might like more interesting horror movies and, but if they like that was so boring or something I'd be like, right.

: Check out the purge like boss movies or something you know like something you might like those a little more hostile or something. Right. Yeah, but if I have like some sort of direction to play me and like where their tastes was, that was so much better

: than just pick one of these 30,000 movies.

: I used to kind of ask him I was like what was the last horror movie you watch the well that's a good one. So then I can kind of gauge right well if you like that then maybe like.

: Yes, because I was feel bad like if somebody came back and was like, Oh, I didn't like that I'm like, I just made you waste like a couple bucks you know like if there was a guy who like sometimes we, the first thing I ever recommended to him he liked

: loved, and like he didn't like anything else that I wrote like three or four other ones. So like the fifth one of like, just, I'm not going to charge you for this one, just let me know if you like this, I feel bad like I recommend wasted like four nights

: yours now. It's like I'll pay for this one. Yeah, right, like, at a certain point I mean, we're diverged from where I taste like.

: I'm so I guess was a pretty major differences between just working there as an employee and managing.

: Um, I guess it was a lot more stressful like I cared more about making sure everything was working right. It wasn't a ploy I kind of just was sitting back.

: Watching movies right but right yeah I definitely was like, gotta make sure everyone's on their own time you know I feel like I didn't want people to have like a negative perception of the store because I felt like if they had like one bad experience.

: Then they probably wouldn't come back because it's just easier to get like Netflix and just, you know, do it all a cart right. But, so that's why it's like, it kind of bugged me when I see people like slacking off or whatever while they're working like

: no like, but I know that I was kind of doing that too when I was just working there and playing you know sounds like it could be that mad but I'm also like because it's not like I wanted to be like a fun environment you don't want it to be like oppressive,

: if you're working in a video store that's supposed to be fun,

: finding that balance, I guess. Yeah.

: How did you.

: So the.

: Was it still the das system, when you were working there Oh man, I was at the windows. Yeah, so we started out with the system.

: And that crashed, like two years into me working there. I don't know what happened with it, but there was about, like a three or four month window where we were doing everything by paper, while they were trying to get somebody to code a new system.

: And then they bought like this other newer system. And so then it was, but everything in between that was how they used to do when the first one the store first opened, I think they did everything on like those slips.

: It's the same slips of paper we use if there's like a power outage so people could still Ram. Yeah.

: Every single thing like that it was so tedious. We had to write out the five digit code on the each for each movie, so someone rented like 20 movies or something you know it's like yeah 563 through 556345635, you know, but after that, we got a better

: newer system, and I could actually use the mouse, and it was pretty clean, it was still from like a couple years back because I don't think people are coding new video rental software, but uh, yeah.

: That thing was so much better. And I always joke with the, whenever I hired a new person I'm like you don't have to learn, you know, back in my day, I had to use the arrow keys for everything.

: You don't even know.

: Did you still have to use the 10 key to. Yeah, yeah, I've been really good at using the notepad now, that was a plus from working there for using what the notepad on this Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

: Ben Ben was the fastest man Hardcastle, I feel like I was pretty fast. I'm sure he was like way faster than me. Yeah, I was good I was getting pretty fast myself to that was, that was pretty fun to see how quick you could do it and right now yeah, it

: was like a, I would do that and kind of just like lock in reading it and like just doing it with my other hand, and then some. One time this lady was like Oh, am I keeping, I'm like, I'm like keeping you from closing, because it was like kind of late

: I was like, oh no I just was doing it quickly. She's like, oh, I'll get out of here. I'm like, Oh, I'm.

: I didn't mean that to be rude I'm sorry I'm just like trying to go as fast as I can.

: Right, right.

: Um, so, did you.

: So I guess I was gonna ask you a couple of questions about, we'll get to those a little bit later, but.

: So I guess we'll kind of talk to you about working there.

: And in, in like how to decide what to play on the monitors and stuff like that.

: Did you have a raw, no or.

: Did you have a rule no I rated or anything. Yeah, yeah, just because I always felt awkward feels like little kids in there. Yeah, and I would you know like nudity or something.

: If it looks like.

: Late at night, like probably that last hour, that's sometimes I'd put stuff on that was a little more questionable but I felt like it was just I the rule like everyone was just use common sense like don't put on that pool or something.

: Right, yeah. Okay, specifically designed to be as offensive as right yeah also it's like you don't need to, there's only so many g rated PG movies, you know, that's what I went through.

: I had a list on my phone that was just like store appropriate movies, and I was just working through those if people would recommend stuff I'd add to that and basically work through that.

: But after I watched, pretty much all the movies I wanted to watch in the first like two three years I'd started doing TV shows. So I blew through all every single star trek X Files was one with all those 10 seasons, you know, if you're one of the ones

: that always played Star Trek, cuz yeah yeah, that was so that's what's funny, I put it on and then other people would come in and then they would see you know they catch the end of an episode Meg, Alex interest so they would start watching it so then

: two employees were watching it, and then like they would work with somebody else and they, they would catch the tail end of them watching them as I think three people were watching Star Trek at the same time out of the five of us that were working.

: Um, did you do.

: The actually did you have a couple favorites that you love to play in the store like Henri.

: Um, I know I had mine but I think

: I'm sure there were the one I always used to watch was like Planet Earth, because it was like, Oh yeah, you could tune in and tune out, and it kind of resets the story every five minutes, you know, so if you like have your back to you can jump back in

: not missing anything it's not like there's a plot or anything, and it's just like, visually very interesting so I think customers like to to the only problem with it is. Sometimes you'd like turn around and it would be like a baby elephant being like

: eaten by pack of whatever you know I'm sorry, you know, something like that. But other than other than that it was great like that was, I think people really like that too so I would always put that like blue planet and.

: And there's some like cosmos, not the Carl Sagan month but some other like space shows that I would watch.

: So there was a time when I was still managing I had a lot of people, a lot of employees that love to play music in there.

: Yeah. Did you know that. Yeah, open up music documentaries, or like concerts and stuff like that too. Okay.

: Yeah, I don't know, because I know, Ian always would watch the talking heads, like, stop making sense yes I'm making sense and like true stories and, oh yeah, mother.

: I think we had some other random concert thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah that was always tough because.

: No, I mean, music ones were like great because you didn't have to like, follow the story or anything like that. You just listened to it. So I do get used to play in the one like I would just play stuff over and over again because I didn't have to watch

: it I knew it was going on. Yeah, I think there's a guy that worked with us who watched the cure like Greatest Hits music videos or whatever. So he's like that one was on all the time.

: Like 20 videos.

: Okay.

: I love that DVD yeah that was a good one. That wasn't good.

: Maybe I remember there was a program one and it got a scratch. And I would always just put that one on in them.

: It's just like a concert and it kept getting worse and worse because I played it probably like 1015 times or something like that. So I was like, No, I'm losing my comfort DVD.

: Also, that's like if it was near the end of my shift or something and I didn't time the movies right.

: I would have like a little gap where I only needed like 20 minutes or something but I didn't want to start a movie and just watch the first so I would just put that in that would be like my end of shifting.

: And I was the first 20 minutes of that one. And then you're like yeah, I gotta go. Yeah.

: Um, did you take advantage of the free rentals. Oh yeah, yeah, I think

: I have like a list of like every movie I've watched while I work there, you know just phone, or whatever, but um yeah I don't know why. Just for fun, but uh, yeah, I look back on it and I ended up watching to movie it average out to watching two movies

: movies every day for like every since I started working there. Like, either it yeah and I only work, you know, three days out of the week you saw.

: Were you yeah a lot of rentals, where you kind of a movie at night, kind of person.

: Yeah, I would, I try to watch a movie night. Yeah, but uh that usually would turn into like two movies, you still do that, less so now. But yeah, I still try to watch a movie a day.

: I'm like what movie Are you looking for I'm like that one.

: Like, Oh great.

: I guess I'll catch this later. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but so now we only have 30,000 titles, you know. Yeah, I know, right, you gotta have this one, I saw that watching new releases too because especially if it got towards the end of the movie or something.

