Top 5 Rockford Video Stores Missed Today

Something about summer makes me really miss my old neighborhood video store. My friends and I would always go and grab a ton of rentals to keep us entertained while our parents were at work. Latch Key Kid problems, right?

What Rockford Area Video Store Do You Miss Most? 

Sadly with all the streaming platforms today video stores are a thing of the past. The local libraries are thankfully keeping the spirit alive by having DVDs, Video Games, and other forms of media available to check out. It's not quite the same, but at least their check-out times are longer than Blockbuster.

Growing up in the Forest City, we were blessed with a ton of options to rent from. Each one had a different niche and a different audience to cater to. Everyone I know had their favorite one to rent from too.

Get our free mobile app

Here's my Top 5 Most Missed Rockford Video Stores: 

• Video Outlet - They probably were the largest local chain. I remember having a couple of locations throughout the Rockford area. I don't ever remember my family having a membership there, but several of my friends did. I also recall they had a stellar video game selection.

READ MORE: Playing Disc Golf In Rockford

• Silver Star Video - Near the intersection of Harlem and N. 2nd Street, this local spot was it for horror fans! I'll never forget all the cardboard cutouts they had throughout the store, especially the Leatherface one. He was placed just right, that I got jump scared every time!

Get our free mobile app

• Express Discount Video - This was the spot you'd go to when you had a ride to the video store! Because of its location on E. Riverside (now O'Reilly Auto Parts), my parents wouldn't let me ride my bike here. If my BFF Sarah and I were having a sleepover, one of our folks would bring us here. I'm sure over the years we rented every horror film they had. Titles like "Frozen Terror" and "Night School," and that was only because the people on the covers looked like Jeff Foxworthy and Mariah Carey respectively.

• Logli Video - Located inside the grocery store my family frequented, they had the best daily deals! The one I remember taking advantage of the most was the 50-cent old release title days on Wednesdays. One summer my friend Travis and I would ride our bikes there and clean house! Or at least what we could carry on our bikes because both of us were 15 and everyone else was driving around. I fell in love with Kevin Smith films that summer!

Yelp

• Dollar Video - Another one that was within bike riding distance from my childhood home and had good deals! Loves Park's 251 was the place to rent movies in the late 80s and early 90s. This store was huge and always had posters for free by the exit door. To this day the Super Trooper poster I grabbed here is hanging in my parents' garage. My friends and I spent a lot of time looking at what to rent here. And we always giggled when we heard the beaded curtain part because someone was coming or going from the "Adult Section".