Le SuperClub Vidéotron Ltée, which includes the Jumbo Video and Microplay chains, was a Canadian brand of franchised video stores. It was owned by

Quebecor Media Quebecor Media Inc. is a Canadian media conglomerate that owns a wide array of media outlets, as well as an internet service provider. History In 1983 Quebecor purchased the Winnipeg Sun newspaper, which had been independently run. The newspa ...

, with operations concentrated in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. It was the largest video store chain operator in Canada, maintaining corporate-owned stores until 2018. , the brand franchised a total of 14 stores: two SuperClub, two Jumbo Video and ten Microplay stores.

History

In 2004, SuperClub took over the Jumbo Video and Microplay franchises. Jumbo Video operates 17 video rental locations nationwide, while Microplay focuses primarily on

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s, but also rents and sells movies. The Microplay name has recently appeared on a number of in-store boutiques at SuperClub locations throughout Quebec. In 2006, most Rogers Video stores in

were closed or converted to Le SuperClub Vidéotron. There are currently 69 Microplay locations and the vast majority of them are co-located with SuperClub locations in Quebec. As of August 2005, the chain operated more than 185 locations through Quebec under the SuperClub brand. They also have locations in

Edmundston Edmundston () is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. Established in 1850, it had a population of 16,437 as of 2021. On January 1, 2023, Edmundston amalgamated with the village of Rivière-Verte, New Brunswick, Rivière-Verte and ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, and Rockland, Ontario. They had also opened locations in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

and

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

. Those stores were eventually bought out by Rogers and converted into Rogers Video stores. Their location in

Square One Shopping Centre Square One Shopping Centre, or simply Square One, is a Canadian shopping mall located in Mississauga, Ontario. It is the largest shopping centre in Ontario and the second largest shopping centre in Canada, after West Edmonton Mall. It has over ...

was recently closed down along with many other stores, including Cavendish Mall in

Côte Saint-Luc Côte Saint-Luc () is a city on the Island of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. It is a mostly residential suburb of Montreal, within which it forms an enclave. The city is primarily English-speaking, with a large Jewish community. Geography Côte S ...

as well as

Kirkland, Quebec Kirkland is an Greater Montreal, on-island suburb on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is named after Charles-Aimé Kirkland, a Quebec provincial politician. It was incorporated as a town in 1961. Kirkland is primarily a ...

Dollard-des-Ormeaux Dollard-des-Ormeaux (; commonly referred to as D.D.O. or simply Dollard) is a city and a predominantly English-speaking suburb of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the most populous suburb on the Island of Montreal. The town was na ...

Beaconsfield, Quebec Beaconsfield is a suburb on the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the Greater Montreal region locally referred to as the West Island. It is a residential community located on the north shore of Lake Saint-Louis, Lac Saint-Louis, bordere ...

as well as in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Pierrefonds-Roxboro Pierrefonds-Roxboro () is a borough of the city of Montreal. It was created January 1, 2006, following the demerger of parts of the city. Geography It is composed of the former municipalities of Pierrefonds and Roxboro, spanning the northern ...

borough. They also closed their location in Hawkesbury, Ontario. Their head office was located in the city of

's Saint-Léonard

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Subsidiaries

Microplay

Microplay founder Bill Pearce originally established a shop on Bank Street named Gamer Video in 1981, which rented

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

and

Intellivision The Intellivision (a portmanteau of intelligent television) is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. It distinguished itself from competitors with more realistic sports and strategic games. By 1981, Mattel Electronic ...

games; it was one of the first Canadian businesses to rent video game cartridges. Gamer Video was destroyed in a fire in 1983. In 1986, Pearce and childhood friend Mason Copeland opened Microplay. At that time, Pearce and Copeland made weekly trips to the United States to avoid high markups charged by Canadian video game distributors. The store had two locations in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and one in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

by April 1989, and also acted as a supplier to 25 Canadian video game stores. Microplay began franchising in June 1993, expanding to 28 stores, and became regarded as Canada's leading video game specialty chain. Microplay's first United States location opened in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

in July 1994. By December 1994, Microplay was operating 120 franchisees along with six corporate-owned stores.

Locations

, Le SuperClub Vidéotron listed the following locations as movie rental stores: * Aylmer * Boucherville * Buckingham * Cap-de-la-Madeleine * Charlesbourg * Fabreville * Gréber * Greenfield Park * Île-Perrot * Jonquière * L'Assomption * Lachine * Lafontaine * La Plaine * Lavaltrie * Mascouche * Mont-Laurier * Pointe-aux-Trembles * Roland-Therrien * Saint-Antoine * Saint-Constant * Saint-Eustache * Saint-Hubert * Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu * Saint-Lin * Saint-Luc * Saint-Nicolas * Saint-Romuald * Victoriaville indicates current Le Superclub Vidéotron locations. Both are affiliated with Club Vidéo Flash.
indicates former Le Superclub Vidéotron locations affiliated with Club Vidéo Flash.

Logos

File:Le SuperClub Vidéotron logo.jpg, Logo used from 1989 until 2007 (the Quebecor Media name was added in 2001 after the sale of Vidéotron at Quebecor) File:Le SuperClub Vidéotron 2007 logo.jpg, Logo used from 2007 until 2011 File:Videotron le superclub logo.jpg, Logo used from 2011 until 2017

References

External links

superclub.videotron.com
(archive)
Superclub Vidéotron / Jumbo Video website

Club Vidéo Flash
(features four Le Superclub Vidéotron locations)
Microplay website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Superclub Videotron 1989 establishments in Quebec 2024 disestablishments in Quebec Companies based in Montreal Quebecor Retail companies established in 1989 Retail companies disestablished in 2024 Video rental services of Canada