Brick and mortar video stores are becoming increasingly elusive in today's world of on-demand streaming services like Netflix and Disney+, but it wasn’t always this way. Family Video, at its peak, owned over 750 stores (largely in the Midwest) and Blockbuster owned some 9,000 all across the country. Sometimes called the ‘sole surviving video rental chain,’ Family Video still manages to hold on to its locations despite the ever-changing times. The franchise seems increasingly aware of their standing, as they have recently launched a new marketing campaign, called ‘Save the Video Store’.

“Unfortunately we had to shut down for a few months, and when we opened back up again COVID hit us hard,” manager of Oshkosh’s Family Video Loni Tomzcak said. “We lost a lot of clientele and we’ve had to shut down a lot of stores in the company.”

Tomzcak has been working at Family Video for 19 years and worked her way up to manager from a part-time position in the Fond du Lac store, which is now closed.

For Family Video, these past couple of months during the COVID-19 pandemic have been difficult. They have been forced to shut down over 200 stores in the last few months alone, leaving the company with only about 300 stores remaining.

“Some days are slower, some days are faster,” Tomczak said. “Fridays and Saturdays are our busiest days, so we see a lot of foot traffic during those days.”

For many, Family Video still remains a refreshing and nostalgic break from using streaming services.

The franchise has recently started selling vintage Family Video t-shirts along with ones that say ‘#SaveTheVideoStore’ in block letters. The t-shirts retail for $19.78, the year the company was founded.

Still, daily life at many of the stores goes on, same as it always did.

“Our first priorities are customers and the dropbox, where we put them [the rented movies] back on the shelf. I do the hiring, and I make the schedule,” Tomczak said.

Family Video was founded by Charlie Hoogland, who started the Springfield Video Club in 1978 with an excess of video cassette tapes from his distribution business, Midstates Appliance and Supply company. From then on, the company was not convinced that it would last. Hoogland feared that the video cassettes, while advanced for the time, would soon be replaced by another medium. Reasoning that real estate would always be valuable, Hoogland repaid the mortgages on his first stores within five years. To this day, the company follows this policy.

Because of Family Video’s real estate policy, the Hoogland’s largely see the Family Video franchise as a real estate affair. Hoogland’s son, Keith Hoogland, had this to say on how the change has weathered the ages when interviewed by Forbes in 2017:“Everybody thought the reason [other video stores] went away was because of digital, but in reality that wasn't the case,” he said. “They weren't very well-run businesses. They had a lot of debt, leases that were poorly negotiated, and they also were sharing revenue with studios quite a bit. They made a lot of poor decisions."

Indeed, one of the biggest reasons why Blockbuster became bankrupt was because they couldn’t pay their leases on their locations, a problem that Family Video has never had. Today, Blockbuster only owns one store in Bend, Oregon.

By the time that Keith Hoogland took the proverbial torch, Family Video was vying to grab rural markets instead of big cities, believing that larger competitors would hold an advantage there. Family Video became the largest brick and mortar video rental franchise in the rural midwest and still holds on to the area.

“We’re pretty steady, but there’s only one or two people in the store at a time, but it's steady, I would say,” Ellie Newhouse, manager of the Family Video on Calumet Street in Appleton, said.

Newhouse has been working at Family Video for eight years and has been a manager at the Appleton location for six.

While it's true that Family Video’s average customer is between 35 to 45 years old, Family Video hopes to attract a younger crowd through one advantage: the circumventing of rights issues that come with streaming services. Because Family Video buys their movies outright, they frequently have the latest movie releases weeks, or even months, before other streaming services get them.

“We’re aware that people stream and it's easier, but I think it’s fun, you know?” Newhouse said.

Family Video is aware of the changing times and the novelty of going to a video store is one thing that they hope to preserve with their new campaign, ‘Save the Video Store.’

“I believe it’s getting people to notice,” Tomczak said. “A lot of people don’t realize that video stores are still around and that it didn’t die with Blockbuster. It’s not bringing droves of people in but I think it's a good idea, and I think we have fun with it.”

Family Video’s campaign is a rather clever one. Their play for nostalgia appeals to a large audience since they have been open for so long. Because of their policy on property, it’s doubtful that Family Video will go bankrupt because of COVID-19 or any other storm that may come their way. Even when video stores seem to be forgotten and out of the limelight, Family Video perseveres. A simple and refreshing break from a future full of streaming services and modern technology, Family Video is still a fun and nostalgic place. Because of the ‘Save the Video Store’ ad campaign, it will still be around in the years to come.

By Jackson Clarke

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 3

December 11, 2020

Digital killed the video store star, but Family Video fights to turn the tide