Alamo Drafthouse to unveil video store concept in Raleigh
The movie theater chain will launch its new video store concept at its upcoming Raleigh location. It is the only Alamo theater in the country to have a video store.
Posted — UpdatedThe franchise is planning an 11-screen theater, bar and restaurant at 2116 New Bern Ave. It will open in the first quarter of 2018. That location will also be Alamo's first Video Vortex store. A re-imagining of the classic video rental store, Video Vortex will have more than 30,000 titles on DVD, Blu-ray and VHS. There will be a large selection of rare VHS tapes that are not available in digital formats. VCRs, complete with HDMI to RCA adapters, will also be available for rental.
Video Vortex will also offer sell Blu-rays, film-related merchandise and selections from Mondo, which specializes in film-inspired clothing and art. The store will also feature a lounge with 40 local draft beers on tap.
The concept comes from a long-running Alamo Drafthouse programming series that celebrates straight-to-video movies curated by Joseph A. Ziemba, founder of review site Bleeding Skull and director of AGFA and genre programming for Alamo Drafthouse, and Bleeding Skull writer Annie Choi.
“It gives me hope for humanity to see Video Vortex grow from a series at the Alamo to an actual video store,” Ziemba said. “VHS is still the only way to see hundreds of forgotten genre movies. But in this era of rare tapes selling for insane amounts of money, Video Vortex will make them easily accessible for everyone in the Raleigh film community.”
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema was named the "Coolest Movie Theater in the World" by Wired.com and the top theater in America by Entertainment Weekly.
No ads, no texting
Like other movie tavern concepts, Alamo offers in-seat food and drinks, delivered during the show. It also has two strict rules that put the focus on the audience:
1. Alamo doesn't show commercials or ads before the lights go down. "Instead of ads or mind-numbing content named after the number of minutes you have to sit through it if you get to the theater early, we create custom pre-shows with content themed to most of the features we program," according to Alamo's website.
2. And don't think about using your phone during a movie. The theater boasts zero tolerance for cellphone use and even used an angry customer's voicemail as the basis for a public service announcement to warn others that the theater will kick someone out for breaking the rule.
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