: And people are like, Oh, this is yeah I want to watch this and I'm like, you're watching the last five minutes right now, now you're just spoiling, I can pause it if you want.

: Did you ever use the.

: The rebuffing machine. Yeah, for DVDs.

: Yeah, I don't know if I ever used that correctly though, but it didn't do it because there's like different levels of thickness to the little pads, not always just kept it on that one.

: Like surface level one because I didn't want to damage the disc, there's like big warnings all over it, you know, and especially, we used to do it. I don't know if they did it when you were there but where you people would bring in their discs, and we

: clean it for them. Yeah we I just stopped doing that because I didn't want to mess up people's stuff, you know, oh right yeah yeah we would kind of just warn them be like hey, you know, we'll try if it doesn't work, you know, sorry, but yeah I'm that

: we missed when Hastings shut down. Um, so like mad that we didn't grab their buffer, because I remember I used to take my DVDs in there and have them clean in.

: So I imagine that there's a lot like newer and nicer, but you come. So the video Howard Hughes video did Outlast pasting.

: Yeah. Okay, so Hastings went out of business when you were still working there. I think they went out of business earlier but our starter like hung around, for whatever reason, I want to say it was like 2017 2018, somewhere around there.

: I think we were the last video store in town Redbox.

: Oh yeah. But I mean, If you want to like new releases. Right.

: But like we, I think even like Safeway I don't think had oh yeah cuz they used to have the whole front end was nothing.

: No I. So I think we were the actual last physical store you could rent movies, you know. Yeah.

: So that right there that's cool, but I know we beat up blockbuster we beat Hastings. Yeah, exactly. And there were there were a ton of video stores in Moscow, growing up.

: Oh yeah, like mom and pop ones, you know, so it pretty special that this one for, for whatever reason, and I'm like I said I'm like the end of the legacy of.

: It's out of my I didn't have that much control over this way I'm sorry people.

: Yeah, who was managing when it went out of business. Okay, Yeah.

: Yeah, I know that. But it was just a decline from the get go, you know, like I said, a minor miracle that it was opened the year 2020 anyways so, yeah.

: Well that's, that's why they're doing something like this you know it's, yeah, don't let it die, you know, you know that's interesting because there'd be kids who came in and they were like really young, and they'd be like, what is the they like what

: are the like they didn't even understand the concept of a video rental store. And it's like, I'd be like, yeah, it's like a red box but you can walk in and you know that's that's how it happened.

: It's like, it's like IRL Netflix, you know.

: Yeah, we got those kids to know what a video story is there's so many other kids in the nation that have no idea why Look what a local video stores night.

: Yeah, for sure.

: There's a these one kids that would just come in and their folks would browse and the kids would just sit right in front of the screen and stare at it and watch whatever we're watching.

: No matter what it was. Yeah, you're like, hope nothing bad happens here. Yeah, I know it's like a ticking time bomb especially if I'd seen the movie I'm like, I know something's coming up here.

: Yeah.

: Yeah.

: Yeah. That was my know our movie thing I was like, Yeah, I just want to risk it is like awkward Mm hmm. Then you play it, a PG movie

: or something and all, you know, Next thing you know there's a job like some slurs or something and it's like, oh, yeah, Yeah.

: No, I, I remember we Lord of the Rings we just watch out all the time and then just because they were like, you know, three hours so you just put it in and that's like your whole ship was just like one movie right but um, there was a little girl who's

: like, afraid of snuggle like the Gollum space oh yeah like, just like horrified her so I know that like as watching that wants an eye, she came in the store and I was like oh, I gotta pop this out real quick.

: Yeah, we had to do that quite a bit. Yeah, But you know, that was us just being conscious and that was the other thing a Halloween was always hard because I try to watch like horror movies, but there aren't that I can only watch like Coraline so many

: times you know there's not that many like family friendly kids movie you know I was like, Cool paranormal and Nightmare Before Christmas, you know,

: because I wanted to watch like scary movies but I didn't want to actually scare a little children won't even Beetlejuice right yeah there's there's an F bomb right yeah he says, right my model, I can model Yeah, and I knew where it was, but sometimes

: I'd be busy and I'm like, Oh, I need to go skip that it. Yeah.

: Yeah. Or like, just like a.

: I don't know, even like every Will Ferrell movie there's always like a bug shot or something, you know like, Oh right, yeah, it's like come on. Why are you doing this.

: That's pretty funny. Yeah, we always pretty conscious of it but in the old store we used to let whoever was there last day, play whatever they want.

: Somebody played Fight Club, like right at six o'clock when it was super busy.

: And I was just cringing the whole time you like.

: Just scene after scene after scene so just get through this example I'm like sallow or something.

: The taste of.

: Now, sallow.

: If you ever watched that movie. I yeah I own that movie. Do you, that was one of the things in the high school I was like I gotta watch all the, I gotta watch movies, you know, I was just curious and I know there's more going on in that movie but it's

: it's also a movie where the poop, you know, so

: check that one out.

: A buddy of mine sent me just as I guess for anybody who's familiar with the movie Salo but it was the Pixar movie soul.

: Oh yeah, it was the font but it just said sallow in it said Pixar movie Pixar Salo. Yeah, it was like, Okay, I would hate for anybody to get those two movies fixed up right yeah.

: So we're recommending those two people to it because it, there were certain people who came in, and because I'd seen all those they'd be like, Oh, I just watched like, you know, I don't like a Serbian film or something like what other ones that I'm like,

: oh you're, this was really messed up you know and I'm like, man, I just recommend and movie were like, like martyrs or something you know I'd be like, that one's basically just a woman being tortured for like two hours like I really hope that.

: I'm sorry. Yeah, I, if that's what you're looking for, great, you know, that's the perfect movie for you but also I'm like, I just recommended irreversible the sun right exactly this something like that where I'm like oh, this was real hardcore you know

: and it would be like, maybe, I, I don't know how much responsibility do I bear that this person has now seeing that and they're like this this guy endorsing those opinions of this right right yeah.

: Trust me, that's not, This doesn't have.

: Yeah, you gotta see.

: It's like oh here's antichrist. This one's really cool. Yeah. Yeah, like I feel like everybody needs to sit down and watch pink flamingos, you know, right yeah yeah, just say they have.

: Right.

: But I had a friend that was bartending at the corner club.

: And he knew I was working at the video store and he's like, give me a.

: He's like, I'm going to come in and rent from you. And I want like five of the most fucked up movies you've never seen them like sure he's like yeah, so I did I think I sent him home with in the realm of the senses irreversible Salo martyrs.

: Is it martyrs yeah marvelous. Yeah, and one or two other ones and he was like okay I regret asking you to do that.

: Yeah.

: Yeah, it's got it's got funny there's like a guy who mentioned like nine songs, which they actually show like real sex on that, you know, yeah,

: yeah, yeah. Nine songs yeah right. Yeah, then had 17 rating. Right, right. He's like any other ones like that and I'm like, Yeah, I mean, nymphomaniac I could watch I'm sure there's some other ones.

: You know, like you could just watch porn.

: Yeah.

: You like the music in it I don't know.

: There's a Russ Meyer film called up.

: Oh yeah, yeah I haven't seen it, but yeah, not to be confused with TechStars fires up.

: Yeah.

: But that one kind of startled me because john waters they did pink flamingos was a big fan of Russ Meyer so I was like, All right, I'll check it out and I was like, clutching my pearls like, Oh, this is I mean you saw pink flamingos I mean, it's pretty.

: Not exactly where he got it, you know, you knew exactly where he's a fan of the.

: Yeah, I love that cold section.

: I wish I got in there and because I had made a list of all the movies that I wanted to see, like when I knew the server shutting down. I was like okay I gotta get these because I know they're not available anywhere.

