There are easier ways to rent a movie but for Jason Patrone, nothing beats the experience of visiting Video Paradise.<\/p>\n
The mom-and-pop video shop on the northwestern corner of Alma School and Warner roads with the flamingo logo and the vintage video-arcade games has outlasted huge national movie-rental chains Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. It has so far withstood the challenge of online services Netflix or kiosks like Redbox.<\/p>\n
For regular customers like Patrone, there are two reasons that Video Paradise remains viable: service and selection.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no problem giving them my money and supporting them,\u201d Patrone said. \u201cThey\u2019re awesome. They\u2019ve been here for years. This place is iconic to this area. I can\u2019t say enough about it. I love this place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patrone said he enjoys the staff, which he describes as helpful, a little quirky and cool. He also likes browsing the selection of more than 30,000 titles that includes the latest releases as well as B-movie horror classics that he watched as a kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a genuine experience to coming here, still renting something tangible, bringing it home and popping it in,\u201d Patrone said. \u201cThere is a ritual to it. You can\u2019t replace that with going, \u2018I want to watch that,\u2019 and pressing a button on the computer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Video Paradise understands customers like Patrone because it is run by people who feel the same way.<\/p>\n
Marshall Hawkins, who along with his wife, Gina, owns the store, is a former executive with Hollywood Video. Hawkins purchased the store eight years ago when many people were starting to think there was no future in video rentals.<\/p>\n
He said he was familiar with Video Paradise, which has been open since 1992, before he bought it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it, one, because I\u2019m a huge movie buff,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cAnd I know it sounds horrible, but also because it was one of the few independents we didn\u2019t drive out of business. When we sold (Hollywood Video) as a company, I had heard that the owner of this store was looking to move on. I thought it would be great to be able to keep alive a passion I had (for movies).\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the threat from rental services with lower overhead costs like Netflix or Redbox wasn\u2019t as much of a concern because he didn\u2019t believe they were the reason the big rental chains faltered. He said those chains were burdened with high debt and were slow to react to changes in the business.<\/p>\n
Hawkins said Video Paradise benefits from having an extremely loyal clientele, many of whom have been customers since the beginning. He also credits the store\u2019s extensive catalog of titles, which has something for everyone, including documentaries, classic television shows, Hollywood classics and a large selection of foreign films.<\/p>\n
But paying attention to the customers is what keeps the store profitable.<\/p>\n
For example, during the recent economic downturn, the staff noticed that some people who used to rent a lot of movies and TV shows were renting fewer because money was tight.<\/p>\n
So, the store cut the price on older titles to five movies for five days for $5.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, that stuff was already paid for,\u201d Hawkins said about the older movie titles. \u201cBut it ended up being a great business decision. People who used to come in and get new releases could still come in and get 10 hours of entertainment for $5. That portion of the business grew. Because we did right by our customers, our business was rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n
The staff at Video Paradise does other things to try to reward loyal customers and separate itself from the competition. Customers who rent three titles can get a fourth free. Also, if the store doesn\u2019t have a particular movie but it can be obtained for a reasonable cost, the staff will order it figuring if one person wants to rent it, others are probably looking for it, too.<\/p>\n
Customers will sometimes even bring in discs they get from Redbox or Netflix to Video Paradise for cleaning, and the staff usually obliges.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause with their product, who do you call?\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cHow do you resolve an issue? They\u2019re almost embarrassed when they come in, but we say, \u2018We get it. You live four miles away and it (Redbox) is across the street from you.\u2019 We completely understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The store also provides free rentals of movies that can be used for educational purposes for teachers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a teacher for years,\u201d longtime customer Doug Conway said. \u201cSo, I thought that was a good thing. And a lot of people here are long-term employees. When people work somewhere for a long time, I think it says a lot about management. I like to go to places where people are treated well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hawkins\u2019 philosophy is that if the employees are treated well, they\u2019ll treat the customers well, which is good for business. Some employees predate the Hawkinses\u2019 ownership and the average tenure of those working there is six to seven years, he said.<\/p>\n
The management puts a lot of effort into finding people who are a good fit for Video Paradise. They look for not only good customer-service skills, but people who are passionate about movies.<\/p>\n
That can sometimes make for lively interactions between staff and customers. Hawkins jokingly dropped references to two 1990s movies when describing the staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say it\u2019s \u2018Clerks\u2019 meets \u2018High Fidelity,\u2019 \u201d Hawkins said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a corporate store. You\u2019re not going to come in here and get an artificial greeting. We sometimes cringe because if you come here and ask our employees their opinion on a movie, you\u2019re going to get the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the future of Video Paradise, Hawkins said he knows there will come a time when the business is no longer viable, but he doesn\u2019t believe that time has come yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always say it\u2019s got two more years left,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve said that for the past nine years.\u201d
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