VHS tapes making a comeback via a video store in California
BURBANK, Calif. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - There was a time when watching a movie at home required you to drive to a store and rent a VHS tape.
But after the introduction of DVD delivery and streaming video, the number of U.S. video rental stores went from 15,000 in the mid-1980s to about 2,000 in 2017, but there is a growing number of people who are rewinding back to the VHS days.
"It's tangible, it's in your hands. So its accessible when you want," said Casey O'Connor, a patron of Be Kind Video.
Welcome back to the future as it's the return of the VHS tape.
"In the beginning I was going to thrift stores, I was going to estate sales, I was going, you know, scouring Craigslist and OfferUp," said Matthew Renoir, the owner of Be Kind Video and a cinematographer.
Nostalgia
Renoir eventually collected enough tapes to open Be Kind Video in 2022.
"It's like horror tapes, or 80s and 90s kind of action, sci-fi stuff, that's the stuff that's most popular," Renoir shared.
Renoir is riding the wave of old media popularity. Like the resurgence of vinyl records, VHS tapes are more than a bit of nostalgia for customers like Aaron Therol.
"The grittiness...People love that sound of the hiss, right? It just gives this different vibe, this different feel," Therol expressed.
"Tapeheads"
VHS has been winning followers on social media with many fans referring to themselves as "tapeheads."
For Rich Sommer, it's a new way to share memories with his 13-year old son Patrick, who loves horror movies and old cartoons on tape.
"[Because] the cartoons, when you watch them on VHS, like the color really pops and its just like a new way to enjoy them," Patrick remarked.
Of course nowadays, you can get a movie much faster by connecting to a streaming service, but fans say a store like Be Kind Video offers a human connection.
A sense of community
The video store holds regular movie nights where customers can come together. Conor Holt says the events provide a sense of community.
"It matters as a subculture. It matters as people care about it and want to preserve it and they want to enjoy that kind of comradery. So, I believe it will continue," Holt spoke.
Seems VHS isn't dead yet, and no one is putting these babies in the corner anymore.
Also, some VHS tapes are worth a lot more than $5.00 as a mint condition copy of "Back to the Future" sold at an auction for $75,000 in 2022 while a 1985 tape of "The Goonies" sold for $50,000.