: So I was like running through the list of. And the other thing is like foreign films because even if I can find those online, most of the time they don't have the right subtitles or, you know, it's, it's a lot harder than just finding like regular American

: films. So I made this list and now I just, I'm sitting with this list that I got halfway through, and I have no way to find these movies and I'm like I still missed opportunity I should have been renting all those ones first, if, if I'd known.

: Right.

: I listened to a lot of podcasts and because I miss being around film and talking to people about movies and stuff like that.

: Because I you know I was like oh, people I work with, I can, you know, then I get to talk to me about whatever, you know. Yeah.

: But, you know, they would always mention a movie in their podcasts, and I'd be like, Howard Hughes has it, you know, and they're like, you can't find that anywhere.

: And I'd be like, well, come to Moscow Idaho, you can find. Yeah, yeah, yeah, listen to podcasts and at the end of the day, every week they recommend a new movie or whatever and then they talk about on the next one so it's like oh if you want to, you know,

: watch along you can do this and then they'd always be like, well, this one's only available. You can buy the criterion blu ray for 40 bucks and I might, or I can just walk over to that corner of the store and pick it up.

: I know, yes, it's not that was one major thing. I miss is like when you work there was your own personal library, right, you know. Yeah, but yeah that's talking about things with movies they will be people.

: That was another thing I watched all the Godzilla movies, just because you know there's like, I think, 27 or something like that, whatever people.

: So he would come in and I was just, just for like two weeks I was just watching all those, so I'd have to have like an hour long conversation about Godzilla every single time he came in.

: He's like some Godzilla fishing and not just a customer. Yeah, just some kid that is a younger I think he's like college age, but kind of kind of time and he would just come in and sit there and watch it with me for like an hour, and that would happen

: with Star Trek too, because, you know, Star Trek fans want to tell you the most my new to details about a Frankie bar. You know, it's like it's like the worst was when they would spoil things I like, Oh, this is the one where that guy's wife dies, I'm

: like, I guess it is. I can find out.

: That's pretty funny. Yeah.

: Did you were.

: Did you order any of the movies, we're doing that you're managing. Yeah. That was me trying to I initially wanted to make it like a library where we had everything, but like I said, I was just picking things that I wanted to see and I'm like that's not,

: maybe not necessarily things that people want to see. So, it was interesting finding like that mix, but I did try to get like one of everything.

: Right.

: Yeah, I never heard of it you know kept a list of. Yeah, upcoming releases and stuff. Yeah, or people's requests. So yeah, I would be like hey do you have this or you should you should get it you know he's thinking about it would always be surprised when

: I'd be like, oh hey I got that movie you mentioned that like, Oh, you did. I'm like, yeah, and wanted to watch it right.

: Yeah, I spent 10 bucks on it and you're going to run it once, you better at it.

: Some random.

: Yeah, we're hour long and a German movie it's like, yeah, or you get that. And somebody would be like oh I found it somewhere else and watch the back.

: Oh, cool. okay well hopefully it rants.

: Yeah, exactly.

: When you were ordering.

: Where, where were you getting the titles.

: I was just to Amazon. Because, or no I go to Walmart to, if they didn't have it on Amazon, but uh, yeah we didn't have like a catalog or anything, I wasn't getting like a book, I was paying like retail value for those things.

: It was nice was the blu ray would come with like blu ray and DVD, so I could get two rentals out of one. That was nice. Yeah.

: Yeah, they're like make shift the box kind of thing to like photocopy, I had to find like a high quality enough photo of. Luckily, there is a website that just is a catalog of every single DVD cover.

: Yes, scanned in like four k images of.

: And it was too right Yeah, right. I had all the writing and the band stuff. Yeah. The problem is, sometimes I couldn't find like good enough quality ones or like the right size to fit the DVD box so I'd have to get like a region to region.

: Everyone's got region two DVDs or something and they can this play in it it says it only plays in like Asian DVD players on like no I yeah it's just our thing, you know, I'm sorry.

: Right, yeah, yeah, yeah it's just a conference has the right to cover Yeah, yeah.

: And plus our copy machine at least when I was there wasn't very good quality. They bought one like right before I started working there so oh did they have it's actually pretty good.

: Yeah, that would be a problem though, there'll be some movies where it would be like too dark or something like that but I'm like well I got it, I got to do something you know so I just would use that as a cover and they would rent horribly because you

: would look like bad or something. That was my perception of it I thought maybe people were renting it, because it looked like a bootleg or something. Right. I'm sorry it's just cuz our thing sucks like I couldn't find the right quality photo for them.

: Right. Yeah, it's not a region to I promise, sorry Joe that was a boring DVD. Looks like a car that somebody had written, and it's like on in Sharpie it says like bread or.

: Yeah, yeah, or go with the Dragon Tattoo the Fincher one was like that too. So people were like, What is this, you know, it's just gonna play in my thing I'm like, Yeah, it is.

: It's just a recorded, you never heard that before.

: Um, So did you have any other customer service jobs before this one.

: No, this was the first I worked at a extroverted Safeway and borderline.

: But um, I was like in the background like stocking stuff, but I wouldn't occasionally bag if they were like, really slow or whatever, but uh yeah i was working behind the scenes so this is really my first time dealing with the public at large.

: Yeah.

: Got any stories about any regulars any anything wild happened when you were there too crazy. Oh yeah, yeah, I had the same batch of people, I'd say I saw the same like hundred people every week and then everybody else was like random college kids that

: first time going through there are just, you know, families, those are like the big things, but yeah I'd see you know the same hundred people, those are the people whose, I had their number like ready to go.

: Yeah, yeah nothing to, I don't know, I don't think there's anything. Nobody was like that was another thing that I really liked about it because microphone worked at Ross at the time, and she talked about like the crazy people that came in there, you

: you know, like, not like crazy but just like real handfuls, and I'm like, that's what that's what was great about the video store was, if something was wrong, it was like a $2 rental you know no one's going to be like throwing things at me because something

: went wrong on a $2 rental.

: I chill out.

: Like I was gonna fight me over like a 50 cent late. Some people.

: Yeah, yeah, so I didn't have retail experience from working there but pretty minimal. I know people deal with a lot worse and we don't like people working fast food or something, I don't know.

: Yeah.

: I can't imagine. Yeah, much, much worse.

: Working with the public jobs than the video store. Exactly. Did you get a lot of flack for late fees.

: Yeah, well, the worst would be like, cuz the late fee would kick in at 8pm, like in our new system, for whatever reason, we closed at nine, so people will drop it in the backlog or whatever at eight o'clock, and then if you weren't paying attention when

: you're entering their movie into the system, it would automatically give them a 50 cent late fee, and then a week later, they'd be like, I dropped it off you know what's the big deal and I'm like, Well, you know you did but it was, you know, you missed

: it by like 10 minutes or whatever it so normally I try to cut people slack. But um, yeah, that it would be that thing. and then I don't know if that was always the case though like maybe they did drop it off at midnight, and I have no way of clothes,

: you know, so they could just say that and I'd be like, well, I don't know, I can only let this slide so many times it's like, you know, it starts to add up.

: Was that new system.

: Could you change the due date.

: Yeah, you can but for whatever reason, it just, I'm sure this was like a quick Google search or something you know, figure out like are playing around in the settings for a day but I don't know, it wasn't that big a deal where I, you know, but yeah for

: some reason yeah I would do it at eight o'clock. That was, yeah well did not know that.

: We used to have a five o'clock return time. So that's what I would tell people, so they would get it in before eight right now that way, give them a little bit of leeway.

: Then we just pushed it to were

: closing, you know, also yeah it's like if you came in and handed it to me. I wasn't going to give you a late fee for five minutes later whatever for clothes and then you put it in the Dropbox, when you put it in at nine o'clock you put it in a midnight.

: We don't know and it's doors closed. All they know is they come in the next day and they're like, oh you know man like I dropped that on last night, you know, and you'd be surprised how many people would just flip out over 50 cents to $1 is the principal

: thing I guess I think people would like, I don't know, I'm just saying never really got anybody like super mad at me about anything really like that.

: But I don't know.

