Once upon a time, we could go to a near-by video rental store and pick up a movie or three to watch for the evening. To many, it was a weekend tradition. Video rental got so big that many grocery stores had a rental selection you could choose from, too. Although the video rental store is almost an ancient notion, being replaced by online streaming services and pop-up Redbox locations, here is a list of video stores that we had in Yakima that I remember. Make sure you add to the list if I left any out.

  • Blockbuster Video

    Of course we have to get the big ones out of the way first. I always felt a little intimidated when I went there because it felt so corporate compared to other video stores we had in town, but they had a nice selection of stuff.

  • Hollywood Video

    Another corporate video store, like Blockbuster, but seemed to have a better, more chill vibe. I didn't get a chance to visit Hollywood Video as often, but I loved going there when I could.

  • Crazy Mike's

    This was, by far and away, my favorite video store. They had everything from new releases and video games to large selections of more unique titles like horror, anime, Chinese action films and more. It was the type of video store you'd go to because they had older videos others didn't.

  • Video Update

    Video Update was within proximity of Crazy Mike's, Blockbuster and the little rental selection inside Safeway but they had one thing the others didn't... an adult film selection. I actually used to work here for a couple of years. Free movie and video game rentals is a great fringe benefit.

  • Videotronics

    I heard about this place more than I could visit as it was too far for me. They did have something many stores didn't have which was the ability to rent an expensive game system called the Neo-Geo which was out of many people's price range. Instead of buying one, you could rent one here.

  • Ric Webb's Video City

    This is purely for the ol' school folk of Yakima. It was, to the best of my memory, the first video store in Yakima. It's the first one I knew of. It was back in the day when video tapes weren't made for sale so to rent a video you'd need to write a deposit for the full price of the video. This was back when, for instance, if you wanted to buy Star Wars on VHS, it would cost you around $100.

  • Curtis Mathis

    At least I'm pretty sure that was the name of it. It was located a few doors down from Ric Webb's Video City at the Nob Hill Plaza, but I want to say they also sold TVs there. Maybe they had a rent-to-own program, I'm not sure. I do remember they had a small rental selection. Not as many as Ric Webb's, but not bad.

  • Most Grocery Stores

    Gotta give a shout-out to the grocery stores that would carry rentals, too. Safeway, Albertsons, Top Foods (when they were open) and several others had movies and games for rent, too. Very handy.

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