Family Video Movie Club Inc. was an American

brick and mortar Brick and mortar (or B&M) is an organization or business with a physical presence in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases retail shops, factory produc ...

video rental A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game cartridges/discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditi ...

chain serving the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It was the flagship business of the

family-owned A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood, marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

company Highland Ventures, which is

headquartered Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

in Glenview,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

History

In 1946, Clarence Hoogland founded Midstates Appliance and Supply Company. His son Charles Hoogland inherited the business in 1953. The company later became a distributor for

Magnetic Video Magnetic Video Corporation was a home video/home audio duplication service that operated between 1968 and 1982. History Magnetic Video Corporation was established by the co-founder Andre Blay, an American film producer in 1968 with Leon Nic ...

. After getting stuck with a large inventory of excess video movies in the late 1970s, Charles got the idea of creating the Video Movie Club in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

in 1978. The club originally charged a $25 membership fee and $5 rental fee. The chain was later renamed Video Movies Inc. by the 1980s before becoming Family Video. Because competitor Blockbuster's main focus was larger cities, Family Video was mostly established in rural areas, suburbs, and small-to-midsize cities. In 2003, Family Video relocated its headquarters from Springfield to

Glenview, Illinois Glenview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop. Per the 2020 census, the population was 48,705. The Village of Glenview is governed by New Trier and Northfield townships. According ...

. By 2013, Blockbuster had closed almost all of its remaining stores. By the end of 2016,

Hastings Entertainment Hastings Entertainment (also simply known as Hastings) was an American entertainment retail chain based in Amarillo, Texas. As of 2016 it had 123 superstores, which were mainly located in the South Central United States, Rocky Mountain States ...

liquidated, making Family Video the sole-surviving video rental chain in the United States. In addition to its

locations, Family Video branched off into other markets such as real estate, 24-hour

fitness centers A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, weight room and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness an ...

cell phones A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive Telephone call, calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones (landline phone ...

, and

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

. The company also sold new and previously used items online. Family Video expanded into the Canadian market in 2012.

Later years

In 2013, following the continued decline of competing video rental stores, Family Video formed a partnership with

Marco's Pizza Marco's Pizza, operated by Marco's Franchising, LLC, is an American restaurant chain and interstate franchise based in Toledo, Ohio, that specializes in Italian-American cuisine. The first store was opened in Oregon, Ohio, on Starr Avenue. It ...

, providing space for the franchise in many of its stores. The company used the partnership as a way to deliver video rentals with pizza orders. Family Video also leased space to other retailers such as

hair salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas. Beauty treatments Hair cut is generally o ...

s and fitness centers. Unlike most competitors, Family Video owned the real estate housing their stores, helping the company avoid unsuccessful

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

negotiations that led to the demise of Blockbuster,

Movie Gallery Movie Gallery, Inc. was an American movie and game rental company based in Wilsonville, Oregon. With a total of 4,749 stores at its peak, it was the second largest video retailer in the United States and Canada, behind Blockbuster Video. The ...

, and

Hollywood Video Hollywood Entertainment Corp., more commonly known as Hollywood Video, was an American Video rental shop, video rental store chain based in Wilsonville, Oregon. Founded by Mark Wattles in 1988, the chain would quickly expand following the compa ...

. Rather than depending on the revenue-sharing model used by others, the chain bought and owned its movies to keep all the rental profit. It also owned a fiber-optic network in the Central

region, called ''i3 Broadband'', as well as a small chain of fitness centers named ''StayFit-24''. In late 2019, the number of stores was reported to be almost 600, down from a peak of 800. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the chain was forced to close 200 stores in autumn 2020, with about 300 locations remaining. On January 5, 2021, the company announced all remaining 250 stores would close, and the chain would become an online web-store only. The online store offered new and used video sales along with Family Video branded merchandise such as t-shirts, coffee mugs and tumblers, hats, gym bags, key chains, water bottles, and so on. However, the website was closed at the end of March 2022, ending Family Video's business after 44 years.

References

{{Portal, Chicago, Companies Home video companies of the United States Video rental services Companies based in Glenview, Illinois American companies established in 1978 American companies disestablished in 2022 Entertainment companies established in 1978 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2022 Retail companies established in 1978 Retail companies disestablished in 2022 Economy of the Midwestern United States Home video companies of Canada Family-owned companies of the United States