Illinois’ Only Remaining Video Store Boasts 20,000 Movies

I truly miss the era when you could walk into a video store and enjoy the thrill of finding the movie you want for a weekend rental. That era is gone, but there is one lone holdout in Illinois. It's a video store that refuses to go away and it still boasts more than 20,000 movies.

Let's face it - the video rental movie era is over thanks to streaming with one lone exception in Illinois

I found this place thanks to a commenter on the DVD Collection Reddit page responding to the question of video stores that still exist.

Video stores that still exist?
byu/jikesar968 indvdcollection

The only Illinois video store still in existence that I could locate is The Video Strip at 3307 S Archer Avenue in Chicago. I double-checked to make sure they're still hanging in there and they have a post on their Facebook page this week. WGN even paid them a visit a couple weeks ago to check in on how they're getting along.

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There is a feeling that the new generation will unfortunately never experience. That's the rush of going into a video store on a Friday afternoon and finding a handful of movies that you want to watch for the weekend. I distinctly remember the excitement of finding a new movie in stock behind the blank box on release day or being in the video store when one of those sought-after new movies was being returned by someone else. Good times, good times. That's why it put a smile on my face to learn there still remains one Illinois video rental store that's thriving. Here's hoping they continue to have success for a long time to come.