Cape area video stores saying goodbye to old VHS format

The VHS format for movies is almost dead.

At Hastings Books Music & Videos at the Town Plaza in Cape Girardeau, a display has about 150 videocassettes with the sign: "Clearance sale. All videocassette tapes -- $2.99. Buy two, get one for a penny."

Assistant manager Lynn Shipman said companies are no longer releasing movies on VHS. Since that time, a representative from the store headquarters in Amarillo, Texas, sometimes asked her to track down a certain videocassette for a special order, but now all Hastings stores are getting rid of videocassettes in favor of DVDs.

Other video stores in the area have done or are doing the same.

"I've just rented a few out today, but we're in the process of selling out," said Kim Brown, owner of Cape Video on Broadway. "We're one of the few stores in Cape Girardeau that still have them."

She said a lot of older people rent videocassettes, or students from Southeast Missouri State University will call to ask if she has a tape of a movie version of a book they are studying.

"We haven't been able to get videocassettes for about a year now," said Linda McCloud of AJ Video on North Kingshighway. "We've kind of hung onto the ones we have, though."

Hollywood Video on Siemers Drive has a few popular videos left to rent. The rest are being sold for a dollar. Brittny Welch, who has worked there for almost a year, said all the store's videos are on one table.

When the stores are ready to take the loss, employees will eventually take the videos home, area stores said.

Jeff Sieg, a Blockbuster Video spokesman in Dallas, said the chain got rid of most of its videocassettes by late last year. High-definition DVDs and Blu-ray discs are just beginning to spark consumer interest, he said.

Despite the change in format, some consumers are content with the technologies they grew up with.

"There's people who still don't want to go to DVD, and I don't understand it," Shipman said. She said she has a customer call or stop in almost every day to ask about the VHS selection.

But the switch to DVDs, which have greater picture and sound quality compared to VHS tapes, does have a bright side: Having only one type of movie format will free up space and allow for more titles, Shipman said.

For those determined to find videocassettes, they can find them on Web sites like Amazon and eBay.

Shivelbine's Music Store on Broadway has offered the service of transferring videocassettes to DVDs. Employee J.B. Mungle said a lot of the videos are of family events like baby showers and weddings that customers want preserved.

tkrakowiak@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137