In case you haven’t seen it yourself, Telstar Logistics today takes an in-depth look at Lost Weekend’s “Internet Killed the Video Store” window display:
Lost Weekend soldiers on, for now, but when we spoke to the store’s proprietors, they were candid: Times are tough, they said. As an indication of that, in the window of their shop they posted the lyrics to a sing-along remake of a familiar song about an earlier generation technological change, specially modified to suit today’s circumstances:
Read on for more pictures, a transcription of the full lyrics, some facts about Netflix and its effects on video stores, and some personal musings from Team Telstar.
Previously:
Hey, you know what’s really killing Lost Weekend? Community Thrift selling video tapes for next-to-nothing.
Just kidding, but to make a point. Video rental stores are the current equivalent of buggy-whip stores. They may have a colorful past, but they have no future (unless they can somehow re-invent themselves, like that used magazine store on Polk Street). I have cable TV, plus a year’s backlog of movies to watch on my DVR, plus Netflix AND Netflix instant view, plus Usenet downloads on my hard drive, and I haven’t even bothered to deal with torrents or anything else. And if I get really desperate, there are the physical vids and DVDs that I have actually bought and only watched once.
Oh, and I have a full-time job and several hobbies. Good night, Lost Weekend.
When it comes to renting movies, I much prefer going to a video store and browsing, finding something that looks good, and taking it home to watch right away. Or sometimes I get an itch for something in particular and can go and get it right away.
I don’t like Netflix because usually by the time something shows up, I’ve lost interest or am not in the mood to see whatever it is, and it sits around for a month before I give up and send it back.
Also, I don’t have cable (not much point since I don’t really watch TV). There are still a bunch of us out here for whom rental’s the way to go.
I’d much rather keep renting from Lost Weekend than anywhere else. Love those guys and wish the store a long life!!
Ha! That’s how I am about books! I hate using Amazon… give me a used bookstore to browse in any day.
That’s exactly how I am about books, too!!
Maybe they should try selling coffee too. Teaming up with Chicken John to help quash the competition might work as well. Oh, wait…
besides being a killer video store, they also get some scene points for having an owner who played drums in Jawbreaker…just sayin’
I haven’t rented movies from Lost Weekend in almost 2 years. I went regularly while hooked on Rome & The Wire. I stopped going when uploaders began sharing decent quality rips of The Wire’s 5th season.
I canceled my GreenCine & Netflix subscriptions over a year ago, around the time that external hard drives plummeted in price and several companies began selling media player boxes.
My home setup consists of an Asus O!Play, 3 external hard drives with a combined 4.5TB in storage, connected to my TV and home network. I have over 1000 movies, about 20 tv shows, and 1200 documentaries. Enough entertainment to get me through a nuclear winter.
If I want to watch something rare or difficult to download, I’ll go to Lost Weekend. They have an excellent Criterion Collection section.
This is a legit video store. I never rented anything there but I’m glad places like this existed for people before the internet really started crackin.