West Coast Video was a chain of video rental stores founded in 1983. The company became defunct in 2009, but some existing stores continued to use the West Coast Video banner and run independently. As of 2019, there are currently no West Coast Video stores open in North America.

History

1980s: inception, acquisitions and expansion

In 1983, Elliot Stone opened the first West Coast Video store in Northeast Philadelphia. During the next three months, Stone established the chain by launching three more stores. West Coast Video acquired all 455 National Video stores in September 1988. The chain now had 660 stores in total, making it the world's largest video rental chain at that time.

1990s: bankruptcy, restructuring, online presence, and lawsuit

West Coast Video had a revenue of $250 million in 1990. The chain opened its first Canadian store in 1991. It was located in the Orleans neighborhood of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, Ontario. However, West Coast faced financial difficulties due to increased competition in the video rental industry. The company reported a $120 million revenue in 1991, less than half of what it made the previous year. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 1992 and had a positive cash flow six months later. In 1993, the West Coast Video company changed its name to West Coast Entertainment Corporation. It would eventually create additional brands. During that same year, a second store in Canada was opened in Ottawa South (now

Old Ottawa South Old Ottawa South is an older urban neighbourhood in Capital Ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Old Ottawa South is a relatively small and compact neighbourhood, located between the Rideau Canal (to the north) and the Rideau River (to the south). Th ...

) neighborhood of Ottawa. The GamePower Headquarters video game stores franchise was launched in 1994. Online websites for West Coast Video were launched in May 1999. This included an

online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of t ...

store that sold movies. In March 1999, West Coast Video was sued for using the "MovieBuff" trademark on its website's HTML metatags.

2000s-present: New formats, chain demise, and independence of remaining stores

Both

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and HD DVD movies were offered at West Coast Video in the mid to late 2000s due to the

high definition optical disc format war The high-definition optical disc format war was a market competition between the Blu-ray and HD DVD optical disc standards for storing high-definition video and audio; it took place between 2006 and 2008 and was won by Blu-ray Disc. The two ...

happening at the time. Games for the three most popular seventh generation consoles (the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

) were also added to the stores' inventory. Both of these major additions to inventory placed a financial burden on the chain. In January 2007, the West Coast Video chain was down to only 20 locations in the United States. Five of these would close before the end of the year, another three prior to May 2008, and yet another three by the end of 2008. The chain finished in 2008, with only nine locations in the United States. In 2009, the chain ceased to exist and although remaining stores could keep the West Coast Video brand name, they were now independent video rental stores.

Legacy

As one of the earliest brand names for a video rental chain, some West Coast Video customers have become attached to their independently owned local store. This is especially true of the Ottawa South location, which was described as "a legend" and a "stalwart in the neighbourhood for decades". The

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

crime which destroyed the building devastated loyal clients. Before the last store closed in the 2010s the last few West Coast locations that remained tended to remain innovative in the way that they ran their business. Some featured a hobby store and a

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then take ...

inside or adjacent to the building Currently West Coast Video is only active in Peru. It operates solely as a DVD-by-mail company. With no physical store fronts.

Internationalization

The West Coast Video chain expanded beyond its northeast and mid-west United States locations. Rental stores were previously found in Canada and Curacao, and the brand remains present in Peru.

Canada

Two West Coast Video stores were located in

and closed by the end of the 2000s. There was also a West Coast Video store located in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

, which was bought out by Blockbuster in the mid-1990s. The iconic

Ottawa South Ottawa South (french: Ottawa-Sud) is a federal electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by David McGuinty, brother of former Premier of Ontario and Ottawa South MPP Dalton McGuinty. It ...

location near

The Glebe The Glebe is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located just south of Ottawa's downtown area in the Capital Ward. According to the Glebe Community Association, the neighbourhood is bounded on the north by the Queensway, on the ...

neighborhood was launched in 1993. It eventually offered free delivery with a minimum order. A fire burned the building on 5 February 2009, and although the store was declared "temporarily closed" in 2010, it has yet to reopen due to a dispute with the landlord. Another lesser-known location in the Orleans, Ontario region opened its doors in 1991 near the Fortune and Orleans intersection. The owner held monthly drawing contests and was known for decorating festively throughout the year. This location was well known for holding less popular titles and games, and for having a pornography section tucked away in the back of the store. Competitors included two

Rogers Plus Rogers Plus was a brand name for the retail operations of Rogers Communications. It was formerly two separate brands, namely the Rogers Wireless chain of telecommunications stores previously operated by InterTAN under licence from Rogers, and the ...

stores and one Jumbo Video store, all which were located near Orleans Road. This increased competition prompted West Coast Video to lower its rates, until it was eventually forced to close by the late 2000s. The owner renovated the empty building to create a "Fortune Professional Centre", dividing the video store's large space into two smaller spaces for two tenants. The space was available for lease on July 1, 2010, during

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

. Since October 4, 2010, the Convent Glen Dental Centre occupied one of the two spaces.

Peru

In Peru, West Coast Video offers a DVD-by-mail service nationwide.

References

External links

West Coast Video USA
(Archive)
West Coast Video Peru
{{Video rental shops Video rental services Home video companies of the United States Companies based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania American companies established in 1983 American companies disestablished in 2009 Retail companies established in 1983 Retail companies disestablished in 2009 Entertainment companies established in 1983 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2009 Mass media companies established in 1983 Mass media companies disestablished in 2009 1983 establishments in Pennsylvania 2009 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992