2008 Woodie Awards
Illini Media
WPGU
buzz
Illio
TechnographVideo store provides C-U with 20 years of 'Rentertainment'
By Kate Kostal
Posted: 2/2/05 Section: Features
The patrons of That's Rentertainment, a local video store, have been enjoying its services for some time now. In June of 2005, That's Rentertainment, on the corner of John and Six streets, will celebrate 20 years of business. Geoff Merritt, founder and owner, has seen all 20 years fly by.
"I come here because there's a lot more selection," said Champaign resident Adam McKenzie.
"I got one of those $60 for 40 rental video packs, and I don't get crap e-mails like from Blockbuster," said Mike Hoffenditz, a resident of Champaign.
"This place kicks ass - there should be more places like this," Hoffenditz said.
"I had no intention of using my degree for anything," Merritt said. After graduating from Urbana High School and the University of Illinois with a degree in psychology, he worked for one year in typesetting. After that, he did what he had always wanted to do: he opened a video store.
He wanted to open a record store, but that came later. Soon, Parasol was opened. Parasol is one of the largest places of its kind in the nation. Merritt described Parasol as an "independently owned record label and mail order thing," which runs six of its own record labels and six record labels for other people.
For That's Rentertainment, Merritt describes himself as the owner who "does all the ordering" of the videos. He usually orders about 100 videos per week. To find all these films, about 16,000 DVDs currently in stock, Merritt scours independent film magazines and websites. He noted Facets, a video label and video store, as a reliable reference for decent films. The Chicago-based company has helped supply some international films to That's Rentertainment.
The store communicates with over 20 distributors that each specialize in a type of cinema. Major chains generally use only one distributor.
"There's one distributor for just anime, one just for Indian/Bollywood movies, one distributor for Asian films," Merritt said. "I like to find moves that you can't find anywhere."
"I come here because there's a lot more selection," said Champaign resident Adam McKenzie.
"I got one of those $60 for 40 rental video packs, and I don't get crap e-mails like from Blockbuster," said Mike Hoffenditz, a resident of Champaign.
"This place kicks ass - there should be more places like this," Hoffenditz said.
"I had no intention of using my degree for anything," Merritt said. After graduating from Urbana High School and the University of Illinois with a degree in psychology, he worked for one year in typesetting. After that, he did what he had always wanted to do: he opened a video store.
He wanted to open a record store, but that came later. Soon, Parasol was opened. Parasol is one of the largest places of its kind in the nation. Merritt described Parasol as an "independently owned record label and mail order thing," which runs six of its own record labels and six record labels for other people.
For That's Rentertainment, Merritt describes himself as the owner who "does all the ordering" of the videos. He usually orders about 100 videos per week. To find all these films, about 16,000 DVDs currently in stock, Merritt scours independent film magazines and websites. He noted Facets, a video label and video store, as a reliable reference for decent films. The Chicago-based company has helped supply some international films to That's Rentertainment.
The store communicates with over 20 distributors that each specialize in a type of cinema. Major chains generally use only one distributor.
"There's one distributor for just anime, one just for Indian/Bollywood movies, one distributor for Asian films," Merritt said. "I like to find moves that you can't find anywhere."
The Daily Illini encourages on-topic discussion through article commenting on its articles and blogs. It is our policy not to delete any comments based upon political or ideological point of view. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are abusive, off-topic or use excessive foul language.
The posting of copyrighted material, including any and all content for which you are not the author, is illegal under Federal intellectual property laws. Such activity will not be tolerated. Comments containing copyrighted material will be removed, and continued violation of copyright law is grounds for being banned completely from commenting on DailyIllini.com.
If you feel any post meets these conditions or merits review, please e-mail our editors at meonline@dailyillini.com.