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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Jun 1, 2022 18:38:16 GMT -5
Believe it or not Family Video, the chain that once had 800 stores still existed as recently as this year.
They closed their physical locations in 2021 with owner Keith Hoogland citing Covid as pushing them to the end of an era. They existed as a web store until March 2 this year when they announced they would be liquidating all inventory.
But their parent company Highland Ventures still exist. I guess one of their social media folks has the responsibility to keep Family Video’s social media accounts active. I mean heck they’ve been tweeting today, recently plugging how Family Video appeared in Stranger Things.
I wonder what technically would be the biggest video store chain that exist today? Well, outside of the porno places. Even if some guy in a backwoods place owns 2 failing stores that would technically be a chain, someone must hold the crown.
What made me think of this was just finding out about Video Signals in Maynard, MA. It’s not too far from my neck of the woods, I was surprise not to find out about it much sooner.
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on Jun 1, 2022 19:04:54 GMT -5
There was one near my shitty post-college apartment in Oklahoma and I absolutely loved it. Great selection, incredibly cheap rental cost. In the time between Redbox and when streaming services really caught on it was a godsend to those of us without cable.
March of progress did them like it did Blockbuster, but glad to hear they hung on as long as they did.
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Post by zrowsdower on Jun 1, 2022 19:23:57 GMT -5
So I may have an outstanding late fee with Family video. Should I expect to get arrested for it someday?
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tirtefaa
Unicron
If you wanna know the truth, you gotta dig up Johnny Booth.
Posts: 3,050
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Post by tirtefaa on Jun 1, 2022 19:27:54 GMT -5
When I was younger, I really didn't like the fact they had an adult section, but had 'family' in their title. It's not that I had a problem with adult sections, just the combination of the two.
Anyways, once a lot of streaming services started exclusive content making it difficult to find certain things so going to Family Video definitely helped with newer movies that were on a service I didn't have. They also had something called Marco's Pizza included in their store, so we could order a pizza and browse while it was being made.
I definitely miss the $1 shelf for older movies, sometimes you'd see something unique that wouldn't be found anywhere else.
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on Jun 1, 2022 20:09:21 GMT -5
So I may have an outstanding late fee with Family video. Should I expect to get arrested for it someday? Straight to jail. |
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Post by zrowsdower on Jun 1, 2022 20:52:29 GMT -5
So I may have an outstanding late fee with Family video. Should I expect to get arrested for it someday? Straight to jail. Well I better figure out how to make a late fee sound like a badass thing to go to jail for when I deal with the other inmates. |
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y4j1981
Dennis Stamp
Rowsdower
Posts: 4,671 
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Post by y4j1981 on Jun 1, 2022 21:04:51 GMT -5
So I may have an outstanding late fee with Family video. Should I expect to get arrested for it someday? Straight to jail. I mean...is it a VHS?, Could be a felony charge at least |
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Jun 1, 2022 22:34:24 GMT -5
Tangentially related, but I just Googled DVD stores near me. Kung Fu Video & DVD in Boston popped up. I actually knew about that one already.
The weird thing though is I browsed through their Google photos and there appears to be two large dildos at the bottom of their collectible display case. So I don’t know what’s going on with that store. My guess is they dabble in selling porn and other adult items. After all the kung fu movies don’t sell like they used to.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,867
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Jun 2, 2022 10:45:15 GMT -5
That means Homeport Video might be the biggest video chain store left in the US.
At one time they had 4 stores across the MS gulf coast. Last I heard they have two locations still open.
And yes porn rentals/sales keep them going. Mostly cause MS is one of the states/areas that lots of places refuse to ship porn.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Jun 2, 2022 11:39:05 GMT -5
That means Homeport Video might be the biggest video chain store left in the US. At one time they had 4 stores across the MS gulf coast. Last I heard they have two locations still open. And yes porn rentals/sales keep them going. Mostly cause MS is one of the states/areas that lots of places refuse to ship porn. Yeah, it’s definitely one of those quietly acknowledged aspects of the industry. A lot of places either have to sell porn or go bust. Of course there is still a stigma to it and eBay/Amazon are waging a war on pornography. Not just hardcore stuff either. I know eBay has taken down even R rated items they’ve deemed too risque. When a marketplace is being harder nosed than the MPAA about content you know there’s an issue. |
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Post by Big DSR Energy on Jun 2, 2022 11:46:57 GMT -5
My older brother was on Family Video's mailing list so we would get their flyer every so often. I went when they were going out of business, picked up some DVDs. They also had some vaping supplies, I guess trying to diversify since video rentals ain't what they used to be.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,867
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Jun 2, 2022 11:55:44 GMT -5
That means Homeport Video might be the biggest video chain store left in the US. At one time they had 4 stores across the MS gulf coast. Last I heard they have two locations still open. And yes porn rentals/sales keep them going. Mostly cause MS is one of the states/areas that lots of places refuse to ship porn. Yeah, it’s definitely one of those quietly acknowledged aspects of the industry. A lot of places either have to sell porn or go bust. Of course there is still a stigma to it and eBay/Amazon are waging a war on p ornography. Not just hardcore stuff either. I know eBay has taken down even R rated items they’ve deemed too risque. When a marketplace is being harder nosed than the MPAA about content you know there’s an issue. The guy running Homeport Video is a good friend's older brother. Asked him how he gets the porn DVDs he rents/sells. "I drive every 2 weeks to Louisiana and hit up my PO box." Yep to get stock for his store he has to drive right at two hours from the MS/AL state line to LA. |
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Jun 2, 2022 12:16:32 GMT -5
Yeah, it’s definitely one of those quietly acknowledged aspects of the industry. A lot of places either have to sell porn or go bust. Of course there is still a stigma to it and eBay/Amazon are waging a war on p ornography. Not just hardcore stuff either. I know eBay has taken down even R rated items they’ve deemed too risque. When a marketplace is being harder nosed than the MPAA about content you know there’s an issue. The guy running Homeport Video is a good friend's older brother. Asked him how he gets the porn DVDs he rents/sells. "I drive every 2 weeks to Louisiana and hit up my PO box." Yep to get stock for his store he has to drive right at two hours from the MS/AL state line to LA. Your friends brother having to drive to Louisiana to pick up porn makes me think of that Simpson’s song though I’m sure he’s not driving to New Orleans proper: I guess for some folks it really is the Sodom and Gomorrah on the Mississip  |
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Post by DZ: WF Legacy on Jun 2, 2022 12:48:01 GMT -5
Related to Family Video and Stranger Things, it caught me by surprise to see how authentic that blue-screened UI looked to when I worked at a video store. I knew our system felt dated in 2009, but I had no idea it looked nearly identical to the freakin' mid-80s! I guess the dot matrix printer should've given that away.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,867
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Jun 2, 2022 13:49:40 GMT -5
The guy running Homeport Video is a good friend's older brother. Asked him how he gets the porn DVDs he rents/sells. "I drive every 2 weeks to Louisiana and hit up my PO box." Yep to get stock for his store he has to drive right at two hours from the MS/AL state line to LA. Your friends brother having to drive to Louisiana to pick up porn makes me think of that Simpson’s song though I’m sure he’s not driving to New Orleans proper: I guess for some folks it really is the Sodom and Gomorrah on the Mississip It really was until the casinos hit the MS coast. Pretty sure my buddy drives to Slidel. Which is right across the LA line. |
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