While doing my holiday shopping a few weeks back, I was startled to find that Waterloo Video – an adjunct of the venerable Waterloo Records here in God’s own Austin, Texas – had shuttered its doors. I shouldn’t have been too surprised, I guess; there’s that whole “economy going in the toilet” thing…and then there’s those little red envelopes that arrive in the mail, envelopes containing DVD rentals with no late charges, envelopes that threaten the very existence of those magical wonderlands known as video stores.
Of course, not all video stores are so magical, and I suspect I’m not alone in shedding no tears over the Netflix effect on Blockbuster Video’s bottom line. But while Waterloo Video was never my favorite, I did feel a twinge of guilt upon spotting those empty shelves gathering dust. For I, too, have sold my soul to the demon Netflix, and for all the conveniences I now enjoy, there is, alas, something missing. I think back to the summer of 2002, when I first embarked on the research phase of my book Hick Flicks – back before YouTube and BitTorrent entered my life, let alone Netflix. It was a summer spent wandering the action-packed aisles of I Luv Video, stacking up yellowed VHS boxes containing long-forgotten drive-in schlock, along with cult items and rarities that Netflix is unlikely to ever offer. Now I can’t even remember the last time I rented from I Luv Video, although I’m fairly certain I still owe them for late fees. With my lazy dependency on Netflix, am I helping to kill a beloved Austin institution?
Well, the good news is – apparently not. In the latest issue of the Austin Chronicle, Marc Savlov writes that, against all odds, Austin’s indie video stores are doing just fine. “It's Austin and its homegrown film-geek culture that has allowed places such as the Alamo Drafthouse, websites such as Harry Knowles' Ain't It Cool News, and the two biggest indie video-rental stores in town – I Luv Video and Vulcan – to not only survive but indeed thrive while nearly everywhere else in the country the market is grinding to a standstill.”
The secret to I Luv Video’s success, according to co-owner Conrad Bejarano: “What we decided to do was sort of groom our clientele and just get two or three copies of a mainstream VHS release – as opposed to the 50 to 100 copies a single Blockbuster would buy – and spend the rest of the money on films we wanted to watch, which were weird, underground, and generally not carried by Blockbuster – or anyone else, for that matter. And that's stayed our guiding philosophy from there on out.”
It’s an inspiring story, and my latest New Year’s resolution is to resume my patronage of I Luv Video, especially now that they have free beer on Tuesdays. I’ll even pay off those pesky late fees.
Related:
Netflix Rebellion
Mondo Kim's is Coming to Your House
