BLACK A16
DAILY 03-09-10 MD SU A16 BLACK
A16 S KLMNO TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010
WASHINGTON BUSINESS
Cult favorite Video Vault hits the eject button
Store joins victims
come in to peruse the shelves, McCabe gest nearby rental property they could
figures that his former clientele got tired find, but the new location, unlike the old
of economy, Internet
of fighting for a space on Alexandria’s one, did not offer parking. That’s an un-
crowded streets (tell your iPhone to alert fortunate development for any retail
and changing habits
you when your time is up, and the meter store, perhaps, but particularly for one
police will still get there first with a $35 such as Video Vault, with its packed
ticket), then “gave up and joined Netflix.” shelves. To try to hold on to some of its
“Packaged media is going the way of customers, McCabe offered “curbside
by Mike Musgrove the dodo,” he said. “At some point, the service,” in which customers could call
digital era is going to do in everything.” the store and have a clerk hand-deliver a
Another video rental store might have In 2000, at the peak of the video rental movie to their car as they waited in the
been content to boast a “Horror” section, era, there were 30,000 video stores in the store’s alley.
but Alexandria’s Video Vault always ca- United States, said Tom Adams, presi- For Washington area film buffs, said
tered to far more specialized tastes. dent of Adams Media Research, an enter- longtime customer Paul Harless, it’s an-
How, precisely, do you prefer to take tainment industry research firm. Adams other one of those depressing milestones
your splatter? Do you favor the blood and said that he expects 2,000 stores to close — up there with when the Biograph and
gore of “Italian Horror,” or the more cer- this year, which would bring that num- Key theaters were shuttered. “However
ebral shocks offered over in “New Asian ber to about 18,000. obscure the film was that you were look-
Horror”? Elsewhere in the crowded base- “It’s been a painful grind down for in- ing for, Video Vault either had it or knew
ment store, the “Cult” shelves tempt with store rental,” he said. Although movie how to get it,” said Harless, who said he
oddball rarities from the golden era of rentals have stabilized in the past two was “devastated” at the news of the
drive-in movies, with names like “Blood years, that’s mostly because more people store’s closing.
& Lace,” “Blood Freak,” “Blood of the Vir- are using automated kiosks that charge The store’s collection of 20,000 DVDs
gins” and “The Bloody Brood.” And those $1 a night, he said. That’s one direction and more than 40,000 VHS tapes still
are just the B’s. the former giant Blockbuster is turning holds plenty of classics and not-so-clas-
Jim McCabe opened his video store in
TRACY A. WOODWARD/THE WASHINGTON POST
to for survival. The chain boasted 5,000 sics, but perhaps not for long. All those
1985 with 500 videotapes in the days Jim McCabe opened Alexandria’s Video Vault in 1985, gaining a loyal following stores in 2000 and now has 3,525 stores; titles are now on sale, though some of
when the local competition was Erol’s, a among cinephiles. High rent, no parking and Internet competition killed business. by the end of the year, a spokeswoman those hard-to-find movies command a
powerful 63-store chain boasting at least said, the company will have 10,000 auto- premium price. On Tuesday the store
1,000 mainstream Hollywood titles at line rental services and on-demand mov- industry facing such headwinds. Even mated kiosks, by comparison. sold a copy of “Faster, Pussycat! Kill!
each location. “Guaranteed worst movies ies, convenience trumps a drive to the though Video Americain owner Barry So- As Solan puts it, it’s “almost impos- Kill!,” a cult favorite oldie about a trio of
in town!” was Video Vault’s motto. video shop, no matter how impressive a lan is getting ready to close his store in sible” to make it as a video store these thrill-seeking go-go dancers, for $80. “It’s
The store thrived for many of its 25 store’s library. Newark, Del., he expects that his other days, and every minor-seeming detail almost like selling babies,” McCabe said.
years, sheltered in its niche from the Video Vault leaves behind a shrinking three in Takoma Park and Baltimore will can be of vast importance, whether it’s As for the future, “I haven’t really fig-
whirlwinds that killed off most mom- handful of independent movie stores, in- be around for a “long time” — and by foot traffic or the attitude of a landlord. ured it out yet,” he said. Even with the
and-pops and then began to catch up cluding the four remaining Potomac Vid- that, he means “two or three years.” “You’ve got to have a very particular set store’s end near, McCabe mostly just
with the Blockbusters. Now an exhaus- eo shops in the Washington are (down “In the video business,” he said, “that’s of circumstances to survive,” he said. wants to talk about movies.
