Robbie McCluskey

That is for sure.

If you're a videophile in the know in Los Angeles, then you've probably visited Vidiot's, a video rental store tucked inside a refurbished 100-year-old movie theater.

We were originally started in 1985.

Robbie McCluskey is the video store's director, tracing its roots back to the same year the first Blockbuster video opened.

McCluskey joined Vidiot's decades after it was already popular with Hollywood celebrities.

My first day, I got a phone call from Christian Bale.

So it was a really fun place to work.

Was a fun place because that version of Vidiot's, a for-profit enterprise, closed down in 2017, unable to beat back the streaming tide.

In 2023, Vidiot's reopened as a non-profit at a new cheaper location, the Refurbished Movie Theater, which holds screenings that help subsidize the video rental shop.

McCluskey says they've gone from renting a few hundred videos a week to more than a thousand.

And his customers aren't just a bunch of nostalgic middle-aged people.

They are also nostalgic 20-somethings, like the trio we encountered perusing the anime aisle, Faye Favre, Isabel Torres, and Danielle Rathbun.

What are you guys doing here?

Hollywood video.

Saving money on subscriptions is one reason video stores are getting more customers.

And across town at for-profit video store Cinephile, strategically located right next to an independent movie theater, owner Sebastian Matthews says his business is picking up too.

Matthews says a growing number of collectors are also purchasing physical media.

Customers are often snapping up rare or obscure titles, he says.

Those titles are the bread and butter of Lunch Meat VHS, a North Carolina-based retailer.

Like this 1980s gem, Splatter University.