Jumbo Video was a Canadian chain of franchised and corporate

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

s, owned by

Le SuperClub Vidéotron Le SuperClub Vidéotron Ltée, which includes the Jumbo Video and Microplay chains, was the largest video store chain operator in Canada, with operations concentrated in Quebec. It was owned by Quebecor Media. Since the closure of Blockbuste ...

, a division of Quebecor Media Inc. The company was founded in May 1987 and at one point claimed to be the third-largest player in the Canadian video rental industry. It was well known for offering free popcorn to customers, regardless of whether they rented videos.Jumbo Entertainment (now West 49) 1998 annual report
via SEDAR Their

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

subsidiary Microplay was founded in 1986, and purchased by Jumbo Video in the late 1990s in order to facilitate the rentals of video games. In 2004, due to financial issues that had been prevalent for many years, the assets of the chain were purchased by Quebecor Media, resulting in the re-branding of the stores with the current logo, and now Jumbo Video is now essentially the

English Canadian English Canadians (french: Canadiens anglais or ), or Anglo-Canadians (french: Anglo-Canadiens), refers to either Canadians of English ethnic origin and heritage or to English-speaking or Anglophone Canadians of any ethnic origin; it is us ...

brand of SuperClub,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

's dominant video rental chain, and the two brands now share similar marketing. As a result of the 2011-12 closures of Blockbuster Canada and Rogers Video, SuperClub and Jumbo together form Canada's largest remaining video rental chain. As of early 2015, the Jumbo Video website listed 11 locations, five located in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and the other six in various communities in Atlantic Canada. The chain was previously publicly traded as a company called Jumbo Entertainment Inc. After selling its assets to Quebecor, the remaining shell company agreed to a

reverse takeover A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public com ...

by clothing retailer

West 49 West 49 Inc., is a Canadian specialty retailer of fashion and apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment related to the action sports lifestyle. The company was founded in 1987 as Jumbo Entertainment, Inc. to manage the Jumbo Video franchise ...

. As of 2022, the last Jumbo Video store is located in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...

. It is family-owned and includes a Microplay store. In addition to media rentals and sales, the store includes many varieties of popcorn, single-serve coffee, collectible toys (such as trading cards, figurines, and plushies), and other merchandise.

Slogans

* "Home of Free Popcorn!" (1990-1998) * "Home of the guarantee." (1998-2005) * "Tons of copies!" (2006-2018)

References

External links

Official Website
Quebecor Retail companies established in 1987 Retail companies disestablished in 2018 1987 establishments in Quebec 2018 disestablishments in Quebec Video rental services of Canada {{retail-company-stub