Video Store Interview: Video Journeys
In the heyday of the video store, every neighborhood in Los Angeles had its own special movie rental oasis. In Silver Lake, that home video mecca was Video Journeys, founded by Hayley Nahmias in 1984. Located in the Gelson’s Market strip mall that was once the original Walt Disney Studios, Video Journeys operated for over 30 years, outlasting the Blockbuster Video across the street. While the store closed in 2015, it’s still important to remember & celebrate the video stores we’ve lost; they’re a window into the video culture of the 80s, 90s and 2000s, as well as a portrait of Los Angeles itself during that time. I was thrilled to chat with Nahmias about her memories of Video Journeys and what she thinks about the future of video stores.
(This conversation has been edited and condensed)
When did you first fall in love with movies?
Oh, God, probably when I was a kid. I grew up with “The Parent Trap” and “Pippi Longstocking” and “Sinbad the Sailor” and corny stuff like that. I think most people, I would hope, everybody I know loves movies. Who doesn’t, you know?
When did you open Video Journeys?
We opened in 1984. I think it was June. Originally we were four partners, two guys and my mom and I, and then like five years down the line, she and I bought them out. I think it was like 800 square feet we first opened and then we kind of grew: 1,500, 3,000, eventually at one point we were 5,000, but we grew really because of the community that we were in. Silver Lake was such a great community of film community. Customers told us: bring in foreign, bring in cult, bring in classics, and we listened and that’s how we kind of just grew, and what kept us in business is what we had.
Did you go to video stores a lot before opening your own?
No, actually not at all. I had a little bit of a business sense when I was a kid, and my other two partners, they lived in Silver Lake and it was just something, why don’t we open a video store? That’s basically it, and we did. Betamax was actually just about going out and VHS was coming in. So that was it, we did it, and we had a great selection and great customer service and we loved the community and we just plugged on for 31 years.
Were there a lot of other video stores in the area?
Oh yeah. Blockbuster across the street, a Video Hut across the street, and down the street was a 20/20 Video. So definitely there was competition out there.
What do you think differentiated you from those other chain stores? How did you stand out?
Our selection. We probably had one of the best VHS collections around for sure. We had all kinds of people coming, not just your locals using us, but we had a lot of people in the film industry who would use us for research. But really it was the selection that kept our doors open and it was way better than the Blockbuster across the street. And they actually closed like 10 years before we did. But it was just that, the selection and the customer service, and we loved it. It was just a great time in my life, and I met so many wonderful people. I’m just so grateful.
What kind of people did you look for when hiring employees?
Well, of course you want somebody who likes movies, number one, and good customer service, and somebody who’s kind and is going to run the business the way we like to have it run. So just good people. We were fortunate; most of the people we hired stayed with us for a very long time. When we were doing very well, we were able to even offer, we paid like 50% of your health insurance. We were fortunate. We had a lot of people who stayed with us for a very long time. And our group, it was very diversified: older people, younger people, male, female. So it was just if you love movies and you’re going to be nice to the person renting the movie, then it worked out.
Did you have a lot of regular customers?
We were definitely a neighborhood store. I saw kids grow up, I saw people pass away. I saw people get divorced, people get married. We saw people quite often; we were on a first name basis, and we’d recommend stuff. So it was definitely a hub where people would come and hang out and talk about films, like a record store type of thing.
Did you have any famous customers?
Yeah, we had a lot. We had Kyle Chandler, we had Keanu Reeves come by, Laurence Fishburne came by. You’re probably way younger than I am, but Gerald McRaney of Designing Women. We had Adam Ant, we had Tom Waits, Bill Pullman, Scott Bakula. So we had a little bit of that crowd as well, along with your film students.
Did you have any controversial movies?
We had everything. I think there was one series. I forget what it’s called. I can’t even remember the name. I want to say something with death in it.
Faces of Death?
