A New Bad Idea

I wasn’t able to sleep last night. Rather than tossing and turning and keeping my wife awake, I went to the sitting room. I forgot the novel I’m reading (Susan Choi’s Flashlight) at the store, and despite having about 20 books I could start sitting on my tbr pile (look, I swear I will eventually get to you The Complete Plays of Joe Orton), I, instead, finally watched Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning (on a laptop, on a sofa at 2 in the morning, in between going and putting a five year old back to bed as Mr Cruise intended).

Before I was a bookstore owner, I was primarily a Movie Guy. I always read, but I spent my early 20s mostly watching. I would dutifully go to Video Update (later Movie Gallery, later a store that sold ATVs, now a 24 hour laundromat) and rent8 movies on 2 for 99 cent VHS Tuesdays to get me through most of the week. I have spent the subsequent decades being an incredibly annoying person to try to choose a movie to watch with because I have seen everything. My first job was at Marcus Cinemas in Wisconsin at 15, and I put in another 7 or 8 years at the Campbell 16 (also RIP) in Springfield, so for a decade if there was a new release that received slightly decent reviews, I watched it. I tried to have some quality control, but I watched a lot of junk too (Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles is the kind of thing I drew the line at).

I am working on an essay to provide my intellectual framework and defense of VIDEO STORES in the year 2025, but I still have a few months before I have to finalize that manifesto, so just accept the premise that opening a video store inside a bookstore is a good idea, well okay, not a “good” idea, but an idea that I am going to do. After Ethan Hunt either saved the day or died when the world exploded (you have to sit through The FINAL RECKONING YOURSELF TO FIND OUT), I was still unable to sleep (this is some real insomnia given just how dull the first of the three hours of this Reckoning was), so I spent the time trying to find a record of every currently operating video rental store in Missouri, and as far as I can tell, the last one closed down LAST MONTH in Lebanon, paving the way for Mr. Googorium’s Movie Emporium to be the only place to go to ask the questions “Wait, you are RENTING these? They aren’t for sale? You want me to bring them back? I can get this on my phone for free right now”.

We will NOT have games or CBD!

Now, the list I found may not be accurate because the Kansas section was missing the Liberty Hall video store in Lawrence, but until proven otherwise, I think I may be able to replace my proposed tagline “MORE MOVIES THAN NETFLIX” with “THE ONLY VIDEO RENTAL STORE IN MISSOURI”. Again, I don’t know if this is true, so I will be doing more research, but it’s a much better tagline for the moment, as I have fewer movies than Netflix in our stockpile (I do have more than Paramount Plus and Hulu, I’m coming for you next).

Anyway, if you know of any video rental stores in Missouri, let me know, so I don’t accidentally do false advertising (and libraries do NOT count, they just GIVE that stuff away!).

Manifesto, updates, and just a better explanation for this whole venture in the next few months. We’re aiming to open in early 2026.