journeys thru video clearance center

for a film buff a place like video clearance center is, to use a title of a song by the cure, just like heaven.  god, i can't remember when the center closed its doors but it must've been at least 11 or 12 or 15 years ago.  i was a regular.  not that i was on first name basis with the staff.  no, i was just that dude who'd come in, browse the stacks, & make a few purchases.  & what did the clearance center have?  VHS tapes & DVDs.  tho i suspect its bread & butter was located in a side room that you had to access via a closed door.  open that door & all sorts of 'adult' entertainment awaited you.  not that there was nothing wrong with that.  but i love horror movies & the video clearance center had a shitload of them for sale.  all sorts of movies.  disney, comedy, romcoms et al. awaited the discriminating shopper.  the place was huge.  a few thousand square feet of shelves of movies.  i'd spend hours going from one section of genre to the next.  what the fuck would i find?  it's been so long i can't remember the movies i bought there.  what i do remember is the condition of the place.  sorta scummy.  the floors looked like they need a good scrubbing.  the staff were fine.  no complaints there.  & i'm sure they developed a thickish skin for i think most of their customers were there to buy their skinamax kinda films.  but again, this place was located in a strip mall off of a major thruway, on Howe & Hurley, not far from Cal Expo, the home of the CA State Fair.  i loved it.  & i miss it today.  whatever you are looking for, today, you can find with a couple of mouse clicks.  but the object of your searching at the video clearance center was not the goal but the subject of your journey.  sometimes you didn't know what you wanted until you pulled it off the shelf & held it in your hands.  i suspect that the days of shopping in physical stores like this one are over.  not that physical stores are going away.  but their impact upon the shopping experience is forever changed.  not that i'm terribly old fashioned.  the internet has given me great good pleasure in rediscovering my love of horror/exploitation cinema.  but man!  physical stores like the video clearance center are in another dimension.  the smell, textures, & the stamina needed to search its stacks is another thing alright.  i miss it.