SEATTLE — Scarecrow Video, one of the only video stores in the world and located in Seattle, will remain open for at least the next two years after being on the brink of closure.
The community helped raise more than $600,000 to save it.
"A movie Mecca,” said Kate Barr, executive director of Scarecrow Video. “This is the cathedral they come to in order to find literally whatever they want from all over the world."
Movie lover's prayers have been answered after a summer of uncertainty for Scarecrow Video, which was dealing with declining sales due to the rise in streaming and increasing costs to do business.
“June was very scary because that was us at the edge of the cliff," said Barr.
Now the beloved store featuring nearly 150,000 titles will remain open for at least the next two years.
"This isn't meant to sit in a basement and gather dust,” said Barr. “This is meant to be interactive with the community."
It's a community that answered the S.O.S sent out by Barr and her staff, with supporters coming in more often and donating more than $600,000 to help pay for rent and payroll.
"Our rental revenue and our sales revenue are now up by 60% from where they were last year. And what that says to us is people are coming in and using this collection," said Barr.
Matthew Morris rents 10 videos a week.
"As far as I know now there's one video store," he said.
It's a store that provides movies you can't find on the internet.
"Films that you can't get anywhere else,” said Morris. “That you can't get on streaming services just because they don't carry them."
It's a sentiment echoed on the walls of Scarecrow Video.
"Asking people why they think physical media is important, why they think scarecrow is important," said Barr.
Signs of a community that will continue fighting for this store.
"The outpouring of love and support, it just fuels us,” said Barr. “It's not just us that's fighting for this. It's all of these people who are doing their bit to fight for us as well."
The overall goal for Scarecrow the S.O.S campaign is to raise $1.8 million to help keep it open for much longer than two years.
On Oct. 19 the store is celebrating the 14th International Videostore Day to celebrate physical media.