Searching for Physical Media in Middle America
Every year, my friends Carlos, Daniel & I take a road trip, exploring interesting parts of the country off the beaten track. We’ve driven from Los Angeles to Portland, Philadelphia to Washington DC, and now we just got back from driving Nashville to St. Louis. While we saw some great sights, from Dollywood to the Gateway Arch, what we really love to do is stop at every record store, video store & any kind of vintage store along the way, hoping to find some hidden gems. Here are some of the highlights.
If you’re ever in Nashville or Knoxville, you’ve got to visit McKay’s, these HUGE used media stores, filled with movies, books, toys & so much more. As someone who visits Amoeba Hollywood weekly, I felt right at home.
Totally Rad Toyhouse in Nashville was featured on “A Toy Store Near You” and for good reason: it’s packed with rare & unique collectibles.
While driving through Kentucky, we happened to come across the 400 Mile Sale, an annual State-wide event where people set up yard sales along Route 68. Managed to pick up a copy of My Neighbor Totoro!
We visited Metropolis, Illinois for their annual “Superman Festival” with guests, comic book sellers & their Super Museum. A lot of fun, but one of the craziest surprises was discovering that the Hidden Gems toy shop in town owns a prop from the movie HOOK: the “rolling Thud-Butt” that was used on screen!
We stopped in Sparta, Illinois and found Main Street Video & Tanning. Sadly, they stopped renting movies a few months ago, and are selling off their remaining DVDs. There are so few video stores left, especially outside of big cities.
Luckily, there are still Drive-In Cinemas out in the wild, including Skyview Drive-In outside of St. Louis, Missouri.
The Record Space in St. Louis not only has vinyl, but a whole back room of rare VHS and boutique BluRays.
Vintage Stock is a chain of used media stores around St. Louis. They sell DVDs, but if you don’t want to buy something, they also let you rent them! Genius idea actually.
