In an era of algorithm fatigue, two collectors are betting on the enduring appeal of the video store. The Sleepover Trading Company, a retro-focused media collective founded by Guido Sanchez and Rob Ribar, recently opened its first permanent storefront inside the Community Theatre in Catskill. Expect VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray for sale or trade, plus comics, vintage toys, and collectibles—with rentals from their newly acquired Video Visions archive coming soon.
From Collectors to Curators
Catskill’s Community Theatre, originally built in the 1920s, recently reopened after being closed to the public since 2020. Sanchez and Ribar first visited it in 2016 while traveling from New York City. “The experience of being in that theater was so striking,” Sanchez says. “We were drawn to Catskill in part because of the combination of Kirwan’s being a game store right next door to this historic movie palace. It was preserved so well that we fell in love with it.” The pair ended up moving to Catskill the next year.
Both are longtime collectors—Sanchez with comics and toys, Ribar with VHS and records. They shared a passion for nostalgia culture and liked the idea of reviving the video store experience they grew up with. “We were thinking, what was the perfect childhood sleepover?” asks Ribar. “It would have started with renting a movie from the video store, sharing comics with your friends, trading cards, maybe putting on some music, playing video games, toys, all that.”
So, in October 2023, they founded Sleepover to bring together their elements. Sanchez and Ribar have built it out through pop-up events across the Hudson Valley, where they sell hard-to-find VHS tapes, DVDs, vintage comics, and retro toys. They have also presented more than 50 screenings across the region at venues like Catskill’s Avalon Lounge, Hudson’s Story Screen Cinema (whose founder, Mike Burdge, writes our monthly movie round-ups), and the Rosendale Theatre. Their programming highlights films from the 1970s through the early 2000s, the kinds of titles that once filled video store shelves.
With the opening of their storefront inside Catskill’s Community Theatre, Sleepover is establishing a permanent retail shop for movies, comics, and collectibles, while also partnering with the theater to launch regular screenings—alongside continuing their roving events at other venues.
The preshows at their screenings draw from the duo’s personal archive of more than 2,000 tapes recorded off TV. They’ve digitized trailers, commercials, and themed clip reels to offer nostalgic glimpses into the past. “For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we added three custom commercial breaks that mimicked the kinds from 1990,” Ribar says. “For Child’s Play, we actually used the original commercials that it aired with on WPIX Channel 11.”
What’s on the Shelves
Sleepover’s storefront in the Community Theatre opened September 12, just a week after the theater itself. It carries VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray for sale and trade, along with vintage toys, collectibles, original movie posters, pulp magazines, and comics. Sanchez’s personal collection of 35,000 comics provides 6,000 duplicates to stock the shop.
“We have ’80s and ’90s toys—He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Real Ghostbusters, GI Joe, wrestling figures—alongside new toys,” Sanchez says. The shop also carries sealed vintage trading card packs and young adult and horror books, including Goosebumps, Christopher Pike books, and movie magazines.
They recently acquired their first LaserDiscs and plan to add retro video games, vinyl and cassette soundtracks, and eventually VCRs, CRT TVs, and hardware rentals. “The number one question people ask is if we’ll rent hardware,” Ribar says. “We’ve been stockpiling and cleaning VCRs so we can roll that out.”
The storefront, always part of the theater building, previously housed unrelated businesses like a paint shop and a hairdresser. Now it connects directly to the theater, sharing an open wall with the concession stand. Theater staff can ring up store purchases. “We’re able to be open five afternoons and nights a week right now, which is fantastic,” Sanchez says.
The Video Visions Collection
The store is also now the new home of the Video Visions collection. Founded in 1984 in Chatham by Steve Campbell, Video Visions began as a rental store with 200 tapes. Over time, it amassed an archive of more than 20,000 titles—half on VHS and half on DVD. (Unlike many stores, Campbell kept both formats instead of replacing VHS.)
Video Visions closed in 2020. After Campbell’s passing in 2024, Sanchez and Ribar acquired the archive in August 2025. “He preserved everything really well,” Ribar says. “The store was a time capsule.”
Campbell’s original inventory ran on Windows 95, so there was no simple way to transfer the files into a complete inventory. Sanchez and Ribar are now rebuilding the catalog tape by tape. “We ended up moving 500 boxes of movies,” says Sanchez. “And that’s not an exaggeration. In the store, we’ve curated a wall of movies to give people a feel for what’s in the collection. With whatever spare time we have, we’re at our storage unit cataloging the rest.”
Select titles will be available for rental later in 2025, with the full collection to follow. Sleepover plans a membership model to eliminate late fees. “We’ve already heard from some people that they plan on traveling, and we don’t want anyone to feel like they need to return things at a certain time,” says Ribar.
For a monthly fee, members will be able to rent a set number of movies, with different tiers offering perks. They’ll also be able to browse titles online and request selections to be pulled from storage.
Coming Attractions
Sleepover will continue screenings across the Hudson Valley while expanding in Catskill. Next up, they’re teaming with Story Screen for a screening of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 on October 4.
The launch of regular screenings at the Community Theatre kicks off on October 30, with a showing of the modern cult favorite V/H/S (2012), featuring an exclusive video introduction from co-director Joe Swanberg and a raffle of retro prizes. On Halloween night, October 31, the theater goes all-out with three feature presentations: Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) with a curated Halloween clipshow at 6pm, followed by Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento’s cult shocker Demons (1985) at 9pm, complete with a costume contest and prizes.
Other plans include monthly screenings at Story Screen and the Community Theatre, in-store tie-in events, participation in Catskill’s First Fridays, and a November art exhibit with local artists creating imagined VHS box art for movie sequels they wish existed.
“I had a couple of people who owned former video stores come in during our preview days, and they were just reminiscing about this being a great hub,” says Ribar. “And that’s what Steve Campbell, who started Video Visions, always said he wanted—to create a video library. There are so many things in the Video Visions collection that aren’t streaming, and we’re excited to get those out into the world for people to access.”
