Hollywood Video: The Story of Second Place

Hollywood Video: The Story of Second Place - Post-Mortar

Рет қаралды 5,434

Post-Mortar - The Retail History Show

Күн бұрын

Founded with the mission of beating Blockbuster at its own game, Hollywood Video slowly and methodically grew to become their biggest competitor in a matter of a few years. How did the second-largest video rental chain simply disappear?
Special Thanks to gameking3 (flickr)
Main Theme:
Branches by DanoSongs
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Videos and images used in this episode belong to their respective owners. Post-Mortar does not hold the copyrights for any material used.
Bossa Antigua Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Hollywoodvideostore" By Coolcaesar at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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King of Hearts - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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0:00 - Intro
0:37 - Wattles Takes a Chance on Video
1:44 - Hollywood Premieres in Portland
2:45 - The Race for the Biggest Chain
6:56 - The Video Millennium
10:05 - The End of the Tape
#hollywoodvideo #blockbuster #videostores
Alex Nuelle 2021

Пікірлер: 57

@FallicIdol 2 жыл бұрын

I think Walmart and circuit city’s $15 new dvds for sale killed rentals much faster than Netflix did. That price point took away much of the risk factor in trying nee movies for only slightly more than renting them. Plus blockbuster and Hollywood refused to keep older movies

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

Oh, definitely! A great point I left out. The whole point of video rental was to save people the outrageous costs of VHS, which debuted at over $100 each. You could enjoy home video without having to take out a loan. As VHS got cheaper, we also saw stores like Suncoast pop up, pushing consumers to BUY more movies. The business model ceased to make sense by the early 2000s. If you wanted to watch Citizen Kane, you could just buy it. Beats going around town to find it at a video store. I ended up focusing more on the movie companies in this one, but I wish I'd said more on this. Thank you for watching!!

@mst3kanita 2 жыл бұрын

@@PostMortar also, I wonder if public libraries getting better titles was another factor.

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

@@mst3kanita That couldn’t have helped either. I just find it funny how fast video rental became dated.

@DavidLee-gi7uu Жыл бұрын

I worked there in 2007-2009. They closed the first store I worked at and management told us (and customers) that the store was closing because “the lease expired”. Which didn’t make sense. They moved employees to different stores. Everyone’s hours were cut because of too many employees at the stores. I remember before we closed that most of us were working just THREE hours per WEEK. They really hiked up the importance of calling customers to pay late fees, we were still selling PowerPlay Memberships and PlayGuard while knowing full well that the customers would never benefit from those since we were going out of business. It was all the last gasp and trying to extract every cent from the customers.

@lethalwolf7455 3 ай бұрын

We had a Hollywood and a Blockbuster where I grew up. One small detail I remember was returning videos to Blockbuster and being told I had to pay a late fee. Same situation at Hollywood but I was told, “Sorry about this but there is a small extended viewing fee on your rental. If you need more time you can still rent today and pay the fee next visit” That stuff matters, they had great customer service.

@brianwinters3832 2 ай бұрын

I understand why b&m stores can’t succeed in 2024, but growing up there was nothing better than going to an actual store, loading up on snacks, going home and throwing a movie into the VCR. Streaming is great, but there was something special about the whole procedure of getting a movie in the 90s

@PostMortar 2 ай бұрын

Very true. Streaming is great in concept, but now that it’s being leaned into so hard all the time, you’re getting a situation of where it’s going to be more inconvenient than video rental was. Now companies have realized they can piecemeal you on your entertainment, rather than letting you buy something and owning it. We have cable television all over again.

@BobSmith-mz1uo 2 жыл бұрын

I belonged to two different Hollywood Videos at the same time and between both stores I must have spent thousands. Absolutely loved Hollywood Video.

@kishascape 8 ай бұрын

Same it was my favorite.

@Drac39 2 жыл бұрын

I miss Hollywood Video. In it's heyday it was an event to go to

@Oldiesfan017 Жыл бұрын

I had a Hollywood Video near my home in Chesterfield, Michigan. My family and I went for all the family friendly movies and shows we could think of, and it was basically paradise to me. Once, I snuck over to the Hollywood Video store from Farmer Jack without telling my dad when I was four or five years old. (I didn't learn how to talk yet.)

