West Seattle business news: Hollywood Video closer to closing

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | Westwood

We’d been watching for this one since Hollywood Video announced it would close some of its stores (including the adjacent Game Crazy locations) as part of its restructuring. Then, a couple WSB’ers e-mailed to point out that signs are now up at the Westwood Village location, as its “closing sale” is under way. So when is it actually closing? Store staff told us they don’t know. We tried calling the “media hotline” at corporate HQ, but it has a terse recording saying you can try leaving them a message, but “as a matter of company policy” they are not responding to most media inquiries. Moot point anyway, as the system then informed us we had TWO SECONDS to leave a message, and it made good on that threat. What do you do if you’re a customer? We found a variety of links on this corporate webpage – the most specific information (what’s being honored and what’s not) appears to be here. (You may recall, Hollywood Video used to have a Junction location, but that was closed in early 2007 and demolished shortly thereafter – on the site of Capco Plaza/QFC/Altamira.)

Gabriel May 26, 2010 (2:29 pm)

My one experience there was so awful that I can’t say that I’m too sad to see it go.

I wish there were still regular mom & pop video stores in our part of town.

bridge to somewhere May 26, 2010 (3:01 pm)

every time i’ve gone there i have been stunned by how expensive their rentals are (were?).

Silly Goose May 26, 2010 (3:24 pm)

West Seattle would still have an incredible mom and daughter Video Vault if the Monorail theives wouldn’t have stolen their business and property by eminent domaine before we had even voted on the last initative in which they lost the vote!! When the original owners tried to buy the property back they raised the price on them by 2 million dollars!!! Dirty Rotten Lying Thieves
that is what SMP was!!!

JAF May 26, 2010 (3:26 pm)

I owe them money for a late rental return- am I off the hook??? :)

Gina May 26, 2010 (3:31 pm)

Netflix.

MargL May 26, 2010 (3:31 pm)

Oh don’t even bother to buy any of their pre-viewed DVDs. They are so scratched and in some cases scribbled on with PEN that they are unwatchable and definitely NOT worth the $8 we paid.

Unfortunately all sales are final so it was a real waste of money.

MJB May 26, 2010 (3:45 pm)

i had ok experiences there, but won’t miss them. netflix is fine, but sometimes you want a local video store. like rain city in ballard–now that’s a great video store!

bsmomma May 26, 2010 (3:55 pm)

I remember Channel 3 Video. And I remember when the new releases consisted of one “A” fixture. I went to that Hollywood maybe once and from my experience I remember it seeming “un-finished”.

Spikele May 26, 2010 (4:02 pm)

Anyone recall Crazy Mike’s? I think I was only 4 at the time…

vanessa May 26, 2010 (4:13 pm)

Check out the RedBox “vending” machines around the area too. $1 rentals all set up on your credit card. So far I’ve seen them @ Walgreen’s on 35th, at the new QFC, 711 on Admiral and more……

Yes, SillyGoose, I miss supporting our Mom & daughter local businesses like the Video Vaults of past……

Kill your television May 26, 2010 (5:35 pm)

Company is in bankrupcy and all stores will be closed by August.

Cheri May 26, 2010 (5:43 pm)

This makes me so sad considering i worked there from 2004-2008 i moved all the movies into this new store with a target shopping cart for 2 days straight!!!! I must say it went down hill after i left lol

Rick May 26, 2010 (7:26 pm)

Maybe it’s time we all learn to read again.

EyeLiveInWestSeattle May 26, 2010 (7:35 pm)

It is called, “progress.” If a business model doesn’t work, well… the doors close. As for the mom and daughter shop, I think the figures are imaginary, and certainly not a fact. Something else, sooner or later will replace the dying industry with something new and vibrant. In the meantime, go to Netflix or the Red Box.

Ken May 27, 2010 (12:13 am)

Netflix is great, but I wish we had something like Scarecrow or Rain City in W.S. — maybe someone will take advantage of the vacuum.

sun*e May 27, 2010 (8:22 am)

We still have a Hollywood Video? Where? I thought it was torn down when they built the QFC tower. I wonder how Blockbuster is doing… we haven’t gone there in years either. Nothing beats Netflix… as far as I’m concerned.

Gina May 27, 2010 (9:00 am)

I remember the Admiral Video Vault. Rmember laser-disks? I bought a laser disk player after seeing their selection and bought a 20 punch card. Think I watched one, next time I went into rent the laser disks were gone! To get the refund I needed to go to the Gatewood store, because the owners were there. And when I went there I was told they had mailed out refunds to everyone. I never got mine. Tough said they.

I think Alki Bike and Board is a much better use of space in Admiral.

I think the little Beveridge Place park is a much
better use of space in Gatewood.

AJP May 27, 2010 (9:41 am)

Yeah I won’t miss it. Every time I went there it took 15 minutes to check out. Prices were expensive, and as someone else mentioned, the DVDs were pretty well scratched.

I used to live in the North End by Rain City in Ballard and in Fremont. They were great. And I used to go to Scarecrow quite often. There are very few video places like Scarecrow in the nation, actually. Once in college for a class I had to rent a Fellini movie. Had to put down a $300 refundable deposit, it was that rare.

HolyKow May 27, 2010 (10:45 am)

What do customers do? What any good customer would do when a vendor treats them like p00p, go somewhere else.

netflix is great! Instant Q is getting better and their selection of movies is second to none.

Keith May 27, 2010 (1:29 pm)

I bought some used games from a Hollywood Video in LA that was going out of business. A few days later, the credit card # I used for the purchase was used for a variety of unauthorized charges. Buyer beware when buying from a business going out of business!

S May 27, 2010 (1:31 pm)

Agreed, HolyKow. Streaming Netflix HD selection is getting really great, and unlimited “instant” streaming is available now for under $10/month. Absolutely no need for a bricks and mortar video store these days. I recently upgraded my wifi from g to n, and the resulting image and sound are almost as good as Blu-ray Disc.