Indie Picks’ List of 150 Independent Video Stores Still Open in North America

Attention old guys who still like video stores! They live on!

I’m not going to spend any time declaring to you, young whippersnappers, about the glory of video stores, suffice to say that video stores were where I grew up, and exploring the hallowed halls of my local video outlets (back in the VHS days) was certainly one of the central highlights of my own film education.

And while most of the world has turned their backs on video stores, some of the better outlets remain open. Here in Los Angeles, we can be grateful to have Vidiots Video (which recently almost closed, but was rescued by a fan), Cinefile Video, and Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee. Those of us who still visit video stores (and it’s likely more than you think) can still wax rhapsodic about the glory of browsing, talking to actual film experts, and discovering films in a fashion far more organic than your usual online Netflix rigmarole.

Indie Film Picks, a website devoted to, well, indie films, has compiled a helpful list of 150 Independent Video Stores for us to enjoy. No matter where you live, there may be an indie video store near you. If you do indeed live within driving distance of any of these 150 stores, I encourage you to go there, talk to the clerks, learn about a brand new cult oddity, and absorb what movie fanboy culture was like throughout the 1990s.

You’re welcome. Here’s that link again.