So you by now know how much I love free stuff, right? Well wait until you get a load of this!
Alamo Drafthouse, the U.S. cinema chain famous for serving beer in its theaters, may have been sampling their own wares. The company just announced they were opening a brick-and-mortar store right out of the 1980s: a video rental store. Take that twenty-teens! And the store’s business model is where the beer may have kicked in. All 75,000 videos will rent for free. No, I don’t know how they will stay open, but no one knows how so many Blockbusters stayed in business for all those years. It’s one of the great mysteries of the universe!
The stores will be called Video Vortex, and the first store is planned to open in Raleigh, North Carolina, later this year. They plan on carrying both classics and more recent releases. At first glance, the business model seems nuts, but AD has proven that they know what they’re doing. The video stores will have VCRs (!) and Blu-ray players available for rent, and they will also sell growlers from 40-plus local beers makers, snacks, board games, memorabilia, and other crap. You know, all the stuff we never bought from Blockbuster. Plus beer.
Hey, who knows. It might be amazing. I could see it working on the hipsters in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. Stay tuned!
March 12, 2018 at 5:22 am
wow – let’s see how it unfolds “)
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March 12, 2018 at 7:08 am
Could be interesting, at least as a social experiment!
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March 12, 2018 at 7:43 am
🙂 yes – so interesting – and your post reminded me of when my kids were little and they’d run to the mailbox to send back a dvd to netflix – we thought it was heaven – and then came streaming…. whoah
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March 12, 2018 at 9:20 am
We spent a lot of time staring at the shelves in Blockbuster in the nineties. A LOT. I do not miss those days at all!
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March 14, 2018 at 6:25 am
I do not miss them either- and I recall wheeling the stroller in there – with two kids in tow –
and recall them not having our first and second choice….
my my my we have come a long way – and as noted – likely for the good
and we will see how this other idea turns out
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March 14, 2018 at 8:23 am
I imagine people will find it fun, at least for the novelty of it!
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March 15, 2018 at 2:21 pm
yes – the fresh factor
(and hope you have a nice rest of your week)
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March 12, 2018 at 5:24 am
That’s insane – how can that work? I love free stuff too 🙂
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March 12, 2018 at 7:09 am
I just don’t know, but it is a fun idea!
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March 12, 2018 at 4:47 pm
I would like to do something like that!
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March 12, 2018 at 8:26 am
I remember them .they must have stored all those videos just waiting for the chance to jump. lol
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March 12, 2018 at 9:20 am
You’re probably right!
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March 12, 2018 at 11:14 am
Ahhh this stirs up SO much nostalgia. I admit I miss the days where we would as a treat and go rent a movie. ❤
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March 12, 2018 at 1:02 pm
I am enjoying the binge-watching, and I love not having anything to return, but I remember that feeling, too!
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March 12, 2018 at 11:50 am
Very intriguing! I live in Charlotte, NC but if I’m ever in the Raleigh area I will have to check this out… even if it’s just out of nostalgia!
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March 12, 2018 at 1:04 pm
It’s funny how exotic it seems now!
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March 12, 2018 at 12:33 pm
I so hope this works!! Though I do have doubts, what with Netflix & Video on demand… I think it would have the best chance if it would stock esoteric titles (alongside the usual ones). I for one miss video stores!!
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March 12, 2018 at 1:04 pm
I think they’re just trying to sell beer. Netflix can’t replace that!
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March 12, 2018 at 3:02 pm
What an absolutely crazy business plan! I hope they can make it successful somehow because I have to love non-conformists.
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March 12, 2018 at 9:33 pm
Me, too! And if it succeeds, there could be a free-stuff revolution!
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March 12, 2018 at 9:37 pm
Well, free so long as you purchase booze that is. I’m still down with that scheme.
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March 12, 2018 at 9:38 pm
Me, too!!
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