Cinephiles, get out your black armbands. Curry Home Video, one of the oldest video clubs in the country and one of the last independent renters in Baristaville, closes its doors for good on December 31. Joe Curry, who started the store on Broad St. in the late ’70s, at the very beginning of the video craze, is selling off the stock.
This is your last chance to snap up your favorite movies ($8.95 for a tape, $12 for a DVD) before everybody finds out. The Going Out of Business sign goes up on the store tomorrow.
Reason for the store closing: Curry says the rent is going way up. Curry had a TV repair business in the late ‘70s when he took a flier on video rentals, even before it was clear the practice was going to be legal.
Since then, he√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s built a reputation as the guy to go when you wanted to see “Sunset Boulevard” √¢‚Ǩ‚Äú or at least not have the video clerk look at you like you were asking directions. (We bought “Sunset,” as well as “Manhattan” and “Sweet Smell of Success.” While we were there, someone called to buy up the whole stock of Abbott and Costello.) The store was also famous for having chess boards and Yu-Gi-Oh! trading parties.
Curry says the rise of the chain stores never bothered him. “We kill the chains. We always killed the chains. Besides, Blockbuster√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a billion dollars in debt.√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ And while he√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s enjoyed his corner of show business, he said he won’t miss it. “I always hated working Sunday. I√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d rather go to church and watch football.√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢
Joe,Jean,Dawn and Robin are like family. I actually met my wife thru one of the people who used to work there.
You will be missed. God bless and enjoy the fruits of what you created.
wow, didn’t know the place, but HATE chains.
I went to Curry for years, but when he decided not to get DVDs, then to get all pan-and-scan DVDs, we went elsewhere. Still, Curry was always the place to go for hard-to-find titles. I’ll go buy some titles and wish Joe the best, and I hope he cashes in and finds a nice place to kick back and relax for a change.
wow, don’t know the place, but HATE chains.
when does it open??
I can’t believe that Curry is going to close! Ever since we moved to Bloomfield, we’ve been going there. I refuse to watch Blockbuster’s “edited” movies. Now where can we go???
I guess I’ll have to give in and be a NetFlix person like all my coworkers.
Sad news indeed. I hope the nice white rabbit has a home!
Well…we only have a month and 1/2 to go! Dec. 24th we close…I just felt the need to clear up a few things. The DVD’s we buy in were not all pan-and-scan…when we made the decision to bring along DVD…we never stopped VHS and always ordered Widescreen when available. The rabbit died 2 days before Easter…we told Haley, Joe’s granddaughter that he went to help the Easter Bunny. Joe will also NOT be retiring…he needs to work….as a small business owner there was never a retirement fund that was set up and he is only 62 and has a long way to go(Hopefully). Anyone have a job for him? He wasn’t planning on this closing…but the rent increase was to enormous to bear….as the management company told me on the phone…they made the decision for him to leave. sorry, Bloomfield movie lovers….we will miss you all as well.