Rental Return: Tales From the Video Store – Details, episodes & analysis

We close out season 4 with a first for Rental Return as we interview a father and son who both worked at video rental stores. Joe shares amazing stories about his time as the general manager of Canadian chain, The Video Movie Place from 1984-1988, while Mike reveals how much the business changed a decade later when he worked at Blockbuster Video.

Plus, we announce a special event screening of documentary, 7 Year Rental, which you can get an invite to by contacting @hojukoolander on social media or sending an e-mail to hojukoolander@gmail.com.

Follow @TRNsocial on X, Instagram, and Facebook for more Rental Return visuals provided by our Video Heroes and other memories form the video store era.

Support Geekster and shows like Rental Return by becoming a VIP on Patreon. Your monthly support helps Geekster and its creators, but also gets your name in the show notes as a supporter, access to the VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on X or Instagram or email hojukoolander@gmail.com.

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

Lee joins us to recount his experience working at multiple Movie Gallery stores throughout the state of Iowa. Hear tales of getting peed on while dressed up as The Grinch for in-store events, destroying video store shelves with Spider-Man style shenanigans and so much more!

Follow @TRNsocial on X, Instagram, and Facebook for more Rental Return visuals provided by our Video Heroes and other memories form the video store era.

Support The Retro Network and shows like Rental Return by becoming a VIP on Patreon. Your monthly support helps TRN and its creators, but also gets your name in the show notes as a supporter, access to the VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on X or Instagram or email hojukoolander@gmail.com.

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store continues with an interview of Russ Burlingame (@RussBurlingame) who worked at Emerald City Video and just about every chain video store during the 2000s in the Syracuse area. Russ talks about the difference between working at a "Mom and Pop" store versus the corporate giants. He remembers some of the unique décor at Emerald City Video include screen used (and not so screen used) props. We also hear some stories of bad customers and what it was like to be a manager. Finally, Russ tells a heartwarming story about how he reconnected with a long lost customer.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Visit The Retro Network on Patreon to support Rental Return and other network podcasts. You VIP status gets your name in the show notes of all shows on The Retro Network, an invite to the private VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content. 

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store continues with an interview of Michael May (@MichaelMayComix) who worked for a "Mom and Pop" store called Adventureland Video (later changed to Aardvark Video) in the late 80s in Tallahassee, Florida. Listen as he shares his early memories of visiting the store and how eventually was hired and became the manager for a time. Michael talks about ordering new movies, the perks of taking posters home, and how Blockbuster essentially led to the store going out of business.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Visit The Retro Network on Patreon to support Rental Return and other network podcasts. You VIP status gets your name in the show notes of all shows on The Retro Network, an invite to the private VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content. 

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store continues with an interview of Andy Serwin who worked for a "Mom and Pop" store called The Video Hut in the late 80s in rural Pennsylvania. Listen as he shares his memories of working at the store and the family atmosphere it had when he started. Then he talks about new ownership and how he eventually moved on from working at the store. Andy also talks about the perks he experienced like watching movies all day and a close call he had while visiting a convenient store and still on the clock.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Visit The Retro Network on Patreon to support Rental Return and other network podcasts. You VIP status gets your name in the show notes of all shows on The Retro Network, an invite to the private VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content. 

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store continues with an interview of Michael Labbe (@Superstarml) who worked for Movie Gallery in Augusta, ME in the late '90s to early 2000s. Listen as he shares his memories of working at the store, what he did in a typical week, and perks. Michael also remembers the layout of the store, encounters with the adult film room, and the unique time of when VHS was slowly being replaced by DVD. He also tells a sad story about the demise of his personal collection of hundreds of tapes.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Visit The Retro Network on Patreon to support Rental Return and other network podcasts. You VIP status gets your name in the show notes of all shows on The Retro Network, an invite to the private VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content. 

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

Season 3 of Rental Return - Tales From the Video Store kicks off with an interview of Landon (@HOC_STUDIOS) who grew up in a family-owned store in the early to mid '90s. Listen as he shares his memories of the store his mother ran for several years including her trips to the VHS warehouse that sold tapes and promotional items. Brandon also talks about the setup of the store, his favorite and least favorite rentals, and a ghost that still haunts a former video store location to this day. He also gives listeners a sad story about what happened to the vast library of VHS tapes kept inside his home and a redemptive experience that found him inside the remains of a store that went out of business years ago.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more including visuals from our Video Heroes.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or email hojukoolander@gmail.com

Visit The Retro Network on Patreon to support Rental Return and other network podcasts. You VIP status gets your name in the show notes of all shows on The Retro Network, an invite to the private VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content. 

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

Adam, Chad, and Jason host a preview episode for Season 3 of the Rental Return podcast series. First, the hosts comment on the recent representation of rental stores on Netflix including Blockbuster and That 90s Show. Then the trio share recent VHS finds in thrift stores and on eBay. Then, get a sneak preview of what to expect for Season 3 of Rental Return.

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more Rental Return visuals provided by our Video Heroes and other memories form the video store era.

Support The Retro Network and shows like Rental Return by becoming a VIP on Patreon. Your monthly support helps TRN and its creators, but also gets your name in the show notes as a supporter, access to the VIP Lounge chat on Slack, and exclusive content.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter. 

Creators & Guests

• Adam aka Hoju Koolander - Host
• Jason Gross - Producer
• Chad Young - Host

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

Get ready for Season 3 of Rental Return as we introduce our Video Heroes!

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley

With Season 2 of Rental Return in the books, Adam (@Hojukoolander), Chad (@HorrorMovieBBQ), and Jason (@RD80s) bookend the season by reflecting on what they learned through the experiences shared by the Video Heroes. They discuss some of the crazier stories, things they did not know about the video store business, and favorite moments overall. They also talk about some old newspaper stories that Jason dug up from the '80s about video rental stores, news about a video store closing recently in PA, and the trio's recent acquisitions in their collections.

Erol's Video Club Newspaper Ads
Read the Newspaper stories on TheRetroNetwork.com

Follow @TRNsocial on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more from Rental Return visuals and VHS memories.

If you are a former rental store employee and would like to be interviewed for an upcoming season, please contact Adam @hojukoolander on Twitter or hojukoolander@gmail.com

• Chad Droze
• Ken Spaulding
• retrodolls77
• Tim Heasley