# How close are you to a video store? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156 "2016-04-14T01:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/21 "2016-04-14T13:03:46Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > There’s a _former Blockbuster_ (now a Papa John’s and mattress store) Honest, those stains are from tomato sauce! ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/22 "2016-04-14T13:04:54Z")
I think I’ve got two within twenty miles, only one of which I know the exact location of. It’s also a tanning place. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/23 "2016-04-14T13:17:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Downtown Gainesville has a thriving hipster population and I am 100% certain that is the only reason it is a viable business model. Are they VHS tapes? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/24 "2016-04-14T13:22:00Z")
Well, since I’m at the office right now, looks like the closest video rental (as opposed to a store that sells DVDs,) is 5km away, or about 3 miles. There’s one within 1km of my home. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/25 "2016-04-14T13:23:13Z")
Family Video/Marco’s Pizza took over the Blockbuster location in my town. I have eaten pizza from Marco’s, but haven’t rented a video. It is about a mile and a half from my house. I think it is the only video store in my town of 20,000. There are a few Redbox machines as well. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/26 "2016-04-14T13:36:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The weird thing in my area is video stores seem to being surviving better in the small towns. There are video stores still open in Albion, Brockport, Dansville, Lockport, Medina, Warsaw, Webster, and two in Batavia. But Rochester, which is bigger than all those towns combined, doesn’t have one general video store left. I don’t know what those little towns are like but maybe it’s because the Rochester area has internet service capable of streaming and the little towns don’t. Where my house is the only half decent internet and TV is via satellite, which is relatively expensive and has data caps. There’s not even cell phone service. We always have a supply of dvds or check them out from the library. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/27 "2016-04-14T14:04:52Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Are they VHS tapes? 😃 Heh, no, though I think that the concept of going to an actual store for the purpose of renting even a DVD is a quaint concept by this point. Especially if it’s locally owned. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/28 "2016-04-14T15:15:31Z")
There is a Family Video a little over a mile from my house. I’ve lived here for almost 6 years and just recently started going. As mentioned above, they have a large selection of free kid’s videos, which are a necessity in my house now. I drive by the location on my way home from work so it’s easy to just run in and grab a movie or two. There is a constant flow of people in and out so the brick and mortar video rental business seems to be hanging on just fine here. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/29 "2016-04-14T15:34:24Z")
I had to look it up to find out that there’s a Blockbuster only 5 minutes away. Shows how much I rent videos. Slightly amused to realize that there’s a soft core porn store that rents videos 3 minutes away. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/30 "2016-04-14T15:51:40Z")
Family Video seems to be the one that’s hanging on around here, as well. All of our Blockbusters are long gone. There’s a Family Video that is, according to Google Maps, 2 miles from my house. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/31 "2016-04-14T16:17:38Z")
My local public library has DVDs for loan, and most of the museum gift shops in London will have some for sale relevant to their particular topic, as will sex shops up and down the land. I’m not aware of any bricks-and-mortar DVD rental shops, but somewhere in London there must be. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/32 "2016-04-14T17:53:14Z")
Google maps says there is another store about a half mile from me but it’s closed. The nearest one is a 4.5 mile drive from me. I’ve never been there and I have no idea how they stay in business but they are located in a densely populated area with lots of immigrants, poorer residents and some college students. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/33 "2016-04-14T18:59:21Z")
Family Video (besides the property management and pizza) is also apparently getting into [providing fiber optic internet](http://www.pjstar.com/article/20151016/NEWS/151019527) starting in central Illinois. I guess they’ll be ready for the day no one wants to rent DVDs any longer. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/34 "2016-04-14T19:06:57Z")
There aren’t many brick & mortar video stores left near me (another one I liked just recently closed), but I do have one about 1/2-mile from where I live, and while I don’t go often, I still frequent it once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/35 "2016-04-14T19:20:47Z")
The Blockbusters and Family Videos are all gone. My guess is, the closest video store to me is across the river in Norfolk: Naro Expanded Video. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/36 "2016-04-14T19:32:27Z")
I have a Family Video near me and I stop there on a frequent basis. And one thing I’ve noticed is they always have new employees. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen the same employee there twice. They’re also constantly advertising that they’re hiring. So I figure they must either be firing employees or having employees quit on an ongoing basis. Can anyone confirm this? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/37 "2016-04-14T21:38:02Z")
We used to have a big mom-n-pop video store a few blocks away, but then it changed to one of those “give us your car and we’ll give you a loan” outlets. I don’t even know where another one is; I haven’t rented a VHS tape (or, for that matter a DVD) in years. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/38 "2016-04-14T21:58:24Z")
I dated one in college. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/39 "2016-04-14T22:38:59Z")
There’s a Family Video in the same strip mall where I go to get my driver’s license renewed. Since those are the only two things there that I can’t get anyplace closer, that means I swing by once every five years. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156/40 "2016-04-15T00:21:33Z")
There’s a video store about three miles from my house. There’s also a store, about five miles away, that doesn’t rent video games or movies, but it buys and sells used ones. I completed my Babylon 5 collection from them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-close-are-you-to-a-video-store/752156.md?page=3)