@candvand Жыл бұрын

One legacy of Hollywood Video that will still be around years from now: the cheaply made, tilt up concrete buildings with the jagged edge meant to look like the hills behind their Hollywood sign. There’s still one in the parking lot of my employer’s previous location. It’s been 15 years since it was a video store, but it’s still shaped like one.

@PostMortar Жыл бұрын

So true. Those hills definitely aren’t going anywhere.

@kishascape 8 ай бұрын

Like former pizza hut buildings 😂

@eriks3260 8 ай бұрын

I miss those times!!!!

@NotAJosh 2 жыл бұрын

For only being 21 this makes me feel old, we had a Hollywood video the next town over and remember going there as a kid to look around. Should make a vid on family video and how they survived by owning most of there stores and sub leasing parts to subsidize there profit. My local family vid on the same town as the Hollywood video just closed about 5 months ago

@gracie42069 2 жыл бұрын

Would love to see a video on them it's crazy how long they hung on for

@MrMax12343 Жыл бұрын

Them was the days when I was a kid go rent movies and video game on fri till Sunday

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

Want more Post-Mortar?? Here's the series playlist: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bt2Yraxq3N_OXXU.html Thanks for watching! Consider Liking, Subscribing, and Sharing the video!!

@nickwattles2932 2 жыл бұрын

This video was great! My father is Mark Wattles and we were pleasantly surprised to discover this video. There were a few facts that were off by a little bit, but over all you did a fantastic job on the production of this video. Thank u for making it, my family really enjoyed. Where are u based and what drove u to start making these videos?

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Nick! It’s an honor for you all to have seen it and I’m so happy you liked it! I’m based in New Mexico. These videos came about when this was a variety channel. I made videos like these on different topics (movies, games, etc) and one of them was Blockbuster Video. It was very popular, and with retail history being something I’ve always had a keen interest in, I changed the whole channel to be retail-centric. Hollywood was always a must-do video.

@undergroundretail 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome Video! I bought a ton of Xbox video games when they were going out of business and a Kill Bill movie 😆.

@SCMediaWorks 2 жыл бұрын

Dropping a bomb on a morning when I needed one. I have never been to a Hollywood Video in my entire life, but there was one across the street from my old Blockbuster. It's now a Metro/T-Mobile shop shared with a CBD store. That building had 5 different tenants after Hollywood shut down, including the ones I mentioned.

@NotAJosh 2 жыл бұрын

Mine is a T-Mobile store too. They sub divided it to a game stop, tmobile, a hair cutting place and a eye glass store. Crazy to think how big the stores where

@User0000000000000004 2 жыл бұрын

FYI, time-shifting is a term that came into existence in the era of DVRs, specifically used when talking about Tivos. I grew up in the era of VHS, back before you could purchase movies, only rent, and NOBODY, EVER, NERVER, SPNEVERT!, said time-shifting when talking about taping a show on TV. The only term anybody used was "tape it" and the lesser "record" but, and I can't stress this strongly enough, NEVER did ANYONE say time-shifting in the VHS era. Thank you.

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

You're RIGHT. It certainly wasn't in the public lexicon, but "Time-Shifting" was used in advertising by some companies at the time. I believe RCA used it. Recording programs was the biggest selling point before video rental took off.

@User0000000000000004 2 жыл бұрын

@@PostMortar Yeah! I also remember teh holy grail of recording, the goal line everyone was trying to get past, was recording an entire foosball game on a single tape. The top-loader Panasonic deck my family had could do it, but at the expense of quality, and quite an expense it was! They called SLP (super-long-play?) but it sucked. As an adult, I owned a JVC S-VHS deck and today I have a studio S-VHS VTR (no macrovision!)

@User0000000000000004 2 жыл бұрын

@@PostMortar And even though you could record anything at any time with any VHS deck from the 80s, and everybody owned one, I only knew ONE person, ever, who used the programming mode of his VHS decks. The cliche flashing 12:00 on a VCR was a real thing. If you saw someone with a VCR with an accurate clock, you took notice because of how rare it was.

