Memories of Oh Susanna Sunshine

The small town of Beausejour, Manitoba in Canada was once home to video store Oh Susanna Sunshine which, at one point in its 22 year history, boasted the largest selection of titles in the province.

Owners Mel and Susan Stefaniuk added VHS and VCR rentals to their existing gift shop business in 1982 but quickly made the decision to pivot to a full time video store, even offerering board game rentals at one point during the Trivial Pursuit boom.

By the time video games hit the scene in the mid eighties, Oh Susanna soon became a haven for kids wanting to try the latest game whether it be on Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Playstation, or even a long forgotten system like 3DO.

Before streaming gave you instant entertainment at a click of a button, the brick and mortar video stores were the places you went to find things to watch in the comfort of your own home. 

Stay tuned to this space for future features about the glory days of physical media and how lucky it was for this 'Video Store Kid' to have grown up working in their mom and pop's shop.

Advertisments From The Manitoba Beaver published from 1987 - 1992

• 1987

• 1989

• 1990

• 1992

Original rental sign circa 1985

• In the early years of the video store, prices were based on the day of the week, with 'New Releases' being a dollar extra. You also were required to have a membership at that time, and if you weren't on file, there was an additional dollar charge. 
• These prices remained the same for many years with the non-member fee disappearing around 1987. In 2004, its last year in existence, the price for a new release any day of the week was 4.50.

Sample Video Store Membership Card Used In The 1980s

Paper Rental Contract Circa 1986

• Oh Susanna never had an instore computer and used paper contracts to record rental transactions. The format changed almost every time stock was depleted. In this version, Mel and Susan Stefaniuk even listed their home phone number. That small town feature was removed as soon as some customers began calling the personal line to ask to open up early or after hours.

Video Wholesalers

• Video stores across Canada used wholesalers such as Video One and Bellevue to order VHS and Beta tapes for their locations. Posters and cardboard standees were also handed out to store owners to promote rental of certain titles. Screening copies of titles were also loaned out to determine if a movie was good enough to order multiple copies.