: I think there was one where somebody was a cult member, but their paperwork didn't get processed for whatever reason, like, it must have just gotten lost.

: So he's like no I paid the $200 I'm like okay that is actually like a big deal. Let me go figure this out. And I think we did end up finding it, I don't know, it happened.

: Right. It happened like in January and we close to March, so I don't that never turned into something like bigger, but I do remember that being like, Okay, I'm gonna.

: I don't know maybe this guy got a free call membership out of it but I was like okay I'll give you the $25 club membership and then it's like, if you want to renew it, you know, maybe, and he just never it never came.

: It never became a bigger problem but I could imagine that being a big thing if we, if you really did pay that and he was the one out of the, you know, hundreds of club memberships up a process that I lost.

: Yeah, I'm sorry for that guy.

: When you were working there, as an employee under when Ben and I were managing.

: Did you notice them trying to do or did you and when you are managing Did you try to do a lot of advertising.

: Um, I always wanted to get like a billboard or something I felt like that was the biggest problem, because in my like day to day life, people would be like, it would come up like, oh, what do you do for a living, I would tell them like oh I work a music

: video on there like, What is that, you know, we have a video rental store here in town.

: And it's like, Yeah, we do you should come check it you.

: Also I was in the broadcasting department at the University, and there were people in that that didn't even know that there's a video so I'm like you specifically would love this store like why, why are you not going right yeah some It was like, I don't

: know if a billboard would have got up now with like, like Tick Tock or something I feel like, you definitely could have made like an account on there and people would be like whoa there's a video rental store, you know, like something like that, or even

: like instead I we started an Instagram account.

: But I don't know yeah when I actually works. You know, when I was there was still. We are just getting into Facebook. Yeah, and Instagram.

: Just kind of yeah we had a Facebook so yeah you send out like new releases or something like that, this this week and, yeah, a lot of times Mitch at Casa Lopez would get it and then send it out to all his followers and stuff, but I remember when I first

: started working there I would get a stack of posters, and like Ben would be like hey can you put these on campus, and I would they were like, Forrest Gump, but it said like mainstream video or like Mary Poppins, it was like the cupboard.

: Yeah, I don't know if you saw this. Yeah, that was an employee of mine Emma made. She made this yeah they were out the Millennium Falcon yes yeah and the alien.

: There's the alien there when Mary Poppins, nothing else to say anything.

: Yeah.

: With the boom box over there. Yeah, so I would take those and put them around campus and be like, you know, hey, here's our store but that's really it like I yeah I do, I do think there was a way to market and like broadcast to the world like hey this

: exists, but I never forget it down. Yeah, we didn't really either kind of unfortunate we tried you know a lot of, we try to do stuff up on campus and survival guide and stuff like that yeah like getting in that would have been great, because all the new

: people coming into the city would have been seeing it for the first time but yeah I think if we would have just maybe stuck with Survival Guide for a little bit longer because we quit doing it.

: So we want to just get into, nobody we're in some. We were in like some newsletter, like Ben was doing it, where he would update like the new releases it was just like a little like box in some sort of like newsletter that went out to people, but I don't

: I don't know that was the extent of it so I always wanted to go to like the red boxes around town and put our sticker on it or something like that I just didn't want to get in trouble for it.

: Somehow that getting back to me and I was like man I should have just done it like, what, honestly, would Redbox have been mad at me.

: I don't know I didn't want to type vandalism to our store, so that's why I didn't do that. Sure, I always thought like, hey, just so you know this thing exists, and you're currently renting a movie, you know, and on the little sticker it's had like 30,000

: Yeah, it was just like Howard Hughes and then very minimal. Yeah, I don't even think it said five movies $5 I think it had like a phone number.

: Yeah, that's it i think that's an ad to film, mysterious. Yeah.

: But they got any to film right from the get go.

: Yeah.

: In a 23456 right yeah that was ours was like, oh yeah that's right I forget what it is. Oh, it's, I haven't had to use it for like a year now.

: What, what was the phone number for the, the video store. Yeah, yeah, it was at 23456. Yes, that's right. Yeah, I remember which was every time I said it to somebody they'd be like, Wow, that's a great one, you know, which I knew was a to film.

: Oh. Oh wow. Yeah. So we just put that on a lot of stuff to say to film. That's good. Yeah. But yeah, 3456 is so much. Yeah.

: Yeah.

: Yeah. 3456 is great. Yeah. But, yeah. Wow, I can't believe I use it for like four years and didn't even think about the know was film.

: So you mentioned the co op.

: That was.

: Yeah, I wasn't working there. When all the I.

: There was a kind of hints about it and I remember going to Monique Lillard house for a meeting and stuff like that. So, yeah, I started going to those meetings, right towards the end just because I wanted to know what was going on there making decisions

: but I really didn't have much to do with that. That'll started before I started working there.

: And I was kind of just like you guys can handle whatever business stuff I think this is like the agreement that we came to like just whatever business stuff is like all you guys and I'll just be like the face of the store like the front end, dealing with

: people aspect of the business. Yeah.

: Yeah, I think, I think it helped a lot like every time we got those membership site, I'm assuming that was going to something.

: Yeah, I think it. I think it did help it help pay out payoffs they had a loan that they were paying off. Yeah, and I know they made like a big chunk of like, they took a big chunk out of that with those car payments, so that money was going to something

: and you know that kept the store open. Yeah. And the fact that it was kind of owned by the public. Right. There wasn't like one person that was like sinking because they owned.

: Right.

: You know, just bill started to pile up.

: Yeah but, but I know, we probably got some breaks on rent and stuff like that. Yeah, it was they were always the people on the building, were like super nice about that, like, yeah, at least to me I don't know maybe behind the scenes ever been, you know,

: breathing down their neck like hey pay the rent but I was like, I always made that a priority is like yeah we gotta.

: I think that was other problem, I, I don't know, because we were like downtown on Main Street and that's such a good location for like foot traffic, but I wonder if moving to a different place like lower rent might have been something to do to help, but

: yeah, I'm parking was an issue marketing was huge to Yeah, I remember when Safari pearl moved. They, I don't know how I'm going to explain this.

: There's a building a town that had a parking lot, and I remember any like there St. Mark Yeah Third Street Yeah, but it was like, just enough off of downtown that I wonder if that would have hurt us in the long run because you don't have that foot traffic,

: of people just going downtown and walking around on mainstream.

: But yeah, I really don't know. I would like to yeah I don't Yeah, you never know what that kind of stuff, but when I talked to Kelly before. He's who I interviewed before you.

: It was Kelly and Debbie, and then pat Neil, and this guy named Gary Meyer.

: Gary Meyer own that he owned the main street building.

: Okay, so that's the whole reason.

: When they bought the store they moved it from its old location, which Okay, which was a bigger store and had better parking. But yeah, they didn't own it.

: You know, so, yeah, but I really do. That's that was the, that was like the pro of being downtown, was that foot traffic you know people walking on summer days I would just leave the door open.

: Find a soda or something. They don't want to set up an account, you know, right.

: Yeah, you still be still selling sodas and candy and popcorn and stuff. Yeah, I think that was my other contribution I switched from like the bags of candy to like the movie theater size boxes of candy.

: Oh, nice. I was like hey why don't we sell the is because you know you're like getting a movie you know that sort of thing. And I can charge a little more fun.

: So, could you when you were working there, could you tell that it was kind of kept declining. Over the years, um, just because I was doing like some, I was like, paying the writing the checks and stuff like that so I could see the books, and I was like

: oh yeah I mean we're kind of like breaking even, you know, and so I don't know I can't really compare that to when I first started working there. But yeah, I definitely can see it like you know just lesson number one like, go ahead.

: I was just gonna say I think it's impossible to compete with the convenience of it streaming in your home, you know, I don't think we're ever going to overcome that, it's just like an outdated business or anything.

: As much as I love it as much as like everyone loves it, you know, there. It's impossible to compete with that so I think we made up for with like selection.

: And sure, having somebody there to be like hey, maybe check this out, you know, but that only go so far. Right.

