Premiere Video

I recently re-discovered the greatness of Premiere Video off of Mockingbird and Central in Dallas. I found this groovy article on the local CW33 site, so mucho props to them as I am simply re-posting it. I encourage people who read this site to venture out of the Netflix/Blockbuster zone and experience a video store run by people who actually LOVE, and I mean LOVE movies. No corporate BS here, just love of film. I could spend the whole day in there, but alas I have a Job...

Premiere Video
A Dallas Institution Catering to Families and Film Buffs

Premiere Video, an unassuming independent video store on Mockingbird across from the train station, stands as a beacon and a hub for the fervent Dallas film community. Oh yeah, and you can rent just about anything you can think of there, too.

So how awesome is Premiere Video? Let's put it this way, the 2005 "Best Of" Dallas Observer issue named Premiere Video "The Best Video Store in the World, So Stop Asking" and retired the entire category in 2007. Given the rise of video home delivery services and video vending machines, how does Premiere - an old school "Mom and Pop" video store - continue to thrive after 25 years?

Chatting with Heather Hankamer, general manager and buyer for Premiere Video, she attributes the store's success and longevity to their diverse and loyal customer base. Their location places Premiere within easy distance to the students and academic crowd of SMU, as well as smack dab in the middle of the M Streets/Lakewood/Park Cities families and retirees. As Hankamer states, "we get a kind of mishmash of different customers, and that keeps us strong."

You're Here Renting Barfly Because No One Else Has It

Premiere has been able to stay successful by listening to the customer, catering to a clientele that might be looking for anything from the latest big Hollywood release to the most obscure documentary. One walk through the shop and their vast collection becomes obvious. In addition to your usual "New Releases," "Kids," and "Classics" sections, the store also features rows of documentary categories, British TV series, and an entire wall of foreign films.



Premiere's collection is unique due to a variety of factors. For one, unlike most video shops, Premiere still maintains a large VHS list. Not only does this allow Premiere to have rare titles not yet released on DVD, but there are still a lot of people who rent exclusively on VHS. Additionally, Premiere's relationship with local independent filmmakers and close ties to the AFI Dallas International Film Festival has resulted in gaining access to films that have never been distributed in the United States.

Hankamer does admit however, "the store isn't for everybody." While Premiere has an open and friendly atmosphere, it isn't a store that stocks 100 copies of the latest new release. Though they are sure to have the latest Hollywood movies, Hankamer explains, "The Dark Knight brings them in, but it's the specialty stuff that keeps them coming back."

Premiere's allegiance to keeping things local also gives the video store its distinction. A small crew of eight, including Premiere owner Sam Wade, run the shop, giving the Premiere folks an opportunity to know their customers. "What other job - in a retail environment - do you get to go to that you actually know your customer?" Hankamer asks. Indeed, Premiere's core top 100 customers tend to rent the majority of the movies.



In a further nod to their customer service, Premiere provides a video drop off box in the Bishop Arts District. The drop box was originally the suggestion of a longtime customer who was moving to Oak Cliff. After realizing a sizable percentage of their members lived in Oak Cliff, the drop box was a logical decision. And it had the benefit of increasing the store's visibility and their subscriber count.

One area where Premiere has resisted customer suggestion, indeed pleadings, is for a website. Google search "Premiere Video Dallas" and you will, at best, find a description of the store on citysearch or yelp. Why no website? Hankamer cites economics and inventory protection as the chief reasons for resisting a website. "Our goal has been to retain our inventory for our community and customers. If we put everything up there, we're afraid we'll attract collectors, and we don't want to have to implement a cash deposit policy for rare titles," Hankamer explains. By now, circa 2009, Premiere's "no website" status only fuels its "Mom and Pop" video store mystique.

And, What About that Mom and Pop Mystique?

Premiere Video (under the name Video Works) first opened its doors in 1985 by owner Sam Wade as part of a three-store franchise. At the time, it's hard to remember, the home rental industry was beginning to crest in awareness among the average person. This was an era before Blockbuster Video had arrived - but just barely. At that time, home video rental businesses rented VCRs as well as videos and the videos themselves cost upwards of $70.

Within the next five years, home video became as commonplace in the home as cable TV, and monster video chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video had squeezed out many of the small, independent video stores. In 1990, Wade left the Video Works franchise and renamed the Mockingbird store, Premiere Video.

Since then, Premiere has been able to wade (no pun intended) through the continuing evolution of the home rental industry. The introduction of DVDs, according to Hankamer, has been instrumental to Premiere's ability to thrive. The lower cost of DVDs gives the store an opportunity to experiment with lesser known titles. Unlike VHS films that were still expensive for more obscure titles, all DVDs were lower in cost. This enabled the staff there to fill their inventory with specialty titles.



One recent change in the industry that has hurt independent video stores the most is the "No Late Fees" campaign aggressively pursued by Blockbuster, Netflix and others like Red Box. The symbolic death of any late fee policy at these national retailers has helped recruit new members. Of course, it's only a game of semantics. It may no longer be called late fees, but $1 a day for every day you have the rental still translates into a $10 fee if you have the video for 10 days. According to Hankamer, the advent of no late fees was a "Big turning point for the industry, especially for the mom and pops because this new policy made it [video rentals] almost seem like a free thing in people's minds."

At Premiere, all videos rent for $4 and do charge for late returns. However, they don't receive too many complaints about this when signing up new customers. As one person wrote on yelp.com "It's four dollars to rent a vid [sic] which seems a little pricey, but isn't that comparable to b-buster? Plus, they're local, so spending a little extra to rent from premiere = good karma headed your way."(larua n. Dallas, tx, yelp.com) Another user notes that Premiere has "the best selection of indie films and music documentaries, no question. And very affordable. Give your Netflix account some rest and go support some locals!" (Nico M. Dallas, TX)

Premiere's fan base continues to grow and stay vital as the Dallas film community becomes stronger. At a time of contracting niche markets for books and local theaters, Premiere Video has seen the local film community take hold and thrive. Hankamer notes, "Dallas does have a strong film community. That's only been proven true by a very successful Angelika and Magnolia to be so close together yet still be able to compete. For years, it was just us and the Inwood."

For a glimpse of Dallas' film community and movie buffs, you're first stop has to be Premiere Video.
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