Light shines again at Lion Video

Connie Crowther

For the past few months, the welcoming neon OPEN light in the window of Lion Video on Ponce de Leon Boulevard in the North Gables has been dark. Until just a few weeks ago, brown paper covered the windows. But this story had a happy ending. Read on.

Those of us who had grown to love this unique Coral Gables independent video store (they had 17,000 customer names in their computer) during its first 10 years of operation were bereft. Where did they go? What happened? Where were we going to ever again find the fabulous selection of independent, rare and foreign films that had been available to us at Lion Video? There were even tears shed on several occasions when Lion Video groupies encountered people who used to work there.

We all missed Lion Video and wanted it back. Lion Video received more than 1,200 e-mails in the few weeks after the CLOSED sign was posted.

Lion Video was regularly named the "Best Video Store in Miami" in community and media polls. Lion Video also had some celebrity clients. Sylvester Stallone used to send his housekeeper over every week to rent an armload of videos.

What happened is that Isaac Santos, one of the original owners and a brilliant film buff, died in January. Then the inventory was confiscated because of some financial issues.

Enter Damian Hurtado, friend and employee, who vowed to continue Isaac's legacy at Lion Video. He bought the 22,000 foreign, rare and out-of-print films and DVDs in Lion Video's inventory.

The happy news is that on July 1, the new Lion Video opened again in the same location, 1524 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, after Hurtado purchased the inventory and did a major cleanup and painted the store.

Hurtado, who knew Santos long before Santos and Leo Acebo founded Lion Video in 1993, worked with the landlord to lease the same space for the same rent and mobilized a team of supporters, members and friends to "continue Isaac's legacy at Lion Video."

But first Hurtado had to leap several huge hurdles to continue the Lion Video tradition. After Santos' unexpected death, the store inventory was confiscated. As customers watched the videos, DVDs and store furniture being loaded onto trucks, they cried over the loss of their favorite video store. One longtime customer even offered to write a check on the spot to settle the issue that had resulted in the confiscation.

Finally, Hurtado raised enough money to buy the inventory. After that, he obtained a new lease with the landlord. Legions of friends and professionals lent assistance to enable the New Lion Video to be ready to open July 1.

Lion Video is the only video store I know where patrons can search not only by title, but also by director and actors. The inventory includes foreign films, American movie classics, the best of the new video and DVD releases, and many eclectic categories. The foreign film videos and DVDs are organized by country and director. Classic dramas, comedies, mysteries and musicals are set aside into these categories, and popular new releases were prominently displayed on two walls. There's a whole wall of indie films.

The lights are brighter than ever now, the place tidier and more accessible than at any other time in recent memory. The staff are helpful and knowledgeable and the films are easy to find. The place is a film-lovers dream.

Frequently, you can rent a video of a film that is scheduled to open soon in New York or London -- usually long before it hits Miami cinemas, if ever. Some of the films that play well in the international scene never show in Miami.

Lion Video also caters to customers' requests. If someone wants a video the store doesn't carry, Hurtado will go on the Internet or through distributors to see if he can locate it. The Really Big Guys usually don't offer this kind of customer service.

Last year, when I was writing a story about the film industry in the Bahamas, Santos accepted the challenge for assistance and rounded up nearly 20 films that had been made in those islands.

Santos hired only film students or individuals who were very knowledgeable about the videos and DVDs and could truly assist customers with queries and information. He used to spend several hours of every day searching film sites on the Internet, locating rare or difficult-to-locate films for the Lion Video clientele. Now acquiring new videos and DVDs is Hurtado's responsibility.

Hurtado told me, "We almost lost Lion Video and its entire inventory. But thanks to the help of a number of people who rallied around and helped, everything turned out well."

Today Lion Video has the same inventory, the same procedures and the same film and DVD display categories as the previous Lion Video.

Stories in the Coral Gables Gazette and other newspapers have spread the word that the light is back on in the Lion Video window. Several thousand people have come rushing back. And new people have found their way there, also as a result of the stories.

Now Hurtado's biggest challenge is letting everyone who used to come there know that Lion Video is back, offering the same inventory and high level of service that was Isaac Santos' trademark.