Record Guys, Abilene’s one and only independent record store, recently initiated the soft opening of their next vintage venture — an ’80s-inspired video store right across the street from the record shop.
With over 10,000 VHS tapes, 15,000 DVDs and 5,000 Blu-ray CDs, Video West offers visitors the complete nostalgic experience, even featuring popcorn and a candy bar.
“Right now we’re just open Friday night at the video store, kind of a little sample,” said store owner Jon Howell.” We’re still working. We’ve been working on it for about a year now building it out, but we’ve been buying tapes and DVDs for over 10 years.”
According to Jon, a small section of Record Guys has always housed a partial display of the shop’s video collection, but with limited space, customers haven’t been able to see the full inventory.
“People always come in looking for that one tape. And I say, ‘I probably got it in a box somewhere,'” said Jon. “So last year, we started thinking about what space we have and began building some shelves at our warehouse across the street to make room to display things.
“Maybe we can get [the tapes] out on shelves, and we can see what we have. And as we started building it, we kind of looked at it, my father and I, and said, ‘This is a video store. This is fun.'”
With a popular resurgence in physical media and practically no video stores in Abilene or the surrounding area, the father and son duo took the idea and ran with it. They decked the warehouse out with vibrant movie posters, vintage TV’s and shelves stocked full of VHS tapes and DVDs to open their own 80s-inspired video store.
“I miss this experience. I just want to go to the video store with my family, pick out the movie together, talk about it, ‘Oh, look at this, look at that.’ And then go home and watch that movie. And a lot of people have kind of agreed with that,” said Jon.
With sections full of Disney classics, Old West films, musicals on DVD, vintage horrors and more, everyone is bound to find something to take home.
“There are things that people have found that are rarer, which is fun, Collector’s things,” Jon said. “And you’ll pull something and go, ‘Wow, this is actually pretty rare and crazy.'”
More than just a video store
While not everyone in this day and age has access to a television that can play VHS tapes or DVDs, the Howells have a solution for that. They also offer refurbished VCR players and vintage TVs for sale at Video West that have been restored by Kevin Howell, Jon’s dad, who spent his college years fixing TVs, VCRs and more.
“The VHS players, you know, everybody needs them, but they don’t make them anymore,” said Kevin. “Some people collect the older ones and then a lot of people are going back to Blu-ray instead of streaming. Some people are going straight back to the VHS and the DVD.”
According to the Howells, one reason for the resurgence in physical media is that when purchasing a physical copy, its ownership cannot be taken away — unlike a streaming service or internet provider.
“Over the last several years, people have had instances of stuff disappearing off their devices,” said Jon. “If the company you bought it from loses the rights to it, you do as well. And they have the right to take it off of. It’s all in fine print.”
Physical video also offers the community access to movies and TV shows that may not be available on the internet or streaming services at all.
People that come in and say, “I just decided to watch this movie and it’s nowhere. And now I’m looking,” said Jon.
Another reason for the switch to physical media is parents aiming to provide children with a safer platform to watch TV, said Jon. A technique he has done with his own kids to limit what media they have access to.
“You say, well, you know what, I’m going to buy him a CRT. I’m going to give him VHS tapes. He has these to choose from and that’s what he can pick,” said Jon. “I know what he’s getting into. I know what he’s watching. And it’s so much easier. And they enjoy it.
It’s something physical for them, and seeing the children, and my children included, take to that and go, ‘wow, this is so cool. I have this tape, and I’m going to watch and this is my favorite tape.'”
Cathode-ray tube TVs are old-time, bulky devices.
Video West is only open 4-8 p.m. Fridays, but once the Howells have the store officially complete, they plan to fully open.
“We’re trying to make sure that the first thing we get done, the most important thing is that our stock is ready and that things are running the way they’re supposed to be before we get flooded,” Jon said. “We want people to enjoy it the way it’s supposed to be enjoyed.”
(This story has been updated to add a photo and to meet our guidelines.)
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene’s Record Guys open ’80s-inspired video store
Reporting by Lauren Dossey, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
