40-year-old East Rochester video store to close its doors
by Carlet Cleare
East Rochester, N.Y. – One of the largest and last local video stores in this digital era is closing.
Walking into Hyatt’s Classic Video on West Commercial Street feels a bit nostalgic, with its extensive collection of VHS tapes, DVDs, cassette tapes and VCRs.
Technology has run through Bob Hyatt’s veins since the 1960s, when he started selling home theater equipment out of his house.
“When a lot of the chain stores like Norman Brothers and Century started selling components through catalogs,” Hyatt said, “we saw the handwriting on the wall and we went into video.”
The 85-year-old owned and operated the family video store in East Rochester for 40 years. His four children were also raised in the business.
“We moved into this building on the night of the Ice Storm in 1991,” he said.
Hyatt worked through the struggles of big box competitors and, now, streaming, keeping afloat through converting content on VHS tapes onto DVDs.
At one time, they had 35,000 titles. Now, the Hyatts are closing.