What's one of the first things visitors see when they take the I-95 off ramp and arrive in Springfield? MVC "Late Night Video" - a porn joint. Nice, huh? Really dresses up the community.
Now, silly me, I had expected that when the Internet came of age, that seedy brick and mortar porn stores like this would disappear. But no - this Loser Magnet has been here for more than a decade, crapping up Springfield. I dearly wish it would simply disappear.
What's really annoying is that when the building was first opened c. 1990 it was a WIZ - a record store. As we used to make the drive over the nearby bridge, my middle daughter, when she was four or so, would say, "I know how to spell 'Wiz': W-I-Z." Cute! But then, like other record and CD stores, the WIZ went out of business and somehow the bright lights in the Springfield Chamber of Commerce allowed in this blight. So if Internet streaming puts mainstream record stores out of business, why isn't it having that effect on places like MVC? It isn't fair!
I once saw a young man in a grocery store wearing one of their tee-shirts. It had "I like to stay up at night" emblazoned across it. I wanted to pull him aside and say, "Why not simply have the word LOSER emblazoned across your chest? Same thing."
What effect does MVC have on the surrounding area? Well, check out the semi-crumbling five story building shown above, which is next to MVC. Empty. There hasn't been a business here for years. There used to be firms here, legitimate ones: an insurance agency, a doctor's or dentist's office (I forget which), even a reclaimed clothing store. Gone. Why? If you ran a business, would you want to have your place of business next to a porn shop? Of course you wouldn't.
And that building visible across the street? A hotel. I am astonished that anyone would put a hotel across the street from an MVC. Can you imagine checking in your family from someplace across the country and seeing that there? "Oh, yeah - nice hotel. We were across the street from a place that sold porn."
I am normally a pro-business, capitalist kind of guy, but I have to write it: here's hoping that MVC goes out of business! Soon!
You got your wish as of 2020. That MVC is now closed. Leaving that whole block shuddered and boarded up. The garage across the street is boarded up. The row of stores is also run down and partially collapsed. They've refurbished the whole area except that corner that now has a bunch of nasty and run down buildings.
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