Friday, April 8, 2022

Inside the Blue Door

Photos by Stacie Joy

There has been some mystery/intrigue around longtime business Blue Door Video at 87 First Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street... maybe it's the goofy window displays. Like, what do they sell?

Apropos of nothing (Easter?), EVG contributor Stacie Joy decided to pop by for a visit. The friendly staff (no, they were — that wasn't sarcasm) said she could take photos as long as she didn't include any patrons or private areas, such as the viewing booths...
The shop has a healthy supply of cut-out DVDs of super-obscure titles spanning many genres (3 for $10!) ...  along with some forgotten Hollywood fare (we see you "Laws of Attraction" with Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore and your 18% Rotten Tomatoes score!) ... 
... and there are some VHS copies... (Dibs on that "Quantum Leap" episode!) ...
... and the adult titles...
There's a clothing section with lingerie ... and shoes (?)... 
... and various accessories... 
There's also a sale section...
This visit doesn't provide insights into everything that might go inside here, but hopefully, this will remove some of the mystery behind Blue Door Video...

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great coverage…. of the street level.

Ade said...

Good to see you giving a spectrum of local businesses a plug.

Anonymous said...

I remember when they opened...was there a bar there before?...there was some fear around the neon 25-cent viewing booth signs. I guess it was thought the place would attract crowds of seedy characters, but that never happened. They've been a good neighbor. Their video collection is a challenge of obscurity!

Glenn said...

Is the butt plug returnable if I'm not completely satisfied?

Sarah said...

"Good to see you giving a spectrum of local businesses a plug."

I don't know, I think it's so much...fluff.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't this space the restaurant First?

Spike said...

It was First, prior. I miss that place and their postcard marketing of tiny-tinis.

JAMES said...

Man they have been there forever..Whatever they're doing they're doing it right.

Anonymous said...

Seems though there are never any consumers in there. I mean, um, so I’ve been told…

Anonymous said...

wow, I completely forgot about First. I loved that place and they had really good bar food too

as for Blue Door I always heard they hosted sex parties for “gentlemen”

Anonymous said...

always wondered what it was like in there

Anonymous said...

Can you remember the chef/owner's name? He went on to become pretty well known.

They used to have special BBQs on Memorial, 4th of July, and Labor day weekends, at a time when there was no other place in the city to celebrate those holidays in a traditional American way, completed with red and white checkered table cloths. And the food was awesome.

Eden Bee said...

They have a decent asian extreme horror section in there and I go in all the time. They are really nice. Sometimes is 1am and I just guess at the price and leave the $$ for the guy who is passed out by the register and yell thanks! and he kinda waves and goes back to sleep..

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thanks for this. I always wondered about the place and was entertained their varied (!) window displays. Maybe I'll even put on sun glasses and a red wig and go inside.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

The hose in the bucket in the adult title section says it all.