September 14, 2000

One year ago: I write an entry in between classes and come up with the brilliant idea of "nap rooms" for college commuters. Also, I plan out my fall TV watching schedule. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

We had heard rumors. A friend of a friend knew the owner, and said there was trouble. Articles appeared in the paper, with quotes like, "We just can't keep up with the new technology." But we never thought it would happen to us. That's right. Our favorite video store, Chimney's Video, has closed its doors and the owner has filed for bankruptcy. It is a sad day, indeed.

Okay, so I'm being a little melodramatic, but not really. You see, this wasn't just any video store. This was the best video store of all time. I have a lot of fond memories of hours spent combing the shelves trying to find that fifth movie, so we could get the fabulous five movies for five dollars for five days deal.

And who can forget the "Les Midnight" section. It always puzzled me. First, the name. We have the French "les" followed by the English "midnight". Why the juxtaposition of the two? What did it mean? And then there was the selections within the section. Cult favorites and weird shit, mostly, and sometimes a drug reference or two. Where else would you see Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS shelved next to Nosferatu shelved next to Dazed and Confused? We made a project out of watching every single movie in the section, and we nearly did it.

And then there's the porn. It was kept in what we liked to call "the little room". I can't say I ever rented a movie from "the little room", but I liked knowing it was there. In a world where Blockbuster refuses to carry unrated movies, we need the "little rooms", I think.

When Jim and I lived in Michigan, we used to say that there were three things that we really missed about Syracuse. Wegman's (the grocery store), Chimney's (the video store) and Bison Dip (nectar of the gods). Well, now we're back and I went to Wegman's last night (although I didn't buy any Bison Dip) but I can't go to Chimney's anymore. The doors are closed, probably forever.

What went wrong? Am I to blame in some way? I'll admit that we don't rent videos as much as we used to, because now we have five HBO channels and PPV movies. I'm sure that the movie studios' deals with chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video had a little something to do with it, as well. I know it's hard for any non-chain store to succeed in this day and age, and as someone who worked for a chain store for a few years, I am VERY familiar with both sides of the chain/independent argument. That doesn't make me any less sad that Chimney's is gone.

And it is gone. Jim went to return a video last week, and he said the drop box was overflowing and it was closed. He called his mom (because she always knows these things) and she said it was gone for good. Bankruptcy. I know it seems silly to get sad over a video store closing, and life does go on. There's a video store up the street that it part of a local chain, and I'm sure we will get a membership there. I just have a lot of fond memories of Chimney's, and I just loved the sense of possibility I felt when I stepped through the doors. There were hundreds and hundreds of movies. Which one would I rent? An old favorite? A new release? Some indpendent film that never made it to the screens of Syracuse? An old classic that I never got around to watching? Something from the "Les Midnight" section? Hey, I could get all of those things, for five dollars.

So, that's why I will miss Chimney's. Video King just won't be the same.