Summer time is the season for lounging around at the beach, for visiting the cabin to get away from the city, or for hitting the road to discover new and exciting places. In our case, it’s an occasion to feature out-of-town locations to pick up your latest video rentals, in the event you’re visiting family or friends for Canada Day.
The nation’s capital of Ottawa is overflowing with people to celebrate the yearly holiday on July 1st, but when trying to fill your evenings on the down-low, in between visits to the Byward Market and the many museums and galleries to enjoy, there seems to be only two places left to rent films for a few days.
Glebe Video International
Glebe Video International is now situated in several basement rooms of the Fourth Avenue Baptist Church located at 816 Bank Street. Surprisingly enough, the store was open on Canada Day from 11 to 4pm as the holiday fell on a Saturday. This was to accommodate the usual store hours as the shop closes for their ‘weekend’ on Sunday and Monday.
Finding your way there is relatively easy as there is a white sandwich board found outside when they are open, in the church courtyard leading up to the busy Glebe neighbourhood section of Bank Street. Once past the threshold and down the stairs, you’ll be welcomed by owner and operator Peter Senecal, who has been busy renovating a third room to accommodate his VHS collection. Collectors: this is something to look into as these films will be up for sale once the hard work is done.
The rental collection itself specializes in classical Hollywood cinema and International films, as partly described in the store name, as well as a selection of genre films and American television series, the last of which are also up for sale. The rental catalog can be accessed through their website at glebevideo.ca, and this is where it will also be announced when the VHS collection will be ready for consumption… Stay tuned.
Movies ‘n Stuff
A ten-minute drive away is where you can find Movies ‘n Stuff, which is situated in the Alta Vista neighbourhood just east of Billings Bridge. The store is found in a strip mall at 1787 Kilborn Avenue, and is owned and run by Peter Thompson who took over from his parents when they retired in 2017. The original store opened up in 1984, in the residential area of Craig Henry in the West end of Ottawa, before moving to its current location in 1988.
The energy in the store is very welcoming as the community presence is palpable. From the gum-ball machines found at the check-out desk, to the hand-drawn pictures posted up nearby, you can clearly see that the shop has been a mainstay in the area for quite a while.
Once there, you’ll find a large selection of DVD and Blu Ray films for rent that are organized alphabetically in sections divided by genre. There’s a few shelves of films available for purchase too, which are also organized alphabetically for easy access.
Movie fans will enjoy the well-stocked shelves devoted to Horror, Sci-Fi, Action and Thrillers among others, but also the ‘New Arrivals’ to the general collection, which are shelved apart before being integrated into their respective areas. Front-and-centre is also the section devoted to Criterion films, which includes several remastered gems that are now out-of-print, making it a treasure trove for film-buffs looking to watch all those hard to find masterpieces not available through streaming services. This section is conveniently located next to the New Releases after coming in through the front door.
The catalog of offerings can be found online at moviesnstuff.com, and this is the place where Thompson has set aside his own selection of favourites found under the title ‘Peter’s Picks’.
Both stores complement the movie collecting market in Ottawa as Peter Thompson of Movies n’ Stuff often sells harder to find films online, whereas Peter Senecal of Glebe Video International will soon be offering VHS sales not currently available elsewhere. Happy hunting, folks, and enjoy the long weekend!