We’re going to do something a little different today because I’m a physical media fan living in Minnesota, which has a giant film community, and I’m just so happy to see forward progress for physical media in 2026.

We’re living with the threat of physical media going away. Fewer and fewer brick-and-mortar stores are carrying blu-rays and DVDs. Some companies have quietly ushered away 4k discs and pretend that we don’t notice. Disc players are becoming rarer with fewer unique new possibilities on the horizon. Streaming stores have all convinced viewers that they own the things they purchase when they really don’t. It’s all a wash, and sometimes I find myself getting convinced of physical media’s imminent demise, but every once in a while, I’m reminded of the magic again, the same kind of magic ten-year-old me would have when entering a video store on a Friday night, ready to pick out some rentals for the weekend. I’d give almost anything to feel that feeling again, even if only for a short time. On Friday, I felt that feeling again when I entered the newly opened Vinegar Syndrome store located in the Twin Cities.

We so rarely get NEW physical media options, and Vinegar Syndrome is perfect for it because so many of the films they offer are ones I’ve never heard of. Having that perusal period in a brick-and-mortar store lifted my spirits and gave me more hope for the future of cinema. I arrived about 30 minutes before the store opened for what was described as a “soft opening” of the new location. I was not the first person in line, more like the 30th or so. A few dozen more showed up in the next half hour awaiting the opening of the store, and then we heard the door creak open. It was time.

We shuffled in, a pretty orderly group, but the energy was different. These were all people that were here for that experience, that feeling, that something that’s been missing. Physical media people, we’re just looking for a different high. I remember someone counting us off as we entered, likely due to the capacity of the building, which was not enormous by any stretch. If I had to use a word to describe it, I’d say “cozy.” It was cozy, but I’d argue those with any amount of claustrophobia would likely want to attend on a weekday or some time a few weeks away because by the time my hands were full, the store was cramped.

Upon entering, we were met with old cardboard cutouts of Elvira, a front counter that evoked a video rental store, and several tables of New Releases, mostly Limited Edition Vinegar Syndromes with the cool case packaging. I was immediately drawn to one of the counters which had a film titled Tobe Hooper’s Night Terrors. Honestly, I’d never heard of it, but the packaging had me picking up a copy, looking at the back, and then not placing it back…my first Vinegar Syndrome in the new store.

Now, let me step back a moment, and I’ll tell you my plan for the day. I knew I wanted to attend the soft opening day, but I also know that my FOMO can get the better of me, so I decided that I was allowed to make one purchase, nothing too major, just one to avoid adding too much to my ever-expanding “shelf of shame” (to borrow a board game collecting term) and to help support the store and the physical media landscape. In that moment, with Night Terrors in my hands, I had satisfied that need and there be no reason to purchase more than that. I had done my duty.

Fool. I was a fool, my friends.

I had to maneuver around the store rather carefully because there were plenty of other people who had stationed themselves in the area, but I was able to pick up on a few things while traveling across the store. Most notably, I was surprised to see Criterion and Arrow Video releases on the shelves. I had incorrectly assumed that, this being a VINEGAR SYNDROME store, they would only carry Vinegar Syndrome titles. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Like Marvel and DC or Star Wars and Star Trek, a lot of people assume that competitors are specifically out to destroy one another, but really, a rising tide lifts all ships, and specifically with Criterion, these are two companies working in completely different parts of the medium, with only the occasional overlap. There may have been other boutique labels in the store, but in all the commotion, I could not confirm them.

On the top shelves around the store were a number of VHS tapes, movie memorabilia, and some Vinegar Syndrome merch (I snagged a pair of yellow socks). In the center of the store, where the checkout lines started forming, I saw a number of Vinyl albums (my mind floated to GHOST albums, a favorite of my wife), and the first purchase was made. Apparently, the first purchase at any Vinegar Syndrome store is only one dollar, and it is signed and displayed. The gentleman making the purchase knew what he was doing, and he was very excited.

Along the wall behind that first purchaser, I saw the extended length dedicated space for USED items. Some were Vinegar Syndrome, but a lot were just spread-out discs running the length of the wall. I told myself I just don’t have time to look at these (and subsequently came across Mountaintop Motel Massacre at a severe discount and just had to have it).

From there, the floodgates opened; I saw something interesting, picked it up, and never put it back. Like a cenobite, I partook in pleasure and pain as I added more and more to my stack. Before I knew it, I had too many to hold, and I just needed to GO.

I rang out, received a free backpack for my purchases (a sign that I spent too much), wished them the best, and left with my focus not on any shelves. Below, I’ll list the purchases I made with the best argument I have for why…

• Tobe Hooper’s Night Terrors: A great looking package, direction by Tobe Hooper, with a Robert Englund performance and a title I have no knowledge. Consider this one “breaking the seal,” as it were.
• Made in Hong Kong Volume 3: The third volume of this collection, accurately listed as Made in Hong Kong and Taiwan, I own the first two and I’m always looking to expand on genre cinema from that part of the world.
• Mountaintop Motel Massace: More than anything else, I had to grab something from the USED shelf and this was the first one I spotted that jumped out at me. The USED wall was very busy, and if the store were less cramped, I would’ve spent more time there.
• Forgotten Gialli: Volume 9: If you have the first 8 volumes, you have to get Part 9. I don’t make the rules. The films I’ve seen from this series vary wildly in quality, but finding the gems has made the quest a ton of fun.
• ShawScares: Volume 1: I should be avoiding anything with a Volume 1 because I know what type of collector I am, but alas, I could not avoid this one. The Shaw Brothers and Shawscope area of film is a blind spot for me, and I missed out on some of Arrow’s releases, but the opportunity to dive in first with horror seemed like the right call for me personally.
• The Seventh Curse/Witch from Nepal: This twofer swayed me long after I had supposedly cut myself off, but I’ve heard so many amazing things about The Seventh Curse, and its streaming availability is often nonexistent, which is usually a Kryptonite for me. I happily added it to my purchase pile.

I hope to have some distance from the Vinegar Syndrome Store for a bit because the high I got from walking the aisles was a dangerous one, but I doubt I’ll able to stay away for long. This is a wonderful shop with a group of employees just as excited as the shoppers. One guy walking the aisles didn’t even have anything in hand, but he was vibrating with excitement throughout the entire time I was in the shop, muttering to himself about the feeling. I can’t blame him. There were also a few significant others clearly allowing their spouses and partners to enjoy themselves, unsure of why this was such a big deal. Some people won’t get it; they don’t have that nostalgia, but perhaps the more time we cultivate that brick-and-mortar feeling, it’ll create a new excitement from people that have never wandered aisles in search of a new favorite film. We can only hope.

-Kyle A. Goethe