To First Choice Video

To First Choice Video

In January of this year the local video store in my home town, First Choice Video,  posted the photo above on their Facebook page along with a note that said that after 24 years they would closing its doors this year. Now, a local store closing down can be sad, but in this case it was heartbreaking. Why? Well for one thing it has been around literally as long as I have. Second it has been a go to place for me for movies. Yes I have a Netflix account but I always preferred to go to First Choice and hand pick what movie I wanted to check out. For me, it was fun to walk in and just browse through the aisles to see what looked promising. It's the same reason why I don't have a kindle.

First Choice Video was a massive staple of my childhood. When I was in Elementary School I was a poor test taker, particularly in spelling and I remember my mother would say to me, "If you do well with your spelling tests I'll take you to First Choice." To me, that was a solid deal. I also remember when I was a kid my sister and I would spend the night at our Grandmother's house many times and a treat she'd give us is a trip to the video store. Every time I went there I remember that my go to videos to rent were Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991, Dir. Michael Pressman). Both are films I enjoy to this day. I remember when they went from VHS to DVD and I did buy one movies, The Last Command (1955, Dir. Frank Lloyd) a B-Western starring Sterling Hayden, Ernest Borgnine and Arthur Hunnicutt.

As I grew older my taste in movies started to mature as well and it's through First Choice Video that I was able to see older films and get a better taste of cinema. Many of my favorite films I first saw because of First Choice Video. I knew First Choice Video was a go to place to find a classic film because it was obvious that the owner, Jennifer Andorfer, was a film lover. I'll always remember how around Oscar time she would set up displays at the end of every aisle showing all the movies that won Best Picture. She even had little cards made for the movies that said they were Best Picture winners. It's little things like that I'm going to miss. You don't get that sort of thing with Netflix or Red Box.

This store has had a massive impact on not only myself but on the community as well. When it was announced that the store would be closing there was an article written up about it in the local newspaper (http://wnewsj.com/news/home_top-news/3308580/End-of-an-era). This the video store also had so much support that it managed to shut down two opposing video rental stores, one of which was Blockbuster.

But now the shelves are empty, the store is growing more empty and the fact that this store is gone has finally set in and I am beyond saddened. I'll miss that store, I'll miss going through those aisles picking up classics like The Lost Weekend (1945, Dir. Billy Wilder), classic Universal horror films for Halloween, or any variety of films in those large clam shell like rental boxes. I'm glad I could buy 26 movies from them during their liquidation sale, (sadly Ninja Turtles II and Hook were already taken) it's the least I can do. So I finish this by saying to Jennifer, thank you. Thank you for everything you've given to the community, thank you for your dedication, and thank you for all the memories.

In the words of James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, Dir. Michael Curtiz)

"My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you."