Howard Hughes, a legendary filmmaker, also acts as the name for a little rental store in downtown Moscow — a shop that has been on the Palouse for about 30 years.
The business faces an ownership transition now. An investor event is set for 6 p.m. Friday in the Breakfast Club. The gathering is to help raise funds for Howard Hughes Video to continue as a business, said Christen Atwood, a board of directors’ member of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re trying to raise a total of $60,000 right now,” Atwood said. “Our ultimate goal is to be able to make everybody more aware, basically.”
The business is worth $48,000 alone, Atwood said, but the board of directors wants to give the rental store employees raises that are more fitting to their knowledge and experience. She said the remaining funds would be used for updates and unexpected mishaps.
“We’re almost half way (to our goal),” Atwood said.
Howard Hughes went through an ownership transition last year between two couples. Now the board of directors wants it to be entirely community owned, Atwood said. She said it can be supported by many owners like the Moscow Food Co-op.
“In this time of political craziness, it’s a great way to be involved with your community,” Atwood said. “To be able to put that aside and come together for, you know, this awesome movie store that we want to keep around.”
Hastings, Movie Gallery and Block Buster have all come through Moscow and then gone out of business, Atwood said, but Howard Hughes has remained. She said online video streaming competitors do not give people the same experience like a video rental store.
“I love wandering around in there and just looking at different movies,” Atwood said. “There’s a give and take because I, myself, have a Hulu and Netflix, but there are times … I want to watch and take them home.”
It’s not about utilitarian logic, but the holistic tangibility of holding that DVD, Atwood said. Instead of Howard Hughes rental being considered a competitor to online streaming, it should be an experience, she said.
“To make it more exciting, we’ll have little events and, you know, try to also, like, promote it to the youth,” Atwood said. “At some point, you know, people may just want to say, ‘We don’t want any more DVDs,’ but I don’t think that’s going to be the case for everybody. I really don’t think I would do this if I felt like it was pointless. I’m a busy woman.”
There will be live entertainment, door prizes, with food from Gambino’s, Maialina and La Casa Lopez, Atwood said. Beverages will be coming from Moscow Ale House, Rants & Rave’s Brewery and Colter’s Creeks Winery.
Atwood said she has worked with a handful of these local restaurants and all these owners said “yes” without hesitation to support this event.
“It’s our community,” she said. “We know and love each other.”
Catherine Keenan can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Ckeeneye