: So I think the writing was always on the wall but I had hopes that we could keep going, kind of like a cult thing, you know.

: Yeah, there was like I said there's that fine line of.

: We weren't as convenient.

: Yeah, you know, we couldn't compete in some ways in other ways, you know, right. But, but that library man that library I wish she could just say it's so heartbreaking.

: It is every time I like scrolling through streaming services like just, I can be watching this, but it's not on Hulu.

: So, did you like when the movies went to Kenworthy.

: Did you were you part of that.

: Um, I was part of boxing up the videos. And the story.

: At this point, yeah.

: The store was closed.

: It took like two weeks.

: It's like me.

: In his girlfriend Delaney and Lauretta.

: And we did like the whole store, you know just giant you up. You all optimism. I have some photos of that if you want those for the doc I don't know if

: I could, like, you know, see you.

: Okay, yeah, just guys I was like I was like alone in the store, and I just like turned around and everything was in boxes and I was just like, Ah, you know, like all the tier.

: Yeah I know, Right.

: Exactly like all the shelves are like being pulled off the walls and stuff like that too so it's just like I could actually, it's just like a moment where like turned around in the stores just like silent and just like a row boxes and I am like that like

: it really hit me and I was like, I gotta take some pictures of this so I had some of those.

: Yeah, yeah, email to me and, yeah, But um, yeah.

: I found some photos from in the desk in the back office. There's like a little folder of like envelopes from when they first opened the store, and I took pictures those two, so I don't know if you've been, it's not the best pitcher but it's it's kind

: It's not the best picture but it's just kind of interesting as like, Oh, that's so bittersweet like this is on the last day the stores open. I'm looking at this photo of all these people being.

: Yeah. See, this is going to be an audio thing and but I don't know if they're if they could incorporate some pictures.

: And, yeah, we should we should definitely do that. Yeah.

: Yeah, so we were yeah we just box all those up. And then, did you take the DVDs out of the jewel cases and put them back in there. No.

: in there. I'm so glad we did not have someone at the end where they had to do that. And I remember seeing listing for, they were asking for help. I'm assuming that's what that was, of like just opening the boxes, putting the disc in the case and alpha

: baptizing everything I don't even know how they did all that that must have been such a nightmare. Yeah. Did you were able to buy any when they were like, oh yeah yeah yeah when they listen to online.

: I also like felt bad because I was like, No, I, I don't want to be part of dismantling this collection though.

: That was kind of my, I was like I can't, I can't do that, then I would just, I did end up buying a couple I think I only bought like 10 or 15, before I left, I rented like a stack of like 100 movies or something like out of my account because I'm like,

: well, this is going to take months for them to sort all that stuff. So I yeah took me about three months to get through all those rentals, and I brought all those back because I just have the disk, you know, I wasn't gonna like again that was like the

: principal thing of like, I'm not going to steal from this business.

: thing of like, I'm not going to steal from this business. Well, and I think a lot of people were under the assumption that we might be able to, I thought camera they might open up the Kenworthy was there was going to keep them intact, you know, yeah.

: But right so then I got that email being like, I get it. I'm not, I totally understand. But, um, I got that email saying like hey if you're interested in buying somebody who's like, you know what a bummer like, yeah, big bummer because if somebody liked

: you have I library was interested.

: Yeah, maybe they could have got donated to the library or, you know, I don't know if the library was willing to purchase anything at that point.

: I think they looked into it at one point, but they were kind of asking a little too much for the library, the whole thing. Yeah, are yours, yeah I don't quite know that because I imagined can where they kept like the criteria and stuff, I don't, I don't

: seeing that I don't know I would like to find out. I like where that ended up yeah if it's still out there I would like to see if they're willing to sell it, donate it or do something else with it other than liquidate it because I feel like even if they

: just kept it on hand and show random movies Yeah, or one day at noon, or let people know that it's out there. Right, it's still intact because, yeah, if there's if there's a one category I would like to say, it would be that one.

: Right, yeah. Even though cold classic destroyed me rip my heart out when that was too old. Yeah, well, the other thing was right at the end, I had just finished watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer like that whole series, so I had started Angel, like that

: was my TV show that I was watching as the service closing.

: And I was like, Okay, I'm on like season four of this show that I'm like, just kind of half heartedly watching I'm like, Okay, I'm just going to rent the last season, you know like, I'm like I don't want to leave it at season four I might as well finish

: it, you know, right.

: So I rented all those do but so TV was a huge deal.

: Yeah, when I first started helping with the ordering and it was like, Well how, you know, should we get TV should we know which TV shows, should we get was TV so hot runner when you were working.

: There were certainly people who came in and only rented TV. So I wonder if it's the thing where they lived kind of on the outskirts of town where they didn't get streaming services, or didn't want to pay for cable, you know the sort of thing, but the

: But the people who have been there people will come in and they were watching like four or five shows at one time and they would just have a disc of each season, like, wherever they were in the season.

: The other big one was like Game of Thrones, I remember that rented like crazy because HBO NOW wasn't a thing yet, and are like HBO max but.

: So, people didn't have HBO so that was like the thing everyone was talking about so and it was only rented out yeah being put on reserve and yep yeah 10 and put on reserve the right or they'd be like, two or three people waiting for it.

: And I'm like, should I just buy another another 50 bucks I was like, I think I remember looking at like a highest rented, there's a thing in our new system, where it would count the number of times that title had been rented so you could sort by like

: most popular and stuff like the old one, that to OC I would have liked to see that one because I would have had more than just the two years that we have that system, or two and half years, but yeah that and Harry Potter were like, I think Harry Potter

: was number one, but a game of them like 23234 or five on that list we're all just like random discs of Game of Thrones.

: Oh, like what did you say before Harry Potter.

: So, I know, Indiana Jones, say Indiana Jones, no no Harry Potter was number one. Oh sorry, I thought it was number yeah okay. Yeah.

: Yeah. And that in like Studio Ghibli, just because, again, that wasn't streaming anywhere, at the time, so everyone is like those are super popular, I think that was like the bottom half of those and then Star Wars might have been on there too.

: Yeah, but those were like, I remember there was a

: Chantel that work there.

: She was like you gotta get friends on DVD, you gotta get friends I'm like, No. It'll never rent.

: Finally got it and it just, it was like probably one of the best renting TVs yeah I would have liked to see those stats from, like, 20 years, you know, versus the ones that I have access to.

: Yeah.

: I think in the last year that I was working there had to buy like three and four season three for that again because like the desperate damage because they had been rented so often so even though it's dying day I was still buying Chanel, and to add on

: a struggling video store and then to add on top of it. You had to keep replacing movies yes stole his people it's still Scott yeah that would be the worst, you know.

: Yeah, it was. That was another reason it was so hard to like yeah we did have that title but it was fine, you know, now we're trying to get him, get him back in kind of thing, but.

: Yep, that, that, yeah those Lord of the Rings box sets.

: The, those would always get stolen. I would have like some I at a point where I just felt like all three of them. Like, I bought like three of them or something like three copies of all three of them, and I just had them in the back, because I would have

: to replace it like once every six months or something and it rented all the time. So I was like, okay, it's worth it because I don't know why I just people was, it's what do you, you just have to disk, then.

: Right.

: Or like somebody steal desk for.

: That was the worst Yeah, like, Oh, now I have to buy a whole season.

: I live that was watching Star Trek somebody had stolen like the last disc five or like season nine of like, I like I got this he said to buy a whole season of a TV show for like the last episode because there's just that episode and then like bonus features

: something like that. But I was like, Well, I don't know I need to replace it for the story anyways so might as well get another copy of it.

: Yeah. and we do the we just couldn't. It's hard for video star to compete with streaming for that reason, like, you know, they're going to have all episodes available.

: I guess the only thing is we never like lost titles, unless like what you're saying. Somebody stole it in it, because they knew was like $100 DVD for whatever reason, and I was like well I can replace that one but that was the only time we ever lost titles

: for my library like there's things that I go on to watch something on streaming it's like, oh that's not available anymore it's like. Great.

