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With 800 titles, a hand-painted sign featuring
Humphrey Bogart, and a profound love of movies, Video Americain was
started in Newark, Delaware in February 1988. The three co-owners,
Barry Solan, Michael Bradley, and David Ostheimer had, as their shared
background, many years of working together at Newark’s beloved
State Theatre. The State was a somewhat raggedy old vaudeville theater,
which from the years 1979 to 1986 brought Newark the “classic”
repertory format; great double features with foreign films, popular
hits, and cult favorites, rock n roll movies, porno-chic fare, and
Rocky Horror Picture Show (on Saturday nights for 7 1\2 years!). This
format existed in a circuit of old theaters in major cities and college
towns during those pre-video years, and a few continue to this day.
David and Michael started as ushers at the State, working for Barry,
who had as his original partner Al Malmfelt, who owned The Theater
of the Living Arts (TLA) during the years that most of the present
TLA Video partners were cutting their movie teeth with him as their
boss. Barry joined the ranks of these present TLA partners for a boisterous
and exciting three year period in the mid-80s, working with them in
the TLA (the rep house), the Roxy (the 1st run house), and the beginning
of TLA Video, in their original South Street and Sansom Street locations.
Barry left the TLA in 1987, and soon after threw his lot in with Michael
and David, who had the idea of bringing the State Theatre\ TLA Video
concept to Newark. Their first Baltimore store, the Cold Spring store
made famous in John Water’s Serial Mom followed early in 1989,
and new locations have been popping up (and sometimes moving until
the right location is found!) ever since.
Video Americain now has two stores in Baltimore, two in and around
Washington, D.C., and two in Delaware. Each store has an inventory
of somewhere between 15 and 20,000 Videos and DVDs, and the chain
has earned a national reputation for the diligence with which it takes
its role as a serious but accessible film archive, as well as a place
to peruse the latest hits. Video Americain has been in business for
over 14 years, and feels that it has never done its job better than
it does it now, due to its fantastic staff that makes sure that there
are no trends, movements, or national cinemas that do not quickly
find shelf space in their stores. As has been the case since as far
back as the old State Theatre, it has always been the goal of Barry,
David, and Michael, in both the theater and the stores, to provide
great movies to a diverse number of tastes and sensibilities. From
weary young parents looking for a good laugh on a Saturday night,
to young Art School students who feels that incomprehensibility, in
film and in life, is a virtue, to seniors for whom two hours with
Fred or Gene brings a twinkle back to their eye, Video Americain has
the right film for you, and great people to help you get it. Video
Americain has been intensely grateful for your loyal patronage for
many years now, many more than we ever thought might be possible,
and hopes to continue to provide this service for many years in the
future. See you soon!
As pertains to this latest incarnation; VideoAmericain.com, Video
Americain is both happy and proud to be joining into a working affiliation
with TLA Video, the creator of the finest video information\search\sale
site on the web. Their excellence on the web is not surprising when
you know their rich and productive history. A passion for movies has
always been what has made both organizations so focused and special,
and that passion continues today, with VideoAmericain.com. So see
you soon, again, but this time on the web!
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