Folks Are Building '90s Video Stores In Their Basements ... Because Why Not?

Hopefully, they won’t charge their family late fees.
Folks Are Building '90s Video Stores In Their Basements ... Because Why Not?

A lot of people are adopting new hobbies to help cope during the pandemic; baking bread, podcasting, podcasting about bread, sitting in your car screaming into a paper bag while your family is asleep. And, as we’ve mentioned before, a lot of people have renewed their nostalgia for video stores. Well, now one Midwestern barber has taken that love for VHS rentals to a whole other level.

As reported by The New York Times, Iowa barber Brian Hogan used his recent free time to convert his basement into an old-school, mom-and-pop-style video store “out of necessity and boredom.” After his local video store finally closed, Hogan consolidated his home video collection into this faux shop, complete with a dropbox for returns, cash register, and a “half-hidden adult section” — reminding us that video stores were weirdly a place where you could rent both porn and The Return of Jafar. The project went viral after Hogan’s wife created a TikTok account showing off her husband’s project, dubbed the “Video Bunker” that, apparently, came at the expense of a kitchen renovation. 

Weirdly, despite the fact that this project is making headlines, it’s not that uncommon of an endeavor. Just searching the words “basement video store” on YouTube turns up a bunch of videos documenting similar homemade subterranean video stores. Like this one in Houston, Texas --

And the aptly named “Nostalgia Video” --

So if, at some point in the future, some dude in his 40s attempts to lure you into his basement, don’t worry he may just be offering you a stack of Steven Seagal VHS tapes and a bag of Doritos from 1994. 

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter! And check out the podcast Rewatchability.

Top Image: Wikimedia Commons

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