Scarecrow Video

American nonprofit video rental organization

Scarecrow Video

Front of Scarecrow Video

Founded| 1988; 36 years ago (1988)
Founders| Rebecca and George Latsios, John McCullough
Type| Non-profit
Focus| Video rental, History of film
Headquarters| 5030 Roosevelt Way NE
Location|

* Seattle, Washington, US

Website| www.scarecrow.com

Scarecrow Video is an independently owned, non-profit video sales and rental store in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1988 and is based in the University District neighborhood. The store has a library of over 148,000 titles—among the largest in the United States—and is the last remaining video store in Seattle.

## Collection

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Scarecrow Video interior

Scarecrow offers a wide selection of foreign DVDs, over 5,000 anime movies, and DVD players and other media devices for rental (including PAL, laser disc players and region free DVD players). 14,676 items are still on VHS. 263 items are on laserdisc.

As of 2019, Scarecrow's collection held more than 132,000 titles, about 4,100 of which were added in 2017.[1] Many of them out of print (some require deposits that range from $150 – $1000). Of the top 100 rarest titles (cross-checked against various institutions' lists), 88 of them are not held by the Library of Congress. The total number of "very rare" titles in which Scarecrow may have the only publicly accessible copy is 77 out of 100. There are 129 foreign country sections, featuring about 126 languages aside from English, available in store. The earliest original release date in their collection is from 1891.[2]

In 2004, the store produced The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide, published by Sasquatch Books.[3] Scarecrow conducts free community film screenings in its private screening room, a weekly children's story hour at its store, summer outdoor movie events at Magnuson Park and Silver Screeners movie discussion groups at Seattle-area public libraries and senior centers.[citation needed]

## History

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The store was opened in 1988 on Latona Avenue in the Ravenna neighborhood by Rebecca and George Latsios as well as John McCullough.[4][5] From the beginning the store was known as a welcome, open place for film lovers to find rare titles and be greeted by Latsios's trademark "Hello, my friend."[6] Scarecrow moved in 1993 to a larger, two-story building on Roosevelt Way in the University District with 8,300 square feet (770 m2) of space.[7] Celebrity patrons are rumored to include Quentin Tarantino, Bridget Fonda, Courtney Love, Winona Ryder, Directors John Woo and Bernardo Bertolucci, and legendary film critic Roger Ebert.[7]

In 1995, Latsios was diagnosed with brain cancer and given six months to live. He responded by spending large amounts on rare and unique videos, cementing the store's reputation as a Seattle icon of unique and rare titles, while ignoring other responsibilities such as federal taxes. For these reasons the store was sold in 1999. Latsios returned to his native Greece and died in 2003.[5]

In 2014, the store nearly went out of business due to rising competition from online streaming services. In October, Scarecrow's catalog was donated by owners Carl Tostevin and Mickey McDonough to the Scarecrow Project, a group formed by current and former store employees and long-time patrons, and supported by a successful Kickstarter campaign which raised over $100,000.[8][better source needed] Scarecrow Video reopened under new ownership as a non-profit, preserving "one of the world's largest publicly available libraries of film and television".[9][better source needed] The store began offering DVD-by-mail services across the United States in 2021 for non-rare titles after a successful trial during the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] Scarecrow is the last video rental store still operating in the Seattle city limits after the closures of the 32-year-old Video Isle store in January 2019[11] and Reckless Video in July 2021.[12]

In June 2024, the Scarecrow Project announced another fundraising drive to allow the store to sign a new lease to remain its University District location. The store estimated that it needed $1.8 million by the end of the year to continue operating.[13] A $600,000 fundraising campaign closed in October to fund operations through 2026.[14]

## See also

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* Movie Madness Video in Portland, Oregon
* VisArt Video in Charlotte, North Carolina

## References

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1. ^ Holson, Laura M. (March 18, 2019). "Scarecrow Video Has Survived This Long. Can It Hang On?". The New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
2. ^ Millman, Zosha (May 3, 2018). "Scarecrow Video celebrates 30 years by investing the community – and they need your help". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
3. ^ The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide. Sasquatch Books. 2004. ISBN 1-57061-415-6.
4. ^ "Scarecrow Video". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
5. ^ a b Ith, Ian (March 8, 2003). "George Latsios, who started revered video business, dies at 44". The Seattle Times. p. B1. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
6. ^ Spletzer, Andy (March 13, 2003). "Goodbye, My Friend". The Stranger. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
7. ^ a b Heim, Joe (November 21, 1997). "Love and loss at Scarecrow Video". The Seattle Times. p. A1. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
8. ^ Kassendorf, Julius (August 19, 2014). "Scarecrow Video Kickstarter is A Success!". The-Solute. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
9. ^ "Our Story". Scarecrow.com.
10. ^ Macdonald, Moira (August 10, 2021). "How Seattle's Scarecrow Video plans to share its vast library nationwide". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
11. ^ Millman, Zosha (January 3, 2019). "Local rental spot Video Isle closes its doors". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
12. ^ "Goodbye to Reckless Video, Seattle's next-to-last video store". The Seattle Times. June 15, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
13. ^ Macdonald, Moira (June 18, 2024). "Scarecrow Video says it needs to raise $1.8M or face possible closure". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
14. ^ Wakayama, Brady (October 9, 2024). "Community raises more than $600K to keep Scarecrow Video open for at least the next two years". KING 5 News. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scarecrow Video.

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