Requiem for a video store

[chelseagirl]

Around this time last year we were moving -- I don't remember exactly when, as we closed mid-month and had the old apartment through the 31st. (Yeah, I could look it up . . . ) Since I lived in Chelsea (hence the screenname) for 22 years, I am feeling weirdly sentimental about it. And I went to the same video rental the whole time -- Alan's Alley -- first VHS tapes, then DVDs. I probably joined my first week in the neighborhood, and rented movies my last few nights there. And I never got Netflix because I had this lovely individually-owned business I could rent from, with an amazing selection and knowledgable clerks, and an owner who I've now known for all those years.

M moved over first, and camped out for a few days, to paint and to shift the cats over. The last three nights I slept there alone (M. had the a/c but I had the bed!); every night I rented movies about elderly British musicians or in French with subtitles -- all things M would find boring. (Now that we have more than one room, we don't always have to pick compromise movies, unless we're specifically having a movie-together night.)

Anyway, flash forward a year. It used to be one of the more affordable neighborhoods in Manhattan; now nothing is affordable in Manhattan and Chelsea's especially fashionable at the moment so, yeah, a lot of turnover in the last few years.

And Alan is closing as of July 7 (M's birthday), a victim of the rents. This past week, I've been renting True Detective from him, the first time I rented anything since I moved. (I'm in the old neighborhood once every week or two, but it's complicated to get back and forth to rent and return . . . ) When I return the last disk tomorrow, that's going to be it. He's also selling off stock before he puts things in storage -- he's not sure if he'll find another location or end up selling it all off on eBay. I bought Joss Whedon's Much Ado from him, and I'll buy a few more things when I return the True Detective, partly to help him out and partly out of sheer sentimentality. And I'll probably go by one last time to say goodbye the weekend before he closes.

And I feel overwhelmingly sad and nostalgic about it. His store was such an institution, and he's always been so friendly and knowledgeable, and I know video stores are over and hey, I love living in the East Village, but it feels like another big chunk of my past is going away.

The day after he closes, I will join the video rental club at Two Boots Pizzeria, across Avenue A from here. They have a tiny selection compared to Alan, but I'm feeling sentimental.

Comments

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

I miss video stores too as well. Because sometimes just browsing would show me things that I wouldn't have thought to watch.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Just like bookstores . . .

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

Exactly!!!

[ibshafer.livejournal.com]

Oh! I LOVE that movie about the elderly British musicians!

So sorry to hear about Alan. I remember meeting him and his wife at that restaurant in Woodstock that day with you. Hopefully, they'll be able to set up shop elsewhere, as you mentioned he was looking to do.

...um, how much is he selling his DVDs for? I would love a copy of Much Ado, as well, if he had more than one...

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I was half feeling sentimental enough to think I should buy the French movie, which was the last one I watched in my old apartment. But I'm trying to shake that off, as it is pure sentiment. (It was a good movie, but . . . ) Instead I'm going to ask if he's got the seasons I don't already own of Veronica Mars, and the recent Coriolanus, because I might teach it next year.

I really don't think he will; I'll try to remember to ask.
I gave him $10 plus tax; which is probably a bit high for a used DVD? But I'm kinda into buying from Alan because Alan and closing.

Yup. The time you and Roz and I went together, we ran into them at brunch and you said, oh, this is the reason you don't have Netflix and his family cheered. He said business is still reasonably good, but that streaming and Netflix has definitely cut into it, and because of the new higher rents, there are a lot of new people in Chelsea who don't have a history with renting from him . . . but the reason he's closing is because the landlord has jacked up his rent considerably. It just makes me so sad to think he won't be there; I wasn't even going there, but I knew I *could*. And then I did, a couple of times in a week, and now he'll be gone . . . after all those years.

ETA: And now I'm going to associate that sad song at the beginning of True Detective with Alan closing.

[anicca-anicca2.livejournal.com]

I can totally relate. There used to be the most amazing videostore just a few blocks away from mine, on my way home from work which closed up in Dec 2012 because of their rent getting too expensive. I'm pretty matter-of-fact when it comes to changes in the neighbourhood and the cityscape overall, but this one really was like a punch in the stomach. They had pretty much everything in every genre, and the people working there, a collective of under-thirties basically, were really knowledgeable and helpful. They were pretty unfazed though, they said that media like DVDs, blue-ray etc were on their way out anyway, and they would have had to shut down sooner or later, the rent problem just accelerated things. And I guess they were young and on to other things.
Now I get most films just from my library, but I have to pre-order them and, if they're remotely popular, have to wait for weeks. Which is not a problem but I loved to just pop in and browse on my way home...

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

It's inevitable, but I wanted him to be the last one standing, and since he's an older guy, perhaps to ride it out to retirement. I've actually known him for 23 years, which is longer than I've known most people.

Also, I started thinking through why this was hitting me so hard, and realized that I'm totally projecting about institutions which are supposed to always be there, and connecting that to my aging parents . . .

[anicca-anicca2.livejournal.com]

I totally get that, and I felt similar. And these days, I think about my own ageing parents a lot along those lines. I better not get started.