For the most part, the whole Cleveland provinciality thing can be irksome. Who's better - the east side or the west side? Maybe a B-list Stephen Sondheim musical would clear it all up - and later - when it was made into a movie, we could all skip over to Lakewood to the coolest video store around with the best "B" selection movies. There you'd meet B-Ware Video founders Eddie and Natalie Wille, who started their rental shop in 1997. Since then, the couple has more than tripled their collection and succeeded in filling a cult niche for a huge geographical region.

Kristin Bly: Your store doesn't seem to follow the east-side/west-side paradigm that too often divides Cleveland. I mean, how far away do some of your regulars live?

Natalie Wille: Elyria, Mentor, Akron. There's some that live in Dayton that come in. People drive far. I wouldn't drive that far. Sometimes we get rentals returned in the mail.

Eddie Wille: Yeah, we'll rent something out and a few days later we'll get a package in the mail, and it's our movie. You have to be flattered to see people drive an hour and a half to visit your store and rent some movies.

KB: Were the two of you 'B' buffs before you started the store?

EW: Oh Yeah! I always loved the old campy horror films. For me, those seeds were planted during the days of Super Host and The Ghoul.

NW: I'm more into the art house eclectic films - not so much the schlock.

KB: Given your passion for that which is NOT mainstream, do you still occasionally get out and see a flick at the cinema?

NW: (laughs) Not anymore... [Natalie Gestures toward their two-year-old son, Angus, who's playful presence in the store defines him as a not-so-silent third partner]

EW: We thought about changing our name to "B-Ware Day Care," actually, the last couple of years we've been going to the drive-in a lot as a family. But I've never been a big fan of mainstream movies anyway, so I really don't feel like I'm missing much.

KB: Are there titles that you know should be in your collection, but that you can't seem to find?

NW: Killdozer - a movie about a killer bulldozer.

KB: Have you ever had requests for Killdozer?

EW: Yeah, customers are always turning us on to great films. Since we started the store, I think we've really opened the door for some cool, unusual stuff - and vice versa - having the store means that our customers are always suggesting new things for us.

KB: With the uniqueness of your offerings, who are your real competitors?

NW: There are all the chain stores, York Video, Blockbuster, Hollywood, etc. Mainstream stores are still our competitors, but not to the same degree if we were a mainstream independent shop.

At B-Ware, don't be scared-off by the store name. Cleveland Magazine put the "B" in BEST when they gave B-Ware Video the venerable 'Best Video Store' title for 2003. Still, Natalie laments the lack of parking spaces when she has to drag herself to Hollywood Video to rent Air Bud for their son. There's only so many times a day she can really sit through Angus's in-house favorite, On Any Sunday - a dirt bike documentary hosted by quintessential tough-guy, Steve Mc Queen?. Check out B-Ware's goods at 13367 Madison Avenue in Lakewood or call 216-521-2210

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