I worked in video stores for years through University - starting with "More Than Video" off 64 Ave NE, followed by Rogers on 14th, Woodbine, 17th Ave and Country Hills. It was a great job and I have great memories of the people I worked with. As far as part-time work for a young person - the video store is pretty much a home run.
I also worked in the marketing department of Rogers Video in their head office - during a time when there should be have been talk about how to adapt to the internet and what not. Sadly I can tell you from being on the inside -companies like Rogers and Blockbuster didn't see their demise coming at all until it was too late.
To answer the Rogers/porn question - overall Rogers had a policy that they would not carry adult movies. However - there were exceptions. The parent company would acquire other chains from time to time and if those stores had porn they would be allowed to keep it. And the store on 17th Avenue was allowed to carry porn for a while because....well...at that location it was just so darn popular.
I haven't been to a video store in years - but I gotta say the one thing I will miss is walking into a store and searching for the perfect movie. Some of my all time favourite "hidden gems" were only discovered because the new release I wanted was out so I was forced to go hunting for something else. That's not something that really happens anymore in the on-demand world. But hunting for that right movie with a bunch of friends and arguing over which one to get - was kinda fun.
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