@SchuminWeb 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the photo credit with the Walmart photo!

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

Of course! Good work!

@kishascape 8 ай бұрын

I really miss Hastings. It was mostly in rural areas and had terrible prices but was one of the last physical places I saw offering DVD and Blu Ray rentals for decent prices. When the one in my town closed i thought it was just a local thing but then later on all the other stores closed as well. You should do a Post Mortar on them too.

@PostMortar 8 ай бұрын

I’d love to do a video on Hastings. The only one I ever saw was very large. Never got a chance to go inside, unfortunately.

@kishascape 8 ай бұрын

@@PostMortar oh it was great. The wood panel pattern of the vinyl floors, the glass cases of instruments, the gaming section with all sorts of DnD and MTG type stuff and dice, and they even bought used comics so you found some pretty neat ones in on the racks at back. They also had a huge magazine and books section and some computer stuff along with the usual DVD and CD stuff. They hired the CEO that saved Macy's and Trans World in an attempt to stay afloat as well.

@shmeagol 8 ай бұрын

I worked at Hollywood video from 03 to 07. It sounds lame but it’s probably the best job I’ve ever had. Mainly because my coworkers were good people.

@josephensworth7044 Жыл бұрын

The former Hollywood Video closest to me is now a Pink Box Donut shop.

@kishascape 8 ай бұрын

Lame

@BrawnyBuddha 2 жыл бұрын

Subbed

@jayjay3848 Ай бұрын

I miss game crazy and Hollywood video.

@PostMortar Ай бұрын

Same here. Got my first game console from Game Crazy. Could rent them right in the store. Very convenient.

@mst3kanita 2 жыл бұрын

I wanna see that ann & hope video!

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

I think it would be really cool to cover another discount pioneer. Among the likes of E.J. Korvette.

@adamm3368 Жыл бұрын

Anyone remember Red Rabbit Video?? Can't remember if it was a national rental business or just when I grew up in Florida.

@PostMortar Жыл бұрын

Looks like Red Rabbit Video was exclusive to Florida. The founders said they started the chain in the late ‘80s to compete directly with Blockbuster. Very interesting. Seems to have only existed for about 10 years or so.

@Launchpad05 Жыл бұрын

7:05 Quick, get Spoony to riff on Zelda trying way too hard to be be hip with those 'fellow kids'.

@User0000000000000004 2 жыл бұрын

"...was now Chuck full of corporations..." That sounded so odd when I heard it. I was almost asleep but I heard that and pricked right up! The word is "chock" not "Chuck". Chuck is a person's name.

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

Lol yeah it’s “chock-full-of.” I’m sure Chuck is a nice guy though

@6RshEuH2 7 күн бұрын

funny story. the local blockbuster by me closed and then hollywood video opened in the same building and then they closed down and blockbuster opened up again, ,lol.

@PostMortar 6 күн бұрын

Wow. That’s crazy. Must’ve been a tough location.

@6RshEuH2 6 күн бұрын

@@PostMortar the building is a restaurant now. only thing they changed to it was adding an overhang for an outdoor eating area.

@dandegroodt2144 2 жыл бұрын

I like turtles

@PostMortar 2 жыл бұрын

Me too

@mjbl1787 10 ай бұрын

lmao I forgot this company even existed....

@PostMortar 10 ай бұрын

Definitely a blast from the past. Loved shopping at Hollywood Video vs Blockbuster.

@Tornado1994 Ай бұрын

@@PostMortar Hollywood Video was 10X better than Blockbuster, I remember fondly when they suddenly burst onto the scene in 1996. We rented from there all the time. I have FOND memories of obtaining my Dreamcast from them and Game Crazy back when Game Crazy hit the scene in 1999. GameStop,Inc put Hollywood Video out of business in 2010. And its CEO admitted he pulled Corporate Blackballing to do so. You see, Game Crazy was turning a profit, FAR more than Hollywood Video as a whole, and by 2008, it was biting into Gamestop's Cutthroat business. Game Crazy had BETTER return and in store value policies than GameStop, so GameStop saw it fit to put their competitor out of business.