If you grew up in MoCo, Northern Virginia, or the Baltimore area in the 80s or early 90s, the Erol’s logo was likely a fixture in your life. Founded by Erol Onaran, a Turkish immigrant who arrived in the U.S. with just $16 in his pocket, the company did more than rent movies. It helped shape how the DC Metro area accessed technology.
Before Blockbuster became a national powerhouse, Erol’s was one of the most dominant video chains on the East Coast. What began as a TV repair shop in the 1960s evolved into a video rental business around 1980. At its peak, Erol’s grew to roughly 250 locations and became the largest privately owned video chain in America. While competitors focused on Hollywood blockbusters, Erol’s built a reputation for its deep catalog, carrying everything from foreign films to hard-to-find titles and local documentaries. In 1990, Onaran sold the company to Blockbuster for $40 million, a deal that helped cement Blockbuster’s dominance in the region.
The most fascinating chapter of the Erol’s story came after the movie era. The family retained its repair shops and spotted a new opportunity with the rise of the World Wide Web. In 1995, Erol’s Internet launched with a then-radical unlimited access model. At a time when AOL and others charged by the hour, Erol’s offered unlimited internet for a flat $20 a month, allowing users to stay online without watching the clock. The model helped accelerate the industry’s shift away from hourly billing. The service grew rapidly and, in 1998, the internet division was sold to RCN for $83.5 million, more than double what the video stores had sold for.
For a generation of locals, Erol’s marked two major milestones: their first movie rental and their first email address. Erol Onaran passed away in 2005, and the last remaining repair shop, a modest storefront in Springfield, Virginia, closed a few years later. While the physical locations are gone, the Erol’s name remains a deeply nostalgic IYKYK badge of honor for anyone who remembers rewinding VHS tapes and the sound of a dial-up modem connecting.
Based on the text on an old Erol’s Video Club card (year unknown), these are the locations listed for that time:
Virginia
- Alexandria
- Annandale
- Arlington
- Burke
- E. Fairfax
- Fairfax City
- Fair City Mall
- Falls Church
- Fredericksburg
- Manassas
- N. Springfield
- Sterling
- Tyson’s Corner
- W. Springfield
- Woodbridge
Maryland
- Beltsville
- Camp Springs
- District Heights
- Ft. Washington
- Gaithersburg
- Rockville
- S. Rockville
- Wheaton
Baltimore Area
- Overlea
- Owings Mills
- Security Square
- Timonium
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