tive and nationally known collection of from more than a dozen six years ago), a like saying you’re going to be around for Video Vault’s the biggest tumble hap- “Did you ever see ‘Carny’?” he asks,
the weird and the hard-to-find is no lon- Video Americain in Takoma Park — and the tricentennial.” pened when a rambling, three-story mentioning a 1980 flick starring Jodie
ger enough, and McCabe is shutting his the automated $1-a-night kiosks prolifer- As for Video Vault, business has townhouse the store had occupied was Foster and Gary Busey. “It’s a great film
doors for the last time at the end of April. ating in supermarkets, fast-food restau- dropped off by about 50 percent in the sold, McCabe said. about sideshow freaks.” Alas, it’s not
He blames high rent, scant parking — rants and company cafeterias. past six years, McCabe said. Although When that happened, McCabe and his available on Netflix.
and the Internet. In the age of iTunes, on- Optimism takes a new definition in an some of the store’s original members still wife, Jane, moved the store into the big-
musgrovem@washpost.com
Arent Fox’s new chairman: ‘Patient pace’ of growth sustained D.C. law firm
ates and 15 staff members and is in the tan area. cantly in the next several years. The firm its offices at 1050 Connecticut Ave. NW.
by V. Dion Haynes early stages of restructuring how it bills But since those figures were collected, has 350 lawyers in Washington, New “Private equity and development activ-
clients, Katz said Arent Fox wasn’t hurt several major law firms have cut staff York and Los Angeles and continues “to ity obviously are much lower than
The Washington law firm Arent Fox as deeply by the recession because it de- members, restructured or closed. look for opportunities to open an office they’ve been,” he said. “That will not per-
said Monday that it has named longtime cided to grow more cautiously during the Last year, Latham & Watkins, one of in Northern California that knits with sist — we’re expecting an uptick in activ-
partner Mark M. Katz as its new chair- boom. the nation’s largest law firms, laid off 190 our intellectual property practice and lit- ity to happen soon.”
man, a leadership change that comes as “Some of the firms that grew very rap- lawyers and 205 paralegal and support igation practice,” Katz said. “If we can Fleischaker has served at the firm
the legal sector copes with an economic idly and worked on a mega-international staff. Other D.C. firms that cut personnel grow to 550 to 600 [lawyers] — that feels since 1971, becoming a partner seven
downturn that has curtailed business platform seem to be running into diffi- include Holland & Knight, Bryan Cave like a good size.” years later. Under his leadership, the
and prompted layoffs. culties,” he said. “We’ve grown on a pa- and Dechert. In December 2008, Heller Arent Fox was established in Washing- firm opened its Los Angeles office and
Katz, 52, succeeds Marc L. Fleischaker, tient pace, and that’s helped us.” Ehrman and Thelen, both with offices in ton in 1942 and has 31 practice areas, in- expanded its New York operations. In
who served as chairman of the firm’s ex- As of 2008, the latest year for which the District, closed. cluding automotive, bankruptcy, intel- 1982, he represented black workers who
ecutive committee for 14 years. Fleis- statistics from the economic develop- Hogan & Hartson is in the process of lectual property, real estate and telecom- sued the Library of Congress for racial
chaker will remain at the firm, concen- ment group Greater Washington Initia- merging with London-based Lovells to munications. Its clients include Marriott, discrimination, arguing the agency was
trating on antitrust and civil rights cases. tive are available, more than 40,000 law- create one of the world’s largest law Fannie Mae and AOL. thwarting their advancement. The agen-
Like many of its counterparts, Arent yers worked in the Washington region, firms, with $1.8 billion in revenue and Katz, who led the firm’s business de- cy settled the case before trial, awarding
Fox has faced declining revenue as cor- second only to the New York area. Nearly 2,500 lawyers in 40 offices. partment and specializes in commercial millions of dollars to the plaintiffs.
porate clients cut back on legal work, 64,000 people work in the legal profes- Katz said the firm’s regulatory, intel- real estate, said he expects a recovery Katz, who joined the firm in 1987, is
particularly in commercial real estate sion in the Washington region, which lectual property, health-care, contracting soon in the Washington area office mar- married to Cynthia Hogan, counsel to
and finance, Katz said Monday in an in- employs more people in that sector on a and bankruptcy practices are thriving, ket. The firm plans to lease space in 2013 Vice President Biden.
terview. Although the firm cut 13 associ- per-capita basis than any U.S. metropoli- and he expects the firm to expand signifi- in a building being constructed next to
haynesd@washpost.com
Monitor your investments at
washingtonpost.com/markets.
