VHS 1138 Video Store (San Antonio, TX)

Growing up with video stores at every corner, I sometimes miss being able to just walk into a store and take an hour deciding on a movie to take home. In the good days, a person could cruise the aisles endlessly, staring at awesome VHS artwork, reading the plot synopsis, until a choice was made. Now with Netflix and Redbox ruining that ritual, it is almost impossible to find an independent video store. Heck, its impossible finding a corporate video store, too. Not only is it impossible to find a video store, but a video store that carries VHS is almost unheard of now.

Front of the store as you walk in

And then I found VHS 1138 out in San Antonio, TX.

This is the store's sign

In the city that I live in, we no longer have a video store. Like many other cities, most people here simply run down to the Redbox and choose the latest Hollywood flick. Many viewers, however, remember a better time. A time when a person would drive down to a store that had nothing but choices, whether it be VHS or DVD. VHS 1138 is a throwback to those days. The walls at this store are lined up and filled with nothing but awesome VHS titles. I was taken back as I first entered the store and felt as if I was somehow magically transported back to 1989.







Love the staff selections

The store has a funky 'hippie' feel to it

The Hand finds a video store!

Wall after wall of VHS goodness

  Aside from the videos, the back of the store sells vintage used clothes, although I did not go to see this part of the store. I spent most of my hour perusing their movie selection and I must say it had some pretty obscure titles but mostly standard stuff. Nonetheless, I loved the feeling of the place. The bad part of everything was that since I lived out of town, I was not able to become a renting VHS member. However, I did not walk away empty handed. I was able to support this local business by buying some of the titles that they had on sale as well as a couple of records that they had for sale (future post will detail my buys).

Awesome VHS box

Big box goodness



VHS 1138 is one of those retro stores that takes you back in time. Many people say that VHS is making a comeback with collectors. I don't think that we will see many of these types of stores opening up around the country, but still it is nice being able to travel back in time. Thank you VHS 1138 for return to a better movie selection time.

Update: Take a look at a video about this store. The owners explain why they opened up a VHS store and talk a little bit more about their selection. Definitely worth watching!