Jeff Manes: Family man runs Family Video

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Jayme Schopieray rents a video game to Nick Burns, 14, of Lowell, Ind. | Photo provided

Updated: May 9, 2012 10:12AM

Al Czervik (to Judge Smails): “Oh, this is your wife, huh? A lovely lady. Hey, baby, you must’ve been something before electricity.”

— Rodney Dangerfield,
from the film “Caddyshack”

In 1978, Charlie Hoogland was running an appliance warehouse in Springfield, Ill., when he got “stuck” with a large number of movies.

In a stroke of marketing genius, Hoogland decided to rent out the movies, and Family Video was born.

Today, there are more than 735 Family Video stores in 19 states. Jayme Schopieray, 32, manages the one in Lowell. He lives in town with his wife, Jill, and their 2-year-old son, Brayden.

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“I grew up in Big Rapids, Mich.,” Schopieray began. “I moved to Peoria, Ill., for a couple of years. We’ve lived in Lowell for five years.”

Tell me about Big Rapids.

“It’s just north of Grand Rapids. It was a great small town — a lot like Lowell. There are about 8,000 people who live there year-round, but it’s a college town (Ferris State University), so there’s another 10,000 people who live there when school is in session.

“I played basketball in high school; I love sports. My brother was a state champion in cross country. We did a lot of downhill skiing, snowmobiling and sledding.”

College?

“I earned my bachelor’s (at Ferris State) in business administration. It’s a four-year program; I did it in 41/2. I moved to Colorado for six months and worked as a ski-lift operator.

“It was during my first year of college; I didn’t really know what to expect. But, I realized I’d make more money with a degree and returned to Ferris State.”

Hobbies?

“I love watching football; the (Detroit) Lions are my team, and I love Michigan State (University).”

The Detroit Red Wings?

“Oh, yeah. I haven’t been to any games since living in Lowell. I’ve been to Gordie Howe’s restaurant in Michigan.”

How long have you worked for Family Video?

“I’ve worked for the company for seven years. I started off in Peoria, and then my wife got a job up here, so I transferred to Northwest Indiana. I ran the Highland and Hobart stores until this store became available.”

Where does your wife work?

“She’s the head volleyball coach at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer.”

Family Video?

“As a company, we’re doing great. We’ve opened up almost 200 stores in the last two years. Family Video is the largest privately owned movie chain in the nation; we’re not a franchise. Charlie Hoogland owns all of them. He’s a really great guy.

You’re probably a movie buff.

“I love movies, but, because I work here, I don’t get to watch as many I’d like.”

A few of your all-time favorites?

“ ‘Caddyshack,’ ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and ‘The Great Outdoors.’ I also like action movies and well-made ‘who-done-its.’ ”

Have Redbox and Netflix hurt places like Family Video?

“It hasn’t helped us, but it really hasn’t hurt us. You’re always going to have people who go to the grocery store and grab a movie because it’s convenient.

“Redbox doesn’t have the selection we do. You also don’t have that human interaction of having a customer ask you, ‘What do you recommend?’ Throughout the day, I have people ask me if such-and-such movie is good.”

Does Family Video have a bad movie on its racks?

“I’m not going to say a movie is great if it’s not, just so people will rent it.”

How do you determine how many of each movie to order?

“Basically, they come out of our home office. It’s based on the population of your area. There are other factors involved, like how many movies you’ve rented in that genre the month before. They also check out how a movie did at the box office.”

What’s the most copies you received for a particular film?

“Almost 200. We average about 50 to 70 copies for new-release blockbusters.”

Renting movies is really a cheap form of entertainment.

“We have thousands of movies that are $1. We have even more that are two for $1. We also have free kids’ movies.”

Two for a buck for five days. Math isn’t my strong suit, but that’s a dime a day per movie. New releases?

“They’re $2.79 for the night when they first come out and, after about three weeks, you can rent them for five days. New releases come out every Tuesday.”

Do you guys make a killing on the concessions?

“We have them available. It’s not necessarily something we count on. The pop is actually cheaper here than it is in the store down the street. We have fair prices.”

Is there a maximum number of movies a customer can rent at one time?

“No, that guy I attended to just before we started this interview rented 22 movies.”

Video games?

“We continually switch them out, like PlayStation III has taken over PlayStation II.”

Jayme, I have a buddy who quit his job in the mill a few years back to write scripts for science-fiction video games in Seattle. He’s making well over six figures.

“They’re very realistic and graphic. The games are now rated like the movies; where you have to be of a certain age to rent a certain game. A lot of people will come in here and rent a video game for a night to see if they like it before forking out the $60 it costs to purchase one.

How many employees?

“Twelve of us, all from the Lowell area. Becky is the assistant manager; everybody else is part time.”

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Schopieray told me all Family Video stores purchase 20 turkeys for Thanksgiving and 20 hams for Christmas to hand out to area families.

The Lowell Family Video also donates hundreds of dollars to local groups.