What makes a great video store? A great video store is one that always carries the unrated, NC-17, uncut or director's cut version of a video tape if it is available in mild and explicit versions. A great video store carries video tapes from such noble companies as Playboy, Penthouse, Hot Body, Surrender Cinema and Mystique. A great video store has hard-to-find gems like Different Stokes with Dana Plato, The Turning with Gillian Anderson and Nicole with Catherine Bach. A great video store has classics like Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw with Lynda Carter, Terminal Island with Phyllis Davis and Naked Warriors with Pam Grier.
Like
me, I'm sure that you are having a difficult time finding great video stores in your
local area. To help in the quest, we're compiling a list of great video stores. Visit
them and rent lots of video tapes from them. Keep them in business.
To
get your favorite great video store added to this list, please email the information
(name, address, city, state, zip code, phone number and web site-if any) to craig@barefacts.com.
In your email, please let me know if I can include your name and email
address in the listing.
| Arizona |
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| Video Paradise 2050 N Alma School Rd #7 Mesa, AZ 85224 (480) 345-0102 |
9.20.00 - From Dr. Jeckyll: They have everything. |
| Casa Video 2905 E Speedway Blvd Tucson, AZ 85716 (520) 326-6314 (888) 976-1800 |
 5.1.01 - From Ptiming: Awesome independent video store in Tucson. Carries many eclectic titles. Online catalog. |
| California |
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| CineFile Video 11280 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310) 312-8836 |
4.22.04 - From Donald: The Best Video Store in LA (IMHO) is CineFile Video. It is one block from the 405 freeway, next door to the NuArt Cinema. It very much resembles Tarantino’s defunct store with employees extremely knowledgeable, weird categories (orangutan comedies, military training films), lots of porn but mostly edgy stuff (Cafe Flesh, you know), lots of foreign, some rentals/some sales. Open very late, haphazard layout, lots of hard to find stuff. Strange old one sheets on the wall (everything is for sale). Will search and find for you. |
| Videoscope 2290 W El Camino Real Mountain View, CA 94040 (650) 965-7800 |
3.1.00 - From Craig Hosoda: Great selection of DVDs and Laser Discs. Between Rengstorff and Ortega. In Olive Tree Plaza. |
| Le Video 1231 9th Ave San Francisco, CA 94122 (415) 566-3606 |
 10.17.01 - From Glenn: Great foreign section. They are located between Irving and Lincoln. |
| Bradley Video 501 E Campbell Ave Campbell, CA 95008 (408) 379-4999 |
2.27.05 - From Paul: My personal favorite in the Silicon Valley area is Bradley Video. They've got a descent selection of mainstream movies but also have a fairly large selection of adult videos. |
| American Video Center 14442 Union Ave San Jose, CA 95124 (408) 558-9545 |
3.1.00 - From Craig Hosoda: The best video store in the Silicon Valley. |
| Illinois |
|
| Dog Ear Music and Movies 117 W Rockland Rd Libertyville, IL 60048 (847) 362-5666 |
8.8.04 - From Nat: We've just hit 13,000 movies to rent. Over half are DVD. 20 years in the rental business. |
| Brookfield Video & DVD 3747 1/2 Grand Blvd Brookfield, IL 60513 (708) 387-7788 |
1.2.05 - From Jim: Great video store, excellent location, great selection, friendly, fun, soda, candy, popcorn, ice cream, snacks and specials. DVDs and videos to rent or buy. |
| The Video Strip 3307 S Archer Ave Chicago, IL 60608 (773) 927-4307 |
10.22.02 - From Trutin: They are really great. Hard to find stuff. Over 6,000 DVDs! |
| That's Rentertainment 516 E John St Champaign, IL 61820 (217) 384-0977 |
 7.6.05 - From Geoff: We are the last locally owned and operated DVD & Video Rental Store in the Champaign Urbana/University of Illinois area. That's Rentertainment caters to film fans (and fanatics) who have grown tired of the typical Blockbuster fare. We specialize in international, independent, classic American and art films, both on video tape and DVD. With over 16,500 DVDs and 16,000 VHS tapes, That's Rentertainment has the largest selection of movies in the entire Champaign-Urbana area. Membership is free (requiring only 2 photo IDs, or an ID and credit card) and rentals can be as cheap as $1.00 per tape, so come on down and see what you've been missing! |
| Massachusetts |
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| Starship Video 388 Park Ave Worcester, MA 01610 (508) 754-7200 |
7.4.00 - From Klaus: With over 13,000 titles in stock, they have some of the coolest and hardest-to-find videos around. Great Asian action, great anime, great arthouse and foreign, and they always have at least 5,000 videos in stock for sale (they buy out smaller stores that go out of business and sell their inventory, I guess.) |
| Michigan |
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| Liberty Street Video 119 E Liberty St Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (734) 663-3121 |
7.21.02 - From Arun: They're a totally sweet independent store that specializes in international, cult and gay/lesbian videos. They also hire a lot of cool, freaky film geeks that no one else will employ. They also sell great candy - how many places sell an entire line of candy jewelry anymore? |
| Missouri |
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| Roscoe Video 1705 S Noland Rd Independence, MO 64055 (816) 254-7300 |
12.4.03 - Roscoe Video has been renting videos since 1975. They always strive to get the hardest version of a title available. They have over 8,000 adult videos and lots of softcore Playboy-type movies too. They also have many of the older, hard-to-find titles.