THE MARKETS
Data and graphics by
Daily Stock Market Performance S&P 500 Industry Group Snapshot Commodities
Daily YTD
Index
Daily Daily
Close % Chg % Chg
Daily
Industry Group % Chg
–2.5% 0 +2.5% Futures Close % Chg Close % Chg
Dow Jones Industrial Average 10,552.52 –0.1 +1.2
Communications Equipment 2.15
Copper $3.3965 –0.2 Orange Juice $1.5090 –1.2
11,000 Construction Materials 1.90 Corn $3.6450 –0.1 Silver $17.25 –0.6
Building Products 1.88
Crude Oil $81.87 +0.5 Soybeans $9.4050 +0.6
9500 Hotels Restaurants & Leis 1.32
Gold $1124.00 –1.0 Sugar $0.2157 –2.8
Diversified Telecomm 1.23
Natural Gas $4.53 –1.4 Wheat $4.8450 +0.5
8000
Professional Services –0.78
Health Care Eqp & Suppl –0.79
Value of $1000 invested for the past: day month
Daily
6500
Airlines –1.02
Exchange-Traded (Ticker) % Chg $800 $1000 $1200
Health Care Providers –1.03
Coffee (COFF.L) 0.2
Nasdaq Composite Index 2332.21 +0.3 +2.8
Auto Components –1.04
Copper (COPA.L) –1.3
2400 Corn (CORN.L) –2.4
International Stock Markets Cotton (COTN.L) –1.0
2000
Crude Oil (CRUD.L) –0.5
Daily YTD % Chg
Americas Close % Chg –9% 0% +9%
Gasoline (UGAS.L) 0.2
1600 Brazil (Bovespa) 68,575.47 –0.4
Gold (BULL.L) –1.6
Canada (S&P/TSX Comp.) 11,963.84 –0.1
Natural Gas (NGAS.L) –2.3
1200 Mexico
Silver (SLVR.L) –1.5
(Bolsa) 32,520.27 0.3
Europe
S&P 500 Index 1138.50 0.0 +2.1
Eurozone
Gainers and Losers from the S&P 1500 Index
(DJ Stoxx 600) 256.87 –0.1
1175
France (CAC 40) 3903.54 –0.2
Daily Daily
Gainers Close % Chg Losers Close % Chg
1075 Germany (DAX) 5875.91 0.0
NCI Building Sys $10.50 10.5 Methode Electronics $10.03 –7.6
975
U.K. (FTSE 100) 5606.72 0.1
Hutchinson Tech $7.76 10.2 AMN Hlth Services $8.29 –7.0
875
Asia Pacific
Mannatech Inc $4.41 9.2 Scholastic $29.20 –6.5
Australia (ASX 200) 4807.90 0.9 Helix Energy Sol $12.93 9.0 Ciena $15.10 –5.7
775
China (CSI 300) 3286.18 0.8
Ruth's Hospt Group $4.50 7.9 Cbeyond Inc $12.23 –5.6
675
M A M J J A S O N D J F
Hong Kong (Hang Seng) 21,196.87 2.0
Standard Register $6.33 6.2 Multimedia Games $4.41 –5.2
Japan
Coldwater Creek $7.01 –4.6
(Nikkei) 10,585.92 2.1
Brinker Intl $19.37 6.0
Dow Jones 30 Industrials
WinnebagoIndustries $14.62 5.5 Headwaters Inc $5.33 –4.0
Cross Currency Rates
Dynegy $1.54 5.5 Rewards Network $14.50 –3.9
Daily YTD Daily YTD
GreenMountainCoffee $92.44 5.4 RudolphTechnologies $8.80 –3.7
Company Close % Chg % Chg Company Close % Chg % Chg
3M 81.31 –1.4 –1.6 IBM 126.41 –0.7 –3.4
US $ EU
MetLife Inc $40.90 5.1 PalomarMedicalTech $9.90 –3.7
