Wikipedia

Le SuperClub Vidéotron

Le SuperClub Vidéotron Ltée, which includes the Jumbo Video and Microplay chains, was a Canadian brand of franchised video stores. It was owned by Quebecor Media, with operations concentrated in Quebec. It was the largest video store chain operator in Canada, maintaining corporate-owned stores until 2018. As of 2023, the brand franchised a total of 14 stores: two SuperClub,[1] two Jumbo Video and ten Microplay stores.

Vidéotron Le superclub
IndustryVideo rental
Founded1989; 37 years ago (1989)
Defunct2024 (2024)
HeadquartersSt. Leonard, Quebec, Canada
Area served
Quebec
ParentVidéotron

History

edit

In 2004, SuperClub took over the Jumbo Video and Microplay franchises. Jumbo Video operates 17 video rental locations nationwide, while Microplay focuses primarily on video games, but also rents and sells movies. The Microplay name has recently appeared on a number of in-store boutiques at SuperClub locations throughout Quebec. In 2006, most Rogers Video stores in Quebec were closed or converted to Le SuperClub Vidéotron. There are currently 69 Microplay locations and the vast majority of them are co-located with SuperClub locations in Quebec.

As of August 2005, the chain operated more than 185 locations through Quebec under the SuperClub brand. They also have locations in Edmundston, New Brunswick, and Rockland, Ontario. They had also opened locations in Moncton and Fredericton. Those stores were eventually bought out by Rogers and converted into Rogers Video stores.

Their location in Square One Shopping Centre was recently closed down along with many other stores, including Cavendish Mall in Côte Saint-Luc as well as Kirkland, Quebec, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Beaconsfield, Quebec as well as in Montreal's Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough. They also closed their location in Hawkesbury, Ontario.

Their head office was located in the city of Montreal's Saint-Léonard borough.

Subsidiaries

edit

Microplay

edit

Microplay is a video game retailer specializing in new and used video game software.[2] Founder Bill Pearce originally established a shop on Bank Street, Ottawa named Gamer Video in 1981, which rented Atari and Intellivision games; it was one of the first Canadian businesses to rent video game cartridges. Gamer Video was destroyed in a fire in 1983. In 1986, Pearce and childhood friend Mason Copeland opened Microplay in Ottawa. By April 1989, the store had two locations in Ottawa and one in Toronto, and acted as a supplier to 25 Canadian video game stores.[3] To avoid the high markups charged by Canadian video game distributors, Pearce and Copeland made weekly trips to New York City to buy cartridges for the wholesalers and distributors they supplied.[4]

Microplay began franchising in June 1993, expanding to 28 stores, and became regarded as Canada's leading video game specialty chain.[5] Microplay's first United States location opened in Bradenton, Florida in July 1994,[6] and its first Great Britain location opened on Stratford Road in Shirley in November 1994; the Shirley location was highly successful, beating the four-month sales target of the American and Canadian locations in four weeks.[7] By January 1995, Microplay was operating 119 franchisees, with 19 in the United States, predominantly in the East Coast.[2]

Programs offered by Microplay include free rentals for students with A grades, computerized memos with parental limits on the type and number of children's rentals, free video game consoles for hospitals and in-patient medical centers, and monthly video game tournaments.[8] Microplay attributed its success in the mid-90s to an apparent lack of competition, the popularity of video games, and the retailer's customer-friendly concept.[2] New franchise owners invested an average of US$140,000 to outfit and stock their stores, along with a US$29,500 franchise fee;[9] in Great Britain, each store cost between £40,000-60,000 to outfit and stock depending on the location.[10]

In September 1995, Minneapolis-based Jumpin' Jax Corp., an operator of children's indoor entertainment centres, expressed interest in acquiring Microplay.[11] On January 4, 1996, Thornhill, Ontario-based Tevana Traders Corp. signed a letter of intent to purchase Microplay for an undisclosed amount, planning to change its name to Microplay Capital Corp. following the acquisition.[12] The retailer suffered poor management from a number of owners, and it was reduced to 85 locations by 2000.[13] The company was acquired by Toronto-based game distributor Hip Interactive Corp. in December 1999 as part of a string of purchases in the gaming retail industry. On October 19, 2000, Microplay announced a relocation of its head office to the United States and an expansion of 22 stores, primarily in Quebec and North Carolina.[14] By 2002, the retailer's ownership had shifted to Jumbo Entertainment,[15] which in turn was sold to Québecor Média's Le SuperClub Vidéotron in 2004.[16]

Locations

edit

As of December 2022, Le SuperClub Vidéotron listed the following locations as movie rental stores:

  • Aylmer
  • Boucherville
  • Buckingham
  • Cap-de-la-Madeleine
  • Charlesbourg
  • Fabreville
  • Gréber ‡
  • Greenfield Park
  • Île-Perrot
  • Jonquière
  • L'Assomption
  • Lachine
  • Lafontaine
  • La Plaine
  • Lavaltrie
  • Mascouche
  • Mont-Laurier †
  • Pointe-aux-Trembles
  • Roland-Therrien
  • Saint-Antoine
  • Saint-Constant
  • Saint-Eustache
  • Saint-Hubert ‡
  • Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
  • Saint-Lin †
  • Saint-Luc
  • Saint-Nicolas
  • Saint-Romuald
  • Victoriaville

† indicates current Le Superclub Vidéotron locations. Both are affiliated with Club Vidéo Flash.
‡ indicates former Le Superclub Vidéotron locations affiliated with Club Vidéo Flash.

Logos

edit

References

edit
  1. ↑ Provost, Anne-Marie (January 7, 2023). "«Des tonnes de copies» pour les amoureux de la cassette". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Shopes, Richard (January 20, 1995). "New kind of store a top scorer". The Press of Atlantic City. Atlantic City, New Jersey. pp. E-1, E-5. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Dupuis, Michel (April 2, 1989). "More stores renting video games". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 25. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Trimble, Andrew (December 6, 1994). "It's all in the game". The Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Microplay heaven for video fans". Brantford Expositor. December 11, 1993. p. 14. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Microplay Video Games Opens In Cortez Plaza". The Bradenton Herald. July 28, 1994. p. 7. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Local video store beats Americans". Solihull Times. Solihull, West Midlands. January 13, 1995. p. 4. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "New video game outlet". The Tampa Tribune. Tampa, Florida. January 7, 1995. p. 6. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Corporate Information: Concept & Overview". Microplay. Archived from the original on January 20, 1998. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  10. ↑ Murray, Iain (January 30, 1995). "Cashing in on playing the game". Daily Express. London. p. 44. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Report on business". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario. September 22, 1995. p. B13. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Evans, Mark (January 5, 1996). "Tevana to buy Microplay firms". p. 10. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Hanson, Kim (June 2, 2000). "Hip Interactive targets growing gaming market". National Post. Toronto, Ontario. p. C7. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Hanson, Kim (October 20, 2000). "Microplay expanding south of the border". National Post. Toronto, Ontario. p. C5. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Fraser, Don (October 28, 2002). "Jumbo is king of the video jungle". St. Catharines Standard. St. Catharines, Ontario. p. B1. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ McNeil, Mark (May 22, 2004). "Quebec chain buys Jumbo video stores". The Hamilton Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario. p. A20. Retrieved April 22, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Le_SuperClub_Vidéotron&oldid=1359715623"