Faces of Death, yeah. That was very controversial. I think we had one of them, but we didn’t have it for very long because someone took off with it. And we definitely had an Adult section, which was very common for all video stores except for Blockbuster. I think we had it all; if it was controversial, it would not stop us from bringing it in. In the adult section we had a lot available for whatever you were into. Male, female, we definitely were very diversified in that area as well, because Silver Lake at one time was, it was very diversified community than it is maybe now, I haven’t been back in awhile, but there was a large gay community and we rented out gay films.
What was the transition from VHS to DVD like? Did you change over right away?
No, we didn’t immediately change, but once we saw that the trend was going DVD and of course what better quality it is, we slowly converted our VHS to DVDs, what was available. I don’t think everything was available. It took time, but eventually it did happen and we got rid of a lot of our VHS, sold it off or donated it, only because we replaced it with a DVD. If we didn’t have it on DVD and it was something special and don’t ask me what that might’ve been, but we would have kept it on VHS. But the other thing about DVD is they don’t take as much space. It made it a lot easier to, you know, cause once Netflix sort of took over, and we saw our business kind of dwindling slowly, it took time, but it was easier to downsize when you’re dealing with DVDs and not VHS cassettes.
Video Journeys closed in 2015. How did it feel to close the store?
It was sad. I always said that if I fell below a certain number, as far as my gross income, that I would close, and it just got tougher as time went on, and it was such a struggle. So I just basically made the decision, and I really went out with a bang. I had a big party, customers came by, friends came by, family, and we sold off everything. I thought it was going to be actually a really tough time getting rid of our films. But I posted a note on my door saying everything’s going on sale tomorrow. And then the next day I had a line all the way down the stairs across to the supermarket to get in, and we were just selling stuff. I couldn’t believe it, but we went out gracefully, I guess you could say. It was nice; sad, but nice. You know, bittersweet.
Streaming has gotten even bigger in the past 6 years. Do you think there’s still a future for video stores?
I don’t, no. I don’t think so. I just think it’s so easy to sit home and, you know, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Disney, and just stream, look for something that you want to see. The convenience is just so, it’s just there, and we may not find everything through streaming, but it is a lot easier. I think for a lot of people, to have to go out, I mean, it was nice to go out to the video store and browse, but you know, as long as people are still watching films and making films and have a love for it and talking about it, then that’s good. That’s really important.
Have you been to a video store since your store closed?
No, I didn’t know there were any. I actually was in Oregon and I did see the last Blockbuster over there. I didn’t go in, I saw them and I thought, oh, good for them, you know? I mean, nothing wrong with it. It’d be wonderful if there’s a video store here, still getting business with people who are coming in. That’d be terrific.
Have you heard about Vidiots, how they’re reopening in Eagle Rock next year, with a video store and movie theater?
I haven’t. I know they’re owned by two really nice ladies and I know when I closed my store, I donated as much as I possibly could to them. But I’m happy for them. That’s wonderful. It’s a great idea, and it’ll bring people together. I’m very, very happy for them.
Do you have a favorite memory of your store that you still think about or, you know, a favorite event that happened?
We opened up and the Olympics were happening and the torch ran by our store. We opened up in 84 and then in 92 was the Rodney King riots and LA had a curfew. So we were opening up like at eight in the morning until six at night, and there was just tremendous amount of lines all the way in the back, just trying to get films because there was nothing really to watch on TV, cause everything was just about the news. And I remember I spilled water on the printer [laughs]. And then in 94 we closed for the North Ridge earthquake; there was structural damage to the building, so we were closed for six months. And we came back and we were able to get all our business back, which was just amazing. Being somewhere for 30 years, you just see so much. We went through the pandemic for AIDS, and saw a lot of customers who we loved pass away, but I think when you’re in any place for a certain amount of time, you’re gonna see a lot of different things and I’m grateful for all of it. And I miss it. I miss the people more than, you know, not so much the movies cause I get the movies now, but I miss the people.
[The Hollywood Reporter wrote about the store’s closing in 2015]
