Before the era of 'Netflix and Chill', it was all about Global Video, a much-loved Glasgow-based chain of film rental stores.

Global was the old school video shop you'd hit up on a Friday night, while picking up a poke of chips for your tea as a weekend treat. It's where your old man went while dropping into Haddows for a few cans of K cider and a Bourneville before making his way home with the latest Hollywood flick.

And it seemed every Global store was full of character. There was the dodgy plastic carpet smell, the NEW ARRIVALS shelves - you needed to get there fast or you'd miss out.

Then there were the iconic blue cases with yellow writing on them - the ones you'd get when you handed over the empty carton, the video emblazoned with a big REWIND TAPE sticker to remind you before your return journey.

For kids, it really was a place of majesty - not least when you got to a certain age, and could appreciate a sneaky glance at the 'erotic thriller' section that the 'rents would try and shield your eyes from (full of bizarre titles like The Last Seduction or Body Heat 4).

There was also the horror section with the likes of Hellraiser or The Blair Witch Project, films that your parents knew you wouldn't sleep a wink after - and section that some of us wouldn't go near at all, to avoid being scared by the It video cover.

Those unwritten rules meant a plethora of "put that back" cries, as kids were told off for chancing their arm with a film that was way above their age bracket. We've all been there, having to settle on a random comedy to go with the NES, SNES or Sega Mega Drive game (who remembers Track and Field anyone?), and spending our pocket money on the videos we didn't really want.

Sign up to Glasgow Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox

Global Video really was Glasgow's real life version of Netflix in the pre-Blockbuster and internet days - you know, when 'The Net' was just a reference to the (pretty decent) 1995 American thriller starring Sandra Bullock.

From its humble beginnings in the city in 1985, the video rental store expanded to across Scotland and the north of England, employing 1,300 staff at 260 outlets by the mid 1990s.

And for over a decade, the stores were a familiar and much-loved sight across Greater Glasgow, from Maryhill to Govan, Pollokshaws to Coatbridge, Govanhill to Tollcross and Castlemilk to Partick.

Sadly, with video piracy afoot, as well shops selling cheap DVDs and the increasing popularity of video-on-demand by cable and satellite broadcasters, Global Video's days were numbered and the chain shut in the mid 2000s, having limped on for some time under the name Global DVD.

That spelled the end of the familiar yellow and red sign on many a Glasgow street, consigning Global Video to our collective nostalgia - but isn't it funny how those memories take all of us, of a certain age, right back to those good old days?

Article first published on September 12, 2019.