re: Would you say the video rental business had about a 25 yr run?

Working offshore in the 80's the ship's lounge was always stocked with tapes provided by some provisioning company or copies pirated at home by the crew. Now most vessels and all platforms have sat feeds, subscriptions to streaming services. Most crew watch what they want on the internet in their quarters. I think offshore workers knew rental would die sooner than most people.

Always got stuck with late fees and rewind fees. Was always fun going to block busters when the new movies came out. Damn Ian getting old

I used the local spot in Zachary. Two new rentals got you a free non-new release. This is how I watch many old king fu movies, Westerns, and older hits like Blade Runner or Scarface.

There is still a National Video open in West Monroe.

VCRs are Microwaves starting becoming mainstream in the early 80s, it only took a couple of years to become common.

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I don't miss getting charged a late fee even after I made a special trip to bring the tape back on time. That's why I liked the Mom n Pop video stores. They'd cut you some slack. Sometimes they even had a back room with the porno tapes.

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I miss Debra’s Movie World in South Lafourche. 3-4 locations and a smut room in the back.


Only “national or regional chain” that made it to South Lafourche was Slick Sam’s that eventually became Movie Gallery.

As far as locally owned, they also had Top 10 Video next Popeyes in Galliano. I remember my family ordering some chicken and while waiting looking for a game or a movie for the weekend.

I remember the old organization system. If the movie or game was available you grabbed the plastic case behind the shell of the movie sometimes the movie or game was in it. They would write you a slip and you paid in cash.

Slick Sam’s/Movie Gallery was a little more sophisticated with a barcodes and scanners and computer printed receipts.

I had a neighbor who knew the manager at Slick Sam’s and they would get to bring home preview copy of a new release that had yet to be released in the stores. These had warning video crawl that it was a preview release and not for rental or purchase.

Cool times indeed.

I can remember renting video game systems. It was this big ol briefcase and everything was stamped and labeled.

And then god forbid if you forgot to return at game or couldn't find it.

Hundreds of dollars.

I remember when going rent a movie was a big deal. We went once every few months. So the movies that were new and all rented out, we would get to watch two of them the next time we went. We would get two and then try to watch them as much as possible before we had to take them back. Today, you don't have to wait at all if you really want to watch something.

I always wanted to know this. How much did video stores pay for each movie? I know it cost under $5 to rent one. So I guess after.. maybe 5 rentals on a movie its all profit after that?

Going to local video store on a Friday night with my dad are some of my best memories as a kid

Movies, games, and snocaps candy