|
| Valentine Video 901 Westport Rd Kansas City, MO 64111 (816) 561-3701 |
7.3.02 - From Roger: The best video store in Missouri is Valentine Video. They carry everything from G-rated movies to adult stuff, but they also carry more cult movies than most video stores I have worked for. |
| New Jersey |
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| Family Video Center Tuckahoe Rd Marmora, NJ 08223 |
3.15.00 - From Chris: Here is a GREAT video store: They're an independently run store in business since probably 1983 or 1984. Lots of out-of-print, hard-to-get stuff - and the best horror section I can think of. It's in the small town of Marmora, NJ, right inland from Ocean City, which is near Atlantic City. |
| New York |
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| Mondo Video 1109 Elmwood Ave Buffalo, NY 14222 (716) 881-1953 |
12.27.02 - From Mondo Video: We've in business since 1994. No new releases or Hollywood hits, just 5,500 movies you won't find at Blockbuster. Visit our website at www.mondofausto.com.
|
| Ohio |
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| Video Central 1299 Bethel Rd Columbus, OH 43220 (614) 442-8273 North Campus Video 2465 N High St Columbus, OH 43202 (614) 268-4021 Video Central 4400 Westerville Rd Columbus, OH 43231 (614) 478-1998 |
4.24.00 - From Doug: I live in Columbus, Ohio and we luckily have a small chain of
video stores who comply with your guidelines. They also carry full-on adult videos,
but in a different section entirely. All have the same ownership, I believe. Very good stores. |
| Gem City Records 318 E Fifth St Dayton, OH 45402 (937) 223-8011 |
 7.21.00 - From JHuffman: What really started out as a record store some 20 years ago has turned into the best video store in the tri-state area. Gem City Records carries new releases, hard to find indie and foreign titles, new and used VHS, and DVD for sale and rent. |
| Pennsylvania |
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| Dreaming Ant 4525 Liberty Ave Bloomfield, PA 15224 (412) 68DREAM (412) 683-7326 |
 2.26.04 - Besides picking a really cool name for their store, Dreaming Ant rents only DVDs--no videotapes. From Dean: We're located inside the Crazy Mocha Coffee Company. We are Pittsburgh's source for renting and buying alternative, non-hit driven home entertainment specializing in International, American independent, gay & lesbian, documentary and music DVDs. You can visit our website which features all of our titles in real-time. In 2004, we were voted best local video/DVD rental store by Pittsburgh City Paper. |
| Rick's Video 1300 Broad St Greensburg, PA 15601 (724) 838-1401 |
 5.6.00 - From Hboc: Great selection and mail rentals, too. |
| Poppa Ropp's Video 222 W Plum St 500 Edinboro, PA 16412 (814) 734-3014 |
 11.29.01 - From Poppa Ropp himself: We specialize in rare, out of print, foreign and independent stuff. We also carry the usual Hollywood crap as well... but we are known for our uncut, uncensored copies of super hard to find classics including tons of horror flicks, blaxploitation and T&A movies! We also have a lot of hard to find gay/lesbian titles and have a large adult video tape rental selection as well. |
| Narberth Video 241 Haverford Ave Narberth, PA 19072 |
11.18.02 - From Narberth Video: The oldest video store on the main line. Buy, rent, trade and repair both VHS and DVD. |
| Video Library 7157 Germantown Ave Philadelphia, PA 19119 |
 3.16.00 - From Wokman: If you are looking for a video store that rents video tapes by mail, here is one. |
| Texas |
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| I Luv Video 4631 Airport Blvd Austin, TX 78751 (512) 450-1966 I Luv Video 2915 Guadalupe St Austin, TX 78705 (512) 236-0759 |
10.29.00 - From Thomas.
|
| Virginia |
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| Dollar Video Store 7395 -D Lee Hwy Falls Church, VA 22042 (703) 698-8003 |
10.2.02 - From Max: This Dollar Video Store is located in Falls Church Virginia in the West Falls Church Shopping Centre. Upon arriving I was skeptical of it's claim of having over 30,000 adult movies, the stores facade is part of a quiet shopping center. But inside I found what you cannot find anywhere else in Northern Virginia--a Porno Paradise! This store truly does have over 30,000 adult movies! With all the newest releases and a vast assortment of porn. |
| Washington |
|
| Scarecrow Video 5030 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle, WA 98105 (206) 524-8554 |
3.17.00 - From Michael: Has best selection of any store I've seen, always has uncut
or director's cut editions available, best choice for hard-to-find or obscure videos.
Obsession with selection and quality over profitability nearly bankrupted the first
owner of this store. I understand people from all over the US and Canada travel to
Scarecrow in search of rare videos.
|
| Wisconsin |
|
| Galaxy Video N64 W24340 Main St Sussex, WI 53089 (262) 246-6673 |
12.25.01 - From Eric: They always have uncut and unrated fare. |
The Bare Facts
P.O. Box 3255
Santa Clara, California 95055-3255
USA
(408) 249-2021 voice/facsimile