For anyone who remembers the excitement of picking a Friday night movie from rows of VHS tapes, a new space in downtown Victoria B.C., is bringing that feeling back. Nostalgia Nook, created by Cat and Shaun Peterson, invites visitors to step into the 1980s and ’90s at the Bay Centre, where retro games, old-school movies and familiar living room comforts offer a window into the past. The idea started at home, where the couple built their own nostalgic retreat. But after friends and visitors began asking to experience it for themselves, they started looking for a way to open it up to a wider audience. After about a year and a half of planning, they decided to turn their passion project into their first business. “We tried to create, in a sense, a little time capsule that you can experience,” Shaun said. The result is part hangout, part retail space and part trip down memory lane. Visitors can settle into a retro living room, play Nintendo, watch a movie on a VCR connected to a vintage television or flip through a collection of records. The space is free to visit, making it an easy stop for anyone curious about the decades before streaming and on-demand entertainment. For Angel, who visited with her daughter Brielle, the experience brought back memories of growing up surrounded by the sights and sounds of that era. “It brings me right back to my childhood,” Angel said. “I was raised on this stuff.” For the Petersons, the experience goes beyond recreating a vintage aesthetic. They have also built a fully functioning VHS rental section, complete with free memberships and the option to rent a VCR and the adaptors needed to connect it to a television. Cat Peterson said they recently learned Nostalgia Nook is the only membership-based VHS rental store in Canada. The goal, Shaun said, was to recreate the feeling of a classic movie rental night, when choosing a film was part of the fun. “We wanted to have a little bit of a recreation of a Blockbuster night,” he said. Alongside the experience itself, the shop sells merchandise inspired by the 1980s and ’90s, giving visitors the chance to take a piece of that nostalgia home. But it is the emotional connection that has made the venture especially meaningful for the couple. “Just giving people a place to come in and either remember better memories from childhood or people they may have lost,” he said. “We’ve had people come in and they have just started crying in the best way.” For Cat, seeing visitors arrive looking downcast and leave smiling has become one of the most rewarding parts of running the business. In a world where entertainment is often just a click away, Nostalgia Nook offers something a little different: a chance to slow down, revisit familiar comforts and share those memories with another generation.
