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Meet the folks at Kensington Video

November 28th, 2009 by Scott Marks

If a movie or television show is available on home video, Kensington Video probably stocks it.

With 45,000 titles in its collection, the family owned and operated store just finished celebrating its 25th year as San Diego’s premier video rental outlet and one of the few remaining mom and pop video stores in the country. “Mom” Winnie and “Pop” Rich Hanford moved to San Diego from St. Louis in 1963 to be near her brother.

“If he lived in Alaska,” Winnie recently joked, “we’d probably be running Anchorage Video.”

Before long the couple opened a Hallmark Greeting Card store at 4067 Adams Ave. In 1984, when the video revolution began transforming living rooms into home theaters, their son Guy suggested that they start renting VHS tapes. At the time Guy was working a stress-filled job as an assistant principal and was desperately in need of something to balance out his life.

“I have always loved movies,” Guy, 60, told SDNN. “So I approached mom and dad and asked if they would consider opening a video section in the front part of the Hallmark store. Initially we used about 15 feet of the store and opened up with around 300 titles, 50 Beta, 250 VHS.”

“You would not believe how small it was,” Winnie, 82, chimed in. “It just kept growing and growing.”
What started as a gift shop soon blossomed into a world class video store run by a first class character. Winnie, a shrewd business woman who owns several prime piece of real estate on Adams Ave., is frequently more entertaining than many of the movies she rents out. Just don’t get in her way, and whatever you do avoid loitering or talking too long with the staff about your favorite movies. She once fired a relative for gabbing with customers. Even blood can’t stand in the way of business.

Scott Marks: How long has the store been in existence?

Winnie Hanford: We started in 1984. We just finished out 25th year.

Scott: Congratulations! What prompted you to get into the video store business in the first place?

Guy Hanford: I was an Assistant Principle at the time. It was such a stressful job that I really needed something to balance out my life. I always loved movies, of course, so I approached mom and dad and asked if they would consider opening a video section in the front part of the Hallmark store which they owned and operated here for quite a number of years. They agreed to give it a try. I looked at a few other locations but mom and dad suggested using the store. Initially we used about 15-feet of the store and opened up with around 300 titles, 50 beta, 250 VHS.

Winnie: You would not believe how small it was and it just kept growing and growing.

Scott: Do you remember the first video that you bought for the store?

Guy: I think it was “The Onion Field” with James Woods.

Scott: Who are the four family members that work the store?

Winnie: Our daughter Pam Sisneros, and our son Guy Hanford and my husband Rich Hanford and me.

Scott: What is each of your individual functions?

Guy: Mom is the head honcho. She keeps the machinery running smoothly. Pam is the manager and mom’s backup. I order the videos and dad is on call. He’s our fix-it man.

Scott: And you are the only one of the four that has a day job?

Guy: That is correct. I’ve been a fourth grade school teacher in Ramona for 38 years.

Scott: How many titles do you stock?

Guy: I’m estimating 45,000 titles. A good 60 to 70% of those are VHS titles. Video tapes are still pretty much predominant because we’ve collected them for 25 years.

Scott: You don’t purchase every new title that comes out on DVD.

Guy: No. I get the entire listing of the 1,500 titles that comes out every month. I pass through all of the Tai-Chi, Yoga and how to lose weight titles. I probably buy the four to seven ‘A’ titles that come out each week. There are also a lot of good ‘B’ titles and I purchase almost every foreign film and documentary that comes out.

Scott: If you already have a VHS copy in the collection do you automatically upgrade when a film is released on DVD?

Guy: We do if it’s a very popular film and then we sell the video off.

Scott: Is there one title that no one has rented?

Guy: “The Worm Eaters.” I rented it once to my knowledge. It’s a schlocky horror film about a guy who eats worms.

Winnie: If I put it out as one of “Winnie’s Recommendations,” I could rent it. Joe E. Brown films also don’t rent that well.

Guy: Some of the Joe E. Brown films are pretty good, but they don’t rent. “The Tender Years” is a story about anti-dog fighting. When I met Linda Blair up in Hollywood she wanted a copy of it and I was able to find her one. She’s a big animal activist against dog fighting.

Scott: What’s the Joe E. Brown film where he plays a transvestite clown? “The Circus Clown?”

Guy: We have it!

Scott: How many customers are there in your database?

Guy: Over the years we’ve accumulated close to 70,000. If they all showed up on one day we’d have to call the riot squad. Believe it or not, we still have a lot of our first 100 members. I think they were mainly Kensington people that came because some of them felt sorry for us. One of them, a Catholic priest, didn’t even own a VCR. He definitely felt sorry for us. It was like a donation. We still charge a $10 membership fee. People are okay with that because they know we take their $10 and turn around and buy a lot of films like “The Worm Eaters” that are only going to have a one-rent life. We buy a lot of very unusual films that you’re not going to find anywhere else. They are not always going to make their money back, but we don’t seem to worry about that. It’s offset by bringing customers in that will eventually rent other titles.

