Movies Unlimited celebrates 30 years
By Laurence Lerman -- Video Business, 1/18/2008
JAN. 18 | Philadelphia-based Movies Unlimited is marking three decades in business with the publication of its 30th anniversary catalog. The 2008 Movies Unlimited DVD Catalog, an 800-page volume, sells for $9.95 on the retailer’s Web site (www.moviesunlimited.com).
Founder and president Jerry Frebowitz said he’s unsure of exactly how many titles are available through the catalog, but it’s probably around 100,000. “To tell you the truth, it’s always changing, and I stopped counting years ago,” he laughed. “Don’t tie me to a number.”
Movies Unlimited, which considers itself the country’s oldest specialty video retailer, opened its first store in 1978 and grew to five stores by the mid-’90s. It has been a direct marketer exclusively since 2004.
Movies Unlimited’s first store was opened in March, 1978, on Castor Avenue in Philadelphia, and the store dealt in Beta, VHS, Super 8 and 8mm films. During the next 15 years, four more Movies Unlimited outlets opened, only to begin closing in the late ’90s with the demise of local video stores and the rise of larger retail chains such as Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. The last Movies Unlimited retail outlet closed its doors in June, 2004.
“I don’t consider the time that we had five stores to be our highest point,” said Frebowitz. “I thought to have a bigger business, you used to need more stores. I don’t think that now—what you need is to keep the inventory low and the selection wide. But let Blockbuster have all the stores and all the fun—let them worry.”
