When Video American abruptly announced the closing of their Charles Village location, and the immanent sale, video by video, of their formidable movie collection, some customers and soon-to-be former employees moved quickly to explore options for saving the store. “$50,000 – $60,000” was the rumored price tag on the entire collection, not easy money to raise in a matter of days. Fortunately, the videos, which were scheduled to go on sale today, were granted a “week’s stay of execution” while the group raises funds and makes a plan, according to a source who asked that their name be withheld.
The group of community-oriented cinephiles have thrown around various plans for housing and lending the movies, tending more or less toward a vision of the video collection reincarnating as a cooperative, perhaps in a location that could screen films. There are also a couple of individuals, however, interested in preserving the Charles Village store virtually as-is. A large, private university has apparently made an offer “to cherry-pick the collection.”
