After layoff, owner finds success in video store

Randy Letter, a self professed movie lover, said business is going well for his year-old business, Game Cozy and Movies.

Letter moved into a new storefront on Highway 50 last month where he rents, sells, buys and trades movies, video games and video game consoles.

He said he used to sell his large collection of movies on websites such as eBay and came up with the idea to open a movie and video game shop when he was laid off from his casino cashier job about a year ago.

He rents movies - including new releases and on Blu-ray - and video games for nearly every console available for 99 cents a night. He also rents older video game consoles such as Super NES or Atari for $10 a week (eventually he'll rent newer systems such as the Xbox 360 for a slightly higher price).

"Everybody told me the rental business because of Netflix and Redbox is dead," Letter said. "But I thought maybe I'll give it a try because there's still people out there that like to ... have a case and read a description."

Letter offers games for many gaming consoles such as Xbox 360, PS3, Super NES, Gameboy and Atari.

Letter, who has worked as a computer repairman, also repairs gaming consoles for about $50 and fixes scratched DVDs and video games.

He said he's hoping to attract business from Carson High School students when school goes back in session, but "so far, so good."