Here’s a rather (in retrospect) Capra-esque piece, published in Voices newspaper, where i was staff photographer and occasional writer/theater critic, published Sept. 2000:
Go Video Closes, Future Uncertain
By Dan Nelson
SOUTHBURY-WOODBURY – After 15 years of offering new movies, foreign movies, classics, obscure television series, video games, a knowledge of film and friendly, down-home service to people in the Southbury area, Go Video has gone out of business.
One night in the mid-80s, Brookfield resident Ed Maher left a video store after being treated like dirt and decided right then, he told Voices, to open his own store. Relying on his desire and ability to interact well with people, he made it his mission to create a store where he would try to make every situation work, in a word: to help people. Thus Go Video was born.
When a Heritage Village resident, for example, called asking how to use a VCR, Ed would head over to the house and show the caller how to install and use the machine. Even at the store on an average day, Ed’s helpfulness would shine through as he paused mid-sentence in a conversation to direct someone to a section of the store.
In addition to offering new and classic releases, Ed stocked the shelves with plenty of esoterica. If you wanted that Korean one about the food-crazy woman who lived next door to the woman who never ate anything and then served up her boyfriend’s dog to him, he had it. If you wanted the third Ronald Reagan film, he probably had it. You sought a squash instructional video? He probably had it.
Take the friendly staff – you probably watched at least one of them grow up, maybe another was a friend of your son or daughter – who knew how to navigate the dozens of categories, throw in the poster giveaways, the Playstation set-up where you could try out a game, the rental and repair of VCRs, the incredible variety of Ed’s catalog – and even the karaoke machine – and you could hardly have asked more from a store. Ed hadn’t even raised the prices since opening.
When asked how the end of Go Video came about, Ed has a one-word explanation: Blockbuster.
Ed Kaczynski, owner of Woodbury’s Video World, agrees that, combined with other factors, the presence of a store offering numerous copies of the newest releases makes competition at least difficult, if not impossible. Other factors include the Internet, the great variety of other forms of entertainment and, in Ed Maher’s opinion, the popularity of dining out. According to Ed Kaczynski, most of the movies at Blockbuster and other franchises are acquired, as in movie theaters, by revenue-sharing: film companies loan movies to a store, the store rents them, keeping 60 percent of sales, for example, and giving 40 percent to the film company. In this way, the store avoids paying the average wholesale price of $70 per copy for new releases.
Most independent stores, such as Go Video and Video World, do not participate in revenue-sharing and choose instead to buy new releases and attempt to recoup the money through rental. Ed Kaczynski explains his decision thus: “When you opt for revenue-sharing, then they [the film companies] have you right where they want you. You’re under their thumb.” The fact that film companies partially finance the production of movies from the prospective video rental profits indicates the size of profits from both revenue-sharing and regular sales.
The availability of new titles at franchise stores, their renting power and the general emphasis on the newest, latest thing seems to create and nurture what Ed Kaczynski sees as a mania for the new. “See this movie this week, because in a week or two you might not be able to,” he says, characterizing a video marketing strategy based on that of theatrical releases. “You show someone a movie, especially kids, and the first thing they want to know is, ‘When did this come out?,’ and if it’s a year or two old, they usually put it back.”
A young woman and man bring two newer film versions of the Joan of Arc story to the counter. “Which of these is better?” In a characteristic gesture, Ed Kaczynski’s finger vacillates between the two as he pauses momentarily. The words he chooses turn out to be shrewd: “Well, this one is more graphic,” he says, pointing to the newer one. “Yeah, that’s what I want,” says the man.
The two Eds have known each other since Video World opened in 1990 and spoke often over the past year about possible ways in which Go Video could survive. A combination of about three decades of experience in the business brought no successful answer.
When asked how he sees his own future in the business, Ed Kaczynski shrugs. He foresees neither the gradual shift from video to DVD, nor technological developments merging the computer and television, as a loss of business, but he isn’t strapping on a party hat either. He would like to broaden his catalog with more adventurous fare, but must always keep the demand for such films in mind.
Ed employs young people whom he has seen grow up and who work for him sometimes until completing college. He teaches them to overcome their shyness by directing them to make eye contact with customers. He seems to remember the names of most of his customers and sometimes their numbers. Far from the humming computer systems of chain video stores, where names and rental histories are sold (generating significant profits) to direct marketing firms, Ed flips through a catalog of 5×7 cards to see which movies are late.
