still the one

Sam Wade’s Premiere Video perseveres in a digital world

WalkingintoPremiereVideoon the store has everything from documentaries to current movies, from old History channel episodes to obscure british tV shows, and is revered among regulars for its comprehensive selection of foreign films, including those that require an accompanying rental of an international DVD player for viewing.

Mockingbird near central feels like walking into an enormous film archive. Floorto-ceiling shelves are stacked with not only DVDsbutalsotheirpredecessors,VHS tapes, and the latest video storage invention to take hold of the market, blu-rays.

Owner Sam Wade opened the video store in 1985 when he was a geophysicist at ArcO to support him and his wife just in case he was laid off. Originally, there were three store locations — one on Skillman, another in Mesquite, and the current Mockingbird Lane storefront. business slowed for the SkillmanandMesquitestores,soWade closed them, but the remaining Premiere Video is holding its own, Wade says. the question is how does Premiere Video make it as one of the last family-owned video rental stores in Dallas? Video rental behemoth blockbuster has filed for bankruptcy, and the rise of video ordering and streamingwebsitessuchasNetflixand Huluaretakingoverthevideo-renting market. the answer, Wade says, lies in the neighborhood customers.

“I’ve often told people that I could take this store elsewhere, and it wouldn’t do well,” Wade says. “It does well here because of the people. Without them, we’re nothing.” billie rhodeshaspatronizedPremiere on and off for the past four years. An avid classic movie collector and viewer, she visits Premiere when she wants to find something she hasn’t seen already. And her searches are always successful.

“I own most of these movies,” rhodes says, pointing to a shelf labeled “Film Noir.” “So for me to keep finding new movies … I don’t see how [the selection] could be any better. I’m so glad that we have something like this in Dallas.”

Wade says that his customers are the reason for the store’s enormous and eclecticinventory.Customerrequestsare a huge part of Premiere’s business, and if Premiere doesn’t have a requested film, Wade will order it. Wade also constantly scours movie review websites, Top 10 lists and movie reviews from other countries in order to stock the store with movies customers want. Premiere started out with just 900 films, but in the 26 years the store has been open, Premiere’s inventory has ballooned to more than 25,000 DVD titles and approximately the same number of VHS titles.

“We grew the store organically,” Wade says. “We letpeopletelluswhatthey wanted.”

Although Premiere is still faring relatively well, Wade says the video store’s business was best in the early part of this century, from 2000 to 2005.

“It’s declined since then just like everybody,” Wade says. “Blockbuster has gotten into trouble because their business declined. Whenever the big guy has troubles, everybody has troubles.”