KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A resurgence in the popularity of physical media — a nostalgia-fueled trend that's pushed back against the intangible giants of the streaming world — has been beneficial for two stores in Kent County.
At Alive Again on Plainfield Avenue in Grand Rapids, owner Carl Crocker stocks thousands of movie titles, a collection that's preferential to the horror genre and constantly in rotation.
"There is no better way to enjoy your favorite movie than by owning a copy," Crocker said.
Crocker says physical media slows the viewer down and makes movie watching into more of an event.
"When you're streaming, you click the button and you watch ten minutes. If it doesn't grab your attention, you just go back to the menu," he said. "But if you own a copy, you have a lot more incentive to actually pay attention and finish the movie."
There's a certain ritual, Crocker says, to taking a DVD out of its case, popping it into a player and pressing play. The same can be said for VHS tapes, which have a lower picture quality but are often highly sought after for their old-timey look and cover art.
"By buying physical media, you're supporting multiple local small businesses, which I think is really important today," Crocker said.
A few miles to the south in Wyoming, Bardertown is still riding the wave of a physical media's recent renaissance.
"We were all crossing our fingers that people would show up, and what's weird, a lot of people showed up," owner Rob Grimes said. "Actually, almost in a weird way, too many people showed up."
I profiled Bardertown a month before it opened. Nearly a year later, Grimes says the vintage video store has exceeded expectations, offering a wide variety of genres to the Gen Xers and Millennials who fondly remember the entertainment of their childhood, as well as the Gen Zers and Gen Alphas who long to have been part of an earlier generation.
Kent
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There are many reasons why these largely outmoded mediums are still popular, but friend of the store Aric Whelan says it's straightforward.
"I bring it down to the best four letter word in the English language. It's love," Whelan said.
And if you love something, you should have it.
"It could be John Wayne, it could be anime, it could be horror. It doesn't matter," Whelan said. "You got to have a copy of your thing."
