Tombarr,

I don't think gay feature films is enough to make a store feasible. For six years I worked in a video store in downtown Toronto, right smack in the middle of the gay ghetto. It featured all of the regular stuff you'd find at a Blockbuster, plus new releases, plus a huge selection of gay adult films, and an equally large section of gay feature films.

A Roger's video (a big chain like Blockbuster) opened down the street, but they never affected our business for a couple of very good reasons: (1) our store was very gay friendly, the Roger's had trouble carrying anything more gay than Maurice or Too Wong Foo, (2) we carried gay porn, and (3) we were on the main drag, so we were a walk home from the trendy vegetable market, the baths, and the bars.

However, that said, there was an adult store down the street with three times the selection we had. Still we did well in that department because the adult store had the reputation of being the seedy, stinky place "downstairs" where guys tried to sneak in for a quick blowjob in the video booths. With our store you could walk in, rent porn, and no one would know you weren't carrying home Thoroughly Modern Millie. We also got a lot of the late-night, I-didn't-get-picked-up traffic from the bars that line Church Street.

Now, to your point. I just don't think there are enough gay feature films to warrant a whole store selling just those alone. Okay, yes there are over 800 of them, but haven't we all seen Maurice and Another Country, and let's face it, most of the rest of what's available is low-budget, independent stuff that is largely whanking crap. Who wants to buy it? I'm very afraid to rent most of it. And Bruce La Bruce, I never got that guy, what a waste of film.

If the video store that I worked at got rid of the gay feature section, I don't think it would have much more than a ripple on the revenues, but don't get me wrong, the gay films rent well. So much of the traffic is regular movies and porn. If they got rid of porn, it would be a huge hit financially. It they got rid of mainstream, they'd die in a week.

I really think you're going to need something else in that store to carry it. You either need to carry adult videos and magazines, or if you don't want to or can't go adult, then think about carrying non-adult gay books and magazines. Or make it a combination coffee house / video store. Or throw an Internet cafe in the back. You're going to need something else or this store is going to tank.

Best of luck
Dzinerbear