Rentals and staffing are down, but the staff of a small, storied video store in Santa Monica refuses to give up without a fight.
Vidiots has enlisted the help of actor and director Carl Weathers, known for his role as Apollo Creed, the salty coach in the Rocky films.
What better ally than the man who told his fighter, 'Aint gonna be no rematch."
"I just think we need to support places where they're really trying to buck against what's happening in a lot of areas," Weathers said.
The campaign, which will include a cast of film characters, is set to launch soon with a video on the website Funny or Die.
Vidiots first opened in 1985, offering a range rare movies and unusual, hard-to-find titles. It quickly became known among cinema enthusiasts, film students, and moviemakers as one of the most important alternative video stores in the country.
But now, Vidiots could be falling victim to the pressures of the internet; the same pressures that are challenging even giant video chains, let alone a small "mom and pop" location like Vidiots.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
The new competitors have caused a 30-percent decline in rentals, and where 17 employees once worked, now there are only nine.
"We've definitely cut back our own salaries," said Patty Polinger, co-owner. "We've trimmed wherever we could trim."