€ Japan ¥ Britain £ Brazil R$ Canada $ Mexico $
Alcoa 13.78 –0.4 –14.5 Intel 20.77 –0.1 1.8
Nautilus Inc $3.81 5.0 Cons Graphics $46.52 –3.7
AmExp 39.71 –1.2 –2.0 J&J 64.20 0.2 –0.3
US $ per 1.3633 0.0111 1.5068 0.5592 0.9731 0.0788
Universal Forest $39.12 4.9 Cross Country Hlth $9.73 –3.7
AT&T 25.28 1.2 –9.8 JPMorgCh 42.59 –0.5 2.2
EU 0.7335 0.0081 1.1052 0.4102 0.7138 0.0578€ per
SEI Investments $19.05 4.8 Cubic Corp $35.02 –3.5
BoA 16.74 0.2 11.2 Kraft Foods 29.17 –0.6 7.3
Boeing 67.24 –1.0 24.2 McDonald's 65.12 2.3 4.3 Japan ¥ per 90.2500 123.0500 136.0000 50.4741 87.8300 7.1150
Medcath Corp $8.89 4.8 Std Motor Products $10.16 –3.3
Caterpillar 58.91 –0.5 3.4 Merck 37.35 –0.4 2.2 Quiksilver $3.10 4.7 AirTran Holdings $4.96 –3.3
Chevron 74.64 0.5 –3.1 Microsoft 28.63 0.1 –6.1
Britain £ per 0.6637 0.9048 0.0074 0.3711 0.6458 0.0523
Blue Coat Systems $31.95 4.5 Cincinnati Bell $3.11 –3.1
Cisco 26.13 3.6 9.1 P&G Co 63.19 –0.8 4.2
Brazil R$ per 1.7885 2.4379 0.0198 2.6949 1.7402 0.1410
Coca-Cola 54.46 –0.4 –4.5 Pfizer 17.35 –0.7 –4.6
Buffalo Wild Wings $46.49 4.4 Dime Community Bncs $12.99 –3.1
DuPont 35.37 1.1 5.0 Travelers 53.80 –0.3 7.9 Canada $ per 1.0276 1.4008 0.0114 1.5485 0.5746 0.0810
DealerTrackHoldings $16.41 4.4 AK Steel Holding $24.13 –3.0
Exxon Mobil 66.48 0.0 –2.5 United Tech 70.76 –0.7 1.9
Phillips-Van Heusen $46.24 4.4 Schweitzer-Mauduit $42.68 –3.0
GE 16.27 –0.5 7.5 Verizon 29.63 1.4 –10.6
Mexico $ per 12.6863 17.2944 0.1410 19.1160 7.0930 12.3454
Home Depot 31.96 0.5 10.5 Wal-Mart 54.15 0.0 1.3
HP 51.73 –0.6 0.4 Walt Disney 33.19 –0.1 2.9
Treasury Performance Over Past Three Months
Interest Rates
10-year note 2-year note
Other Measures
Consumer Rates
3.25% 5.01%
Yield: 3.71 Yield: 0.89
Index Close Daily % Chg YTD % Chg
Money market funds 0.82 Bank Prime 30-Year fixed mortgage
5-year note 6-month bill
DJ Total Stock Market Index 11,851.74 0.0 3.1
6-Month CDs 0.81
Yield: 2.36 Yield: 0.20
1-Year CDs 1.23
0.25% 4.36%
Russell 2000 667.11 0.2 6.7
5-Year CDs 2.63
Federal Funds 15-Year fixed mortgage
Post-Bloomberg DC Area Index 198.30 0.1 5.8
New car loan 6.69
0.25% 3.26%
Note: Bank prime is from 10 major banks. Federal Funds rate is the market rate, which can vary from the federal
target rate. LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate. Consumer rates are from Bankrate. All figures as of
CBOE Volatility (VIX) 17.79 2.1 –17.9 Home-equity loan 7.91 LIBOR 3-Month 1-Year ARM
4:30 p.m. New York time.
BLACK A16
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