Scott: You never know what’s going to make its money back.

Guy: You never know. People frequently ask if I like every film in the place. I’d have to be under psychotherapy for all my different personalities if I did. What I have to do is get in the mindset of somebody that likes a particular type of film. Every month I’ll delve deep into one specific genre. A couple of months ago I got into ballet and dance. I don’t know anything about ballet and dance, but I know how to research. I know how to go to Amazon and find out what customers like. All of a sudden the customers thought I was an expert on the subject.

Scott: Once you buy a title, it’s in the store for good.

Guy: Oh, yeah. Many times I won’t get rid of the video because I’m kind of a box hound. We have this sub-group of people that are very serious about box art. The old Nostalgia Merchant boxes are so beautiful.

Scott: People no longer seem to care about box art. Nowadays you burn a film onto a DVD, write the name with a Sharpie, stick it on a spindle and call it a collection.

Guy: We still have that clientele that really likes the box art. They will never be tempted by Netflix because they don’t know what they want an hour from now let alone two days from now. They like to come in and get the feel of the movies.

Scott: Since you mentioned it, let’s talk about the enemy. How big a bite has Netflix taken out of your business?

Guy: It has taken a bit, but it also has forced us to work harder, get better customer service and go deeper into the niches that have always made us survive. I do see Netflix as the evil empire and one of those places that comes into your community without making any contributions. People badmouth WalMart and Costco, but at least they’re on the tax rolls giving back to the community. Netflix may be located in the Mojave Dessert giving nothing back to its community. People don’t go to them for the selection, because we can obviously compete with that. They go to them for the price point. You would pay more at Kensington in the long run, but what about convenience? You can rent 10 films at a time and you know that you are supporting a mom and pop store that isn’t going to disappear in two months.

Scott: How has Netflix forced you to alter the way in which you rent videos?

Guy: Before Netflix came along we had to respond to the threat of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. We used to be a one day rental operation. It was really amazing that people would rent five or six videos and return them the next day. You love movies, but I don’t that that even you could watch five movies in one night. (Pause.) Well, maybe you can. You’re giving me a look.

Scott: No comment.

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Wussy spielberg thinks DVD is haunted

September 21st, 2009 by Scott Marks

Yum! Yum! Eat Him Up!

First off, one must congratulate a first time filmmaker who can produce a feature for $15,000 and get it into the hands of a major director, even if they are spielberg’s polluted paws.

Video game designer Oren Peli, 39, grew up with a lifelong dread of spooks. According to the L.A. Times, “Ghostbusters” was too unnerving an experience for Peli to bear. “Paranormal Activity” is Peli’s way of working out his fears on film. In his film, a young couple decide to videotape their unearthly late night encounters to find the source of their excruciation. According to the Times, “The acting is intentionally unpolished, as is the herky-jerky camera work.”

They couldn’t have raised the budget to $15,020 and popped for a tripod?

A screening of the film at the 2007 ScreamFest caught the eye of an assistant at the Creative Arts Agency. CAA signed Peli and began sending out screeners which in turn grabbed the attention of Jason Blum, senior executive at Miramax Films and his producing partner Steven Schneider. Sundance turned it down (always a good sign), but the duo were able to get it to direful DreamWorks Studios where it eventually landed on Lucifer’s desk.

Film personality spielberg brought the DVD to his Pacific Palisade estate in order to determine whether or not to grant Papel dispensation. The Times continues, “not long after he watched it, the door to his empty bedroom inexplicably locked from the inside, forcing him to summon a locksmith.”

Ooooooooooooohhh! Did the big bad DVD lock little Stevie all alone in his bedroom? That’s scary stuff, kids! That demonic disc morphed into a latchkey and briefly turned the “Poltergeist” producer into the world’s wealthiest shut in. Honestly, it was probably Cate Capshaw turning the key in in order to escape his childish musings over Lincoln and Martin Luther King.

Thanks to yellow belly spielberg, Paramount is releasing the film in 13 college towns on Friday, with a wider national rollout planned for mid-October. They are banking on another “Blair Witch” phenomenon and if the trailer is any indication, this looks like another example of all hype and no jitters. I actually bought into the “Blair Witch” hoopla and attended a first day, first show screening. Before the first reel change I was looking at my watch. “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” had more shocks.

I watched the trailer and something smells rotten. The preview audience watching the movie knows that their reactions are being recorded and are inevitably bound to act more surprised for the cameras. Second, the shot of the screen from the back of the auditorium is completely bogus. Filming under these conditions that audience would not appear in shades of night vision green while the color tones on the screen are accurately defined. And how in God’s name did they manage to sneak so many cameras into a screening? Jeez, half the time we’re not even allowed to bring our cell phones in the auditorium and these bozos have a three-camera shoot.

A tip of the hat to Kali Heitholt for passing this along to me!

Read John Horn’s L.A. Times story here.

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