: Just sitting on my watch list but I can't watch it on there, it's like, cool.

: Right, right. yeah there's some people just be like, Oh, so I'm just never going to be able to watch that desk and you're like, Yeah, pretty much.

: Yeah.

: So would you say, we kind of mentioned like one of the questions is, why do you think the video store struggled, and what ultimately ended the business.

: Yeah, kind of touched on it. But yeah, I'd say it's like I said there's like you think that people in the broadcasting department at the University of Idaho would have heard about that you know like if they're not getting it.

: You know how do you expect anyone else to be getting in. You know, so that might have been a big factor. I think it's just a ton of things other than just yeah like I said the business models.

: You know, it's been surpassed I think streaming kind of killed the video rental business.

: And along with unless you have somebody with the finance to keep it going.

: Yeah, it's not making money kind of a thing like, yeah, it's kind of like the Kenworthy I think they have some sort of like grant or something to keep them going like, they're like a piece of the history, the history of the city or something like that,

: you know, it would have been nice to get like a government stipend check, like grant money yes I'm just to keep us going. Yeah, even as like an oddity I don't know you can just walk around you don't even have to read anything he's just like he's back

: the 90s these used to be all over this country. I was used to like envision myself, writing, Quentin Tarantino a letter and being like, Hey, we're this store this got 30,000 about that too.

: Yeah, what do you what do you think about buying it and being or angel investor kind of a

: never know who knows I might have worked. I, you know, I've seen like our play in LA just shut down recently, like an aroma of the arc like Peter chain.

: Oh yeah, I heard about.

: And I saw these like people posting about it like, say, the center dome and all that stuff and I'm like, where was that for you know we should have been.

: That was like, if we had some sort of online presence, where enough people cared about us internet or like globally, you know, maybe they got a rally behind it or something but I don't know.

: Right. I can't think about these things too much.

: I know, I mean I can do about it now, we tried I mean, we did what we could we're managing and then the co op.

: You know that was a group of people that were really trying really hard, you know. Yeah, totally. And, Kelly and Debbie and pat Neil and Gary Meyer.

: They didn't really want to own a video store they just wanted to keep a local, local business alive. Basically they didn't want to see it go. Do you know what they're doing with that space now I see that it's still empty but I think it's there's a architecture

: place across the cross Main Street, like kind of north of Mikey's a little bit.

: Okay. Or maybe salad Mikey's I can't remember, but they're going to move in there. Yeah, I think they bought both travel agents all the corner store, you know, corner store.

: Oh, that would have been because the window space you could have hung up. And everyone sitting at that intersection would have seen you know that was other problem we were kind of like tucked back in there, like we were on Main Street, but it was, there

: was a little bit of an alcove. So, it was like if you got too many people in there. Yeah, it was crowded, you know, it was uncomfortable and my, my opinion I yeah I think if we had moved next door that probably would have helped out a lot, but I just

: think with covered I mean that, yeah.

: Even if we had gone through the effort of moving all that stuff I feel like it would have been offered not. Yeah, I mean that's the question if you okay you expand but as I can to bring in more, right, because you're just being more rent and right but

: i just think the location you know you can.

: Oh you're seeing that would have been cool. Yeah.

: Yeah, say lovey right.

: I know, I'm just torturing myself with the what ifs of this situation. Yeah.

: Do you have a favorite memory of working their memory everything they're

: doing stick out.

: Sure prep for that one. I don't,

: Um, I don't know if I have a specific one but I will say that was like my favorite job that I've ever had, you know, it was just like, so fun. It's something I'd like wanted to do since I was a little kid, you know, Now and then when I was like actually

: charges are like I think back on that all the time and like how lucky I was like, Man, that was like such a great job. But um, yeah.

: No, it was. That was perfect. That was awesome. Yeah.

: We're, where were you when you heard the video stores closing what how did it.

: I think I was, how they bring it up to you.

: Um,

: so we started doing like all these extra policies like cleaning the discs and stuff like that and spraying them with like disinfecting when they were returned to us, like in February we started doing that.

: And so they were. I was being updated like on what we're doing with the store and all that stuff, and then like that shutdown of like the whole city right around the beginning of March, they were talking about that and then they were set from that conversation

: came okay I think we might have to shut down permanently.

: And I think it was just at work, and they were.

: But, um, I think it was within like a week of hearing that was when we like shut down and we're like, started boxing everything up. And it was a co op board that we're making yeah I think little red a red was telling me, but I think because she was on

: the board.

: And I think that was a decision that all come to.

: Yeah, but yeah her and him are the people who end up broke the news to me, so I was like Oh, now I gotta go to another job. Yeah.

: I was like, Oh, now I gotta get a nother job. Yeah. Are you kind of doing the the audio video stuff too. Yeah yeah I had another job but again that was so that was like the for, I used to film the football games for University of Idaho.

: So I'd be like on the sidelines for that but I'm with Kobe, I mean that got shut down to, you know, they're not like holding level and so I would work with the events team, like, anytime someone needed to run one of the ballrooms there I would set up

: like the audio and all that for them. And again, it's like, all that got cancelled too so I was like oh great night. I don't have anything next guess I'll be on unemployment for the year.

: The.

: The. Are you still in contact with anyone from the star star. Yeah.

: Um, I there's some people who I knew from school that I would like I went to college with them I wasn't like friends with them but I was like, acquaintances with them, but because they came into the store and talk all the time I'm not like follow them

: on Instagram and, you know, every once in a while. Text people.

: Yeah, some of my co workers will like text me like trailers and stuff like this looks so dope.

: I think Evans like itching for that outlet to talk about movies like the people who work there and pretty enthusiastic about the movies and stuff so yeah that was kind of a.

: Yeah, that was the most people that I think that's what made Howard Hughes and mainstream video the way it was because people who work there were super excited to work.

: Yeah, everyone was like, like I said that I don't want to dream job but it was something I want to do to do my whole life you know Empire records or high fidelity experience and just hanging out like doing something you love right.

: Did you, did you get any things off the wall or from the store, I did. Yeah, I was gonna, it's funny when we were boxing everything up you know that Steve's the zoo, with the fishes on it.

: Yeah, I'm mentioned that you wanted that. And I should have grabbed it and save it for it I could have could have been me unrolling it right now and showing you.

: But you don't know where that went, No, I think that got thrown out. I think it did say to be, I just saw your heartbreaking. Yeah.

: Could you hear it, the mic.

: The mic pick that one up yeah yeah I just remember somebody mentioned that you wanted that. That's like, oh man I then when you contact me the other day I was like, Ah, that would have been so good if I had held on to them.

: Yeah.

: And there was also a Ferris Bueller poster in my off yeah you know that belong to somebody, or no um, there was a breathless poster that French movie, or no Jules and Jim, I think that's what it was a.

: Somebody had donated that to the store and we gave that back to them, but I thought that was pretty cool. But yeah, yeah the Ferris Bueller when somebody bought me that at a goodwill.

: So I framed it.

: And I can't meet and I was like I gotta go in there and grab that I gotta go in there and grab that. But yeah,

: Dang, I said, I think, I don't know where that one ended up either but uh i didn't yeah I grab, I don't know if I, I, when we were boxing out the movies, I just did that to like help out the store, so I was like okay I'll do this but I want one thing

: from the store, I can, I'll show you like, just for you I don't know if you want to see this but here let me walk over there.

: Maybe you can see it up on them.

: I got the dad's artwork from.

: Seven Samurai. Okay.

: Yes, cuz I was like, that's, that's the thing I won't know Yeah.

: Yeah. So, I don't know, I'm sure like if he wanted that or something or got in contact with me or whatever I was like this is the thing I want.

: I started this thing for like four years is so cool. Everyone who came in, there was like, I'm for audio, It's a charcoal drawing of like a scene from Simon Sam round is done on cardboard.

: That's huge.

