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Owners of a new store in downtown Victoria are hoping to bring a slice of the past to life at their new shop in the Bay Centre.
The shop, called the Nostalgia Nook, opened at the Bay Centre at 1150 Douglas Street on Oct. 1 and is described as a mix of retro store, video rental shop, and interactive museum.
Parts of the store have been decorated to look like a home from decades ago.
“We were able to recreate on one side a very familiar feeling, late ’80s basement or living room,” said owner Shaun Peterson. “It almost feels like walking into grandma’s living room again.”
“The other side is more of a gaming/bedroom area,” he said.
The store sells things like VHS tapes, CDs, vinyls, books, board games, action figures and more. It also lets people browse and rent VHS tapes, with rentals costing $4.99 for three nights.
“We also started upcycling a bunch of goods as well. So we’ve made notebooks, bookmarks made out of old VHS cases,” said Peterson.
One of the last VHS rental programs in Canada
People looking to rent VHS tapes must sign up for a free membership, and as far as the owners can tell, they’re one of the only stores – if not the only one – in Canada that still has a VHS rental membership program.
“A couple of visitors from the States, from the cruise ships, came and got a membership specifically just so they can take a membership card home,” said Peterson.
He adds that the owners considered creating a monthly or yearly paid membership, but decided to make it free to avoid becoming another monthly subscription – like modern streaming services.
If you’ve gotten rid of your old VHS player, don’t worry, the Nostalgia Nook also rents out tape players and CRT TVs so that you can watch the old movies at home.
“So if you don’t have the equipment we’ve got you covered,” said Peterson.
Owners hope to make ‘an experience’ for people
The Nostalgia Nook was something of a passion project for husband-and-wife duo Shaun and Catharina.
Besides selling and renting retro goods, people are welcome to stop by and sit in the re-created rooms and play old Nintendo systems set up on CRT TVs
“So outside retail, one of our big hopes was making an experience for people, even if they’re just stepping in for 10 minutes,” said Peterson.
He says the shop was not designed after any specific room the owners had grown up in, but were decorated to try to evoke a feeling of the past.
One thing he’s surprised by is how many young people, roughly those who are under 25, are stopping by.
“Young people are saying they’re trying to get away from streaming, from Netflix, and want to own their own things,” he said.
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