El Bodegon Laredo, TX Thrift Store

    There are hundreds of stores from where to buy in our city and plenty of thrift stores that allow me to purchase some lovely collectibles. Lately, I have become enamored with items manufactured from 1977 to 1993. In Laredo, there are only so many second hand stores from where to buy. One such store is a hidden gem called El Bodegon. They sell housewared, toys, media, electronics and other cool items. I have found. While they are not the only thrift store in town, they are best. In a city inundated with ropa usada, El Bodegon offers a nice variety. It's local stores like this that keep me away from the mall and ugly corporate chains like Goodwill. 

Laredo, TX Video Stores (VHS Rentals)

Not too long ago, before Netflixing and chill became common place, you had to run down to the ol' video store to get your movie night fix. For a few bucks a night, you could take several movies for the night and binge to your hearts content.

Locally, we had several mom and pop places that thrived with the weekend rentals. Now, in 2018, none of those remain. Video stores have mostly become extinct! Only Redbox remains as a place to rent physical media, at least in Laredo. However, not too long ago, video stores where abundant and you could select from a variety of genres and even languages, from Steven Segal and Chuck Norris to Mario Almada and Sergio Goyri vistas.

I even remember the first place I peered behind the red curtain at one of these establishments that offered adult videos for viewing pleasure. It was a magical time for videophiles. Now, VHS and DVD are slowly being phased out. Still on Saturday nights such as this, I feel the nostalgic hark to the good days, of walking the aisles of the video store, with friends and family, as we argued over which movie to take home. Those days seem like a lifetime ago, a lifetime of memories on film.