: what you have to pay me for this I want that. Right. So that's the one thing I took from the store. Yeah, I'm wondering if sad even tried to feed you know I kind of feel bad because I'm like, I know this is your art like I don't plan on selling it like

: I'm not right. I just think it's like awesome like.

: But I don't know if for whatever reason he reaches out. Yeah, if he, he does. I think that does strictly movie tattoos now. Yes, tattoo artist and right.

: I think that's mostly what he does is like movie scenes and stuff like, yeah, I want to get into like a frame, I want to put it into glass because I don't like smear anything like that but, yeah, I just want that like, it's such a good like centerpiece

: for like a brand Oh yeah, it's, it's awesome. Here's the stuff he does is really so good yeah it's like it's like a photocopy, it's lifelike yeah he's got stuff all over town I know hunger hunger.

: Yep, they got something I think they can really have some stuff on the demo today okay yeah the UV golf pro shop. Oh, he's got four old golf and like Nicholas and again and stuff like that.

: All the all on cardboard all charcoal. So cool. Yeah, I love it. Now every time so many people come to my house I like what is that that's so cool.

: Yeah.

: Yeah. That is awesome that's that's that's cool. I wish, I wish I would have been a little bit more proactive about going and getting some of that stuff.

: Yeah, cuz I'm. Yeah.

: I'm trying to think, but uh, no, I didn't really have anything pops on it, it

: opens up so she saw the light turned on to the thing she's like, Are you done that's like no, sorry I

: forgot to write down what time we started but I think we're definitely over an hour. Oh, yeah, sorry if this is, if I'm rambling about oh no I like I like I said I have no time limit or anything like that, but how are you getting your movies now.

: are you just doing shot. Yeah streaming stuff.

: I own a lot of movies too so I still do, every once in a while. Yeah. You know what a lot of DVDs.

: I tried to, I started transitioning to blu rays, but I would, we're in the process of moving stuff too. So, all that stuff spiked up, but yeah.

: Yeah, I have a way bigger DVD collection, but I did try to switch to blu ray but I yeah I stream stuff all the time. Yeah, yeah I'm, that's kind of the first thing I did when I got onto the streaming sites was like set aside all the movies I want to watch.

: Yeah, just just just make my own little movie library, because that's what yes to, like, okay, now I know they're there, and I know I can watch them eventually I'll get around to them.

: Yeah, eventually, yeah.

: I just end up watching reruns of the office or something like that. Right.

: Even that's like Melanson that's on its own streaming service to where I'm like I'm not gonna pay five bucks for just the office.

: Right.

: Yeah, or whatever else is on peacock I don't really know how many streaming sites you.

: Do you like everyone else. I have like my sister's Netflix.

: She also has Disney plus that I get from her.

: And I think hulu's the only one I pay for their we're using my girlfriend's mom's amazon prime streaming, and also her HBO, Max. So I think I have like most of them, it's happening where it's we're already back a cable where you're paying 100 bucks for

: all this stuff.

: Yeah, I mentioned that to Monique I was like, we wrap back around to the thing that these things were originally created to stop you know you're just going to pay a lot of money for all these sites, I think what alleviates it though is everyone just shares

: their passwords with everybody so it's not that big but like I said, I think, who's the only one I pay for anything. Just when I hear they're cracking down on that are know how I can just make us only one person can watch it at a time.

: No, but I you know when I was at the store I would hear people complain about that they're like oh, now there, he was doing a thing or whatever, you know, and they're like, it's just easier to do this and I'm like, I guess so yeah i think i appreciate

: this word like for sure.

: Yeah, and a lot of people would use us, the video store to like they've watched disk or episode one.

: Yeah streaming so they liked it. Yes, I will get that all the time, are they.

: Yeah, for whatever reason, they didn't have season two, so they come to us and get season to write whatever you know, it was the thing was like a lot of Adult Swim shows they weren't like on streaming services or for whatever reason.

: But then, like, something happened overnight where they just put all those on like for free on like adult swim.com or something. Or like, I remember like South Park, used to just stream all their stuff for free online, but then something, some copyright

: thing.

: And now, like those aren't streaming anywhere

: had to do stuff like that.

: So you would go to movie theaters and stuff like that.

: Yeah, they don't open back up.

: I'm curious.

: Just because I do have like a pretty nice.

: tv and like sound system setup. So I'm not like missing but I watched that a Godzilla versus the other day.

: And I was like, that was the first time in quarantine was like man I am kind of missing like watching a big dumb movie in a theater, you know, I want like my heart to be like shaking.

: But uh, I hope they do.

: I hope this also is some of those bigger chains will adopt like the Drafthouse mentality of like, making it a nice experience not just like people talking, you know, people throwing shade or whatever, just like eating loudly and stuff like that, you know,

: I don't miss that aspect of going to movies but I do miss going to movies, yeah.

: Yeah, I kind of wonder if, like I remember a long time ago people would say man I would pay $20 to not have to go to the theater and watch something at home.

: Yeah, it's like, Now you can.

: But then when if movie theater start opening back up I wonder if they're still going to have it available on demand to yeah cuz I know like HBO Max is doing that with I'm like cool I get like Doom in my home like the same day instead of having to drive

: somewhere and I get the new matrix just on my on my TV yes, I do like that but again it's something I'm like oh man I am kind of missing that experience in a theater.

: I like that experience. It's been like a year over the last movie I saw theaters was the last Star Wars movie episode nine. That was like Christmas like two years ago or something.

: Okay, so I mean yes, it's been a while.

: Was it the shut down that stopped you going, I was yeah just kind of I just haven't been sensing. Yeah, yeah, you're thinking about like I know Kimberly was doing a thing where you could rent out theaters and stuff, where it's like, oh I should have done

: that, like, just like, get a group of friends ran out of theater.

: Yes, maybe there's something Yeah, I think they still do that.

: That'd be cool to do something like that. Yeah, we're talking about it with our office Yeah, just pick a movie and just pay, I don't know how much it is but, yeah, but I know if you bring like 10 people or whatever in.

: All right, maybe there's a limit but if it's like 100 bucks or something you know yeah that makes a person.

: Yeah, that's the price of a movie ticket anyways. Right, okay.

: I also realized I haven't eaten popcorn in like two years, is the only time I ever.

: Yeah, no microwave popcorn for you. I know I could, it's not the same. Okay.

: There's a limitation.

: People like like our store because they weren't theater goers. Yeah, but they wanted to see those new releases you know right. Yeah, so, so they would wait you know their release date was we got them.

: Three months later, five months later whenever I was always bummed about the quality of movies that theaters around here God anyways. Yeah, just like pretty mainstream stuff yeah pretty mainstream like cancer camera these, they would I don't know who

: does like programming there but every also want to put stuff out there. Yeah, Kenworthy was doing a great job.

: But that was like supporting them to just because, I mean, I know this smaller place. Yeah, I forgot to give a shout out that's where we got our posters, I know.

: Yeah, I was gonna mention that earlier. I think we traded them in exchange for getting the posters, we would let them rents, like the Saturday morning cartoons, cartoons, that they would show, so they can get those for free.

: Yeah, that was, I was, you know, I don't know that this was, I always wish we would have made like a commercial or something that would play before movies at the camera the like, hey, just so you know right next to you is a store where you could brand,

: you're already at the theater, you obviously like movies, or even more like niche movies like the ones that Showtime ready so hey guess what, there's a whole catalog of it.

: You know, maybe extra work but 30,000 titles just, yeah, I don't think they advertise stuff, they just show like trailers of things that are upcoming.

: But yeah, I think maybe.

: Maybe, yeah, I know we did a big theater in the east side marketplace. We made a little commercial.

: Yeah, I always want to do that to play right before that it was pretty cool but I don't, I mean we had no idea if it worked or not. Yes.

: Yeah, especially because I was in the broadcast department. I should have just done that, I feel like somebody could have.

: You could have helped out with but well.

