Williamsburg video store rewinds time with old school movie-buying experience rooted in nostalgia
WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) -- What's old is new again in Brooklyn.
Remember the days of going to your favorite video store and grabbing a movie from the shelf? Well, you can do it again in Williamsburg.
Before Netflix, and even before Blockbuster, there was the local neighborhood video store: a place you had to go to browse for a movie.
"My partner and I, we just got sick of waiting for somebody else to open up a store like that, so we decided to do it ourselves," said Aaron Hamel, owner of Night Owl Video.
Hamel guided Eyewitness News through the shelves of Night Owl Video, where you can find movies in all forms of disc, VHS tape and physical media.
"Holding a tangible laser disc in your hand is such a different feeling than browsing a carousel on Netflix," Hamel said.
Eyewitness News reporter Sonia Rincon: "What I remember from renting VHS tapes is... 'be kind, rewind.' And the FBI warning. That was always a little intimidating."
Hamel: "What we really wanted to bring back was just the feeling of people hanging out in a store, talking to people they don't know, giving recommendations."
Since the shop opened on Grand Street just a few days ago, customers have been doing exactly that... coming in steadily from all over the Tri-State area to look at the movie covers and descriptions.
"You can see them online, but it's just not the same as perusing through them, and you can find something that you didn't know you were looking for," said customer Jason Kawa.
The nostalgia is even bringing in people who didn't grow up with that experience.
"We had an 18-year-old in, and they were like, 'I'm buying VHS,' and they said they were going to go home and watch it on their VCR that they own, and that just blew me away," Hamel said.
He explained that the tapes are actually popular with horror movie buffs.
"Blair Witch Project for instance, which sort of benefits from a sort of murkier viewing experience. Or Texas Chainsaw Massacre would be another one. There's a certain aesthetic to watching those types of movies on VHS," Hamel said.
Night Owl Video isn't renting out movies yet, they're just buying and selling them along with physical media players like VCRs.
They are also selling movie merchandise, like candles, meant to evoke movie genres.
Hamel says it's been amazing to see record stores gain popularity again.
For video stores, it would be more like a comeback, or a sequel.
"Record store culture never really went away like video store culture did, so hopefully this is the start of a national resurgence," Hamel said.
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