A New El Paso Video Store Is Bringing Back Friday Nights

There was a time when Friday night meant piling into the car, heading to the video store and walking the aisles looking for the perfect movie.

Streaming may have made that ritual unnecessary, but El Paso is getting the chance to do it again. Because a video store is officially opening in Downtown El Paso, yes, you read that right: a video store!

Suddenly, Friday night can feel a little more like it used to.

Rewind El Paso Is Bringing the Video Store Back

Rewind El Paso officially opens its doors September 1 at noon at 205 S. Stanton St., inside El Nuevo Tiradero.

And this isn't just a store selling a few old VHS tapes for decoration.

Rewind El Paso is bringing back the video store experience with shelves filled with VHS tapes, DVDs, Blu-rays and even LaserDiscs for movie lovers to browse.

The store will also celebrate with an official ribbon cutting on September 10 at 1:30 p.m.

But as someone who grew up loving the video store experience, it's the chance to actually browse those shelves again that has me excited.

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Friday Nights at the Video Store Just Hit Different

There was something special about going to the video store on a Friday night. You didn't have thousands of movies immediately available at the push of a button. You walked the aisles.

Sometimes you knew exactly what you wanted. Other times, you picked a movie because the cover caught your attention, the description on the back sounded interesting or you stumbled across something you'd never heard of before.

And sometimes that random movie sitting on the shelf became one of your favorites.

That's how I discovered Jawbreaker!

I loved those Friday night trips to the video store, and I especially loved El Paso's Fellini Film Cafe. Picking the movie was part of the experience- not just something you had to do before watching it!

Sure, streaming is convenient. But scrolling through an app just doesn't have quite the same magic as wandering the aisles and wondering what you'll find.

Rewind El Paso Gives a New Generation the Video Store Experience

Maybe the part I'm most excited about is getting to share this experience with my Gen Z nephews.

They grew up in a world where practically any movie they want to watch can be found without leaving the couch. Now I can take them Downtown, walk the aisles of an actual video store and give them a little taste of what Friday night used to look like.

Life felt a little simpler when finding something to watch meant wandering through rows of movies until something caught your eye.

And who knows? Maybe their next favorite movie is already sitting on some random shelf at Rewind El Paso, just waiting for them to find it!