: Yeah, yeah, I mean really things that keep me up at night now I'm just thinking of ways to save this store that doesn't exist anymore. Yeah, well that's you know we kind of talked about that it's you know a lot of people try they had they put the effort

: in and it's like, but it was all volunteer, a lot of people on the co op fighting an uphill battle to yeah and it's it's a dying industry it's just, I just wish that that library wouldn't have got dismantled so quick, so quick.

: Yep.

: Next thing you know, they're online next thing you know, they're not online anymore.

: And I even just, I felt guilty that 10 movies that I got. But yeah, I heard it was kind of hard to get them to. Yeah. and that was it. Did you have to wait.

: I asked for, like, more than what I got, but they only gave me like that stack. So somebody else must have beat me to my fear is that somebody just check the box of every single one, and was like okay I want 1000 of these, you know, or whatever, and there

: is something I'm or something, you know, yeah and I know they, I think they paid.

: People are in movies that helped out the volunteer right yeah they're like okay guys take what you want.

: Yeah. So,

: this is you know people like stress dreams like oh I have to take a test and I didn't study for it or you know something bad I'm like, it's me going like, I'm supposed to be somebody who's watching an R rated movie at the start right now.

: Those are my stress dreams, actually I since I've been doing these interviews I had a dream about working on Fifth Street store and I was in the weeds I couldn't, I couldn't get the right numbers I'm putting that yeah putting them on people's numbers

: them on people's numbers and instead I was like trying to put a sticker on a piece of pizza, you know, I was like, people were in line like hey what's taken so long you know yeah me.

: Yeah, I only ever had like a line of five people like maybe once or twice in the four years I worked their butt. And in my dreams are always like out the door.

: Right now, the dream is like change where it's like, they'll be like, Oh, do you have this movie I'm like, Oh, well actually, you know, the camera they just sold that one so we actually don't have that one, you know, like for some for some reason I'm

: still working the store that's only like 10% capacity of you, man. Yes, it's too bad that took a lot of time and effort.

: A lot of people took a lot of time and effort to build that library up. I can't imagine how they started like was that just a private collection that just slowly over the years people made big well.

: According to Kelly Kelly. That was the owner. Yeah, worked for Howard repairing TVs back in the day. And he started selling laser discs. Yeah, to help the sales of laser just players players.

: Yeah. and same with VC VHS and VC ours.

: So it started as a little section to help, you know, PC ours and then it just grew the appliance store right in the appliance store. Yeah.

: And I've talked about this before there's four iterations there was the little video store that was connected to the appliance store on Fifth Street, the appliance store moved out on the highway, where it is now the video store expanded to the entire

: building of Fifth Street, new owners moved it to Main Street.

: Howard Hughes is there and then it became Main Street, or the mainstream video cola.

: But people would ask me like, oh, we're only three of the store like How long have you guys been here, and I didn't really know, I kind of knew what you just said like the loose outline of it but I didn't know.

: I told them like, oh yeah we was like this store and then it moved over here, you know, I had my own version of what you just said, well, and when I first started working there.

: It was mostly VHS. Yeah, just a huge store with lots of room just with VHS facing out, not just.

: And it was like okay let's slowly start building our DVDs, getting duplicates of all the VHS that we had.

: Yeah. And then when I kind of started managing it was that whole HD vs Blue, red.

: Oh yeah. Did you guys end up with a lot of HD DVD No, we went we picked one and went blu ray and

: DVD section and the story.

: You know, it's funny.

: We had like a small selection of like 3d blu rays, because for the longest, or for a minute. They were trying to make that a thing. So I just had a section I'm like, What am I doing, like nobody ever rents these nobody has a 3d TV it's like, so I don't

: know, I think we eventually sold them all off as, like, one for like 100 bucks you could get like 50 blu rays or one yeah they kind of forced 3d thing on it you couldn't buy the blu ray right so you would have an extra disk, kind of like the DVD blu ray

: combo thing right. Yeah.

: But it was a 3d, and I always said it was like it was a fad in the 50s 30 years later as a fad in the 80s. Yeah, 30 years later was a fad and the 2010.

: Yeah, 2040.

: It'll come back yeah it'll come back, like three movie or something. Yeah, whatever we haven't 30 years.

: Right.

: Well sweet man I think we're kind of close down to the end here.

: So, I guess one question we're asking, Is there anything we didn't talk about.

: Do you want to add.

: And to, you know, if there's there's anything else you think, or you want to talk about we can do a another interview, I was gonna say yeah if you if you didn't get enough out of this, by all means like, you know, I, my girlfriend's probably tired of

: me talking about the video store.

: Yeah.

: Because I think you and I could probably sit here and talk about the right, the movies you know for all night long but just kind of start a podcast just, yeah, one of these days.

: Yeah, there's not enough white guys with beards on the internet talking I'm talking about.

: One other podcast. Yeah.

: Yeah. Hey, that'd be fine I I listened to another home I had to sit and talk about marriage but I know there was talking about doing like a trivia night or something to, at the end, they're like, oh, something to do like and we get drum up support for

: club, you know, and we could take donations or something like that and I was like, oh yeah that'd be really fun like daily running like a trivia night or something. video store. Yeah, or just like somewhere in town even, but yeah doing something like a communal thing and trying to get more people in the store

: and you know advertising this thing but i don't know i mean that kind of all fell apart when people couldn't gather in groups anymore.

: Right, right. But yeah, I mean I'm talking about that man. Oh, that would be cool. Yeah, I would have been. Is there anyone so we're kind of taking names too, there's anyone you can think of that would be a good interview for.

: I mentioned Ben Hardcastle he's been in mn.

: I don't know because most of the people that I hired.

: Didn't work there that long, like it was only like a couple, you know, six months or so. And I don't know that might be interesting to get like their perspective of as like a, like, not as a manager just an employee that work there.

: Yeah, I think they might be.

: I can think of some names and email you if I could think, but I don't know, do you want to like interview customers and stuff like that. Yeah, I interviewed to speaking of families that you remember families coming in and so yeah there's the beard family.

: Yeah, and to their, their daughter and their son both worked at the video store too so I interviewed them. Yeah. Gotcha. Just longtime customers and I have a few people on my list of their longtime customers.

: So, yeah, I think there'd be some, I don't know my perception of long term but I think they're long term customers but I'm sure there were people are talking like three digit account numbers yeah yeah I know it's all those low numbers.

: Yeah. You know, day one kind of a thing. Yeah, it's kind of funny, um, I remember I went to go get lodgepole. It's like a restaurant in Moscow and I was getting picked up there.

: And the guy who was the person working there was like hey you're the guy from the video store right. And I was like, Oh, Yeah. And this was like in May, July some somewhere around there.

: And he was like, Oh, yeah, we're so bummed about that you know sorry to hear about that I was like, oh you know that's like thank you you know that's nice.

: Yeah, you know I like had that moment it's like, oh yeah it's like, people like really cared about that store and I'm sure like there's a bunch of locals in Moscow that would have stories about that but I'd have to think about it, because it's funny because

: I didn't even recognize the guy you know I had a mask on, but I was like, oh he recognized me but I didn't, you know, it's like, he must have been coming in there often enough to say I missed that to be like hey you're the video guy right.

: Right, yeah.

: Yeah, I still see some regulars around town.

: And I was getting like a head nod or something. Yeah, I don't want to like walk up because a coven and just have a conversation with them but I'm.

: Yeah, I'm sure Ben gets out a lot too because you know you have to go out to the bar next door after work and you know that all those guys would come in and read stuff too so yeah John's alley crew.

: Yeah, and they would always come in. Yeah.

: Yeah. Well cool man.

: I'm gonna let you go. Yeah, for sure. And again if you need anything. Yeah, you can take if you just just text me or send me an email if you can think of anybody that might just because I got some mine, but I think I have some phone numbers and stuff

: on them too.

: But uh, yeah, I'll let you know cuz See, I can definitely think of a couple. Yeah, this is cool. I appreciate you appreciate you doing this and it's good luck on the move.

: Right. Yeah. are you moved in moving out yeah out of this place for me but number two.

: Okay.