View Edit

This entry refers to a departed business that has closed or left town. All information here is for historical reference only.

 

Location
606 West Covell Boulevard , in the Anderson Plaza
Hours
Sunday-Thursday 10am-10pm
Friday and Saturday 10am-Midnight
Phone
(530)759-8260
Website
myvideostore.com/49er

On January 5 of 2011, the store announced that it would be closing its doors for the last time on March 31, 2011. The owner decided to retire and went on a vacation. Business continued as normal until rentals stopped on March 19th.

Encore sale: 49er was open for one more day of sales on Wednesday, March 23 between noon and 8 pm for last minute deals on all the movies that were left in the store.

The website had a search feature but it did not search the actual inventory of the store. You were asked to call if you have any questions about titles they carry.

Note: Due to new store hours, Midnight Madness is no more. Note: Due to no store hours, 49er Video is no more either!

This location is now occupied by Aggie Ace.

49er employees: Fierce Service

49'er Video was an independent video store in Anderson Plaza at the corner of Covell and Anderson Road, just a couple shops to the east of Guad. The staff was rumored to give "fierce service" and were fairly knowledgeable and interested in movies in comparison to the staff of some chain video retailers such as Blockbuster.

Cutting up your Blockbuster card at the store used to earn you a free rental, which was a nice little perk. You used to be able to check out the "decorations" hanging from the ceiling.

They had sections for films required by classes on campus (restricted to one-night rentals), Art House (foreign & indie) films, a separate adult section containing pornographic movies, as well as BBC and US television series (Lost, Star Trek, "South Park", "Dexter", "House", etc.). The main difference between Blockbuster and 49er is that 49er had a much wider selection of movies (you won't just find a few mega-hits and new releases).

While Blockbuster prides itself on excessive new releases (the big-budget movies), 49er had more of a focus on its collection of classic/foreign/independent films, in addition to the most recent new releases. Recent releases were updated on their website, but the website is NOT an accurate listing of the store's rental stock — if you were looking for a specific title you should have called and asked them. The staff could have looked up anything. You could have also learn about new additions to their collection via their weekly mailing list.

49er no longer rents out video games.

49er was also the place to go to get cheap, high-quality, used DVDs. The racks of previously-viewed 'for sale' movies were immediately in front of the registers and the movies were usually only priced around $4-$10. Movies included the original packaging and could be exchanged or repaired if they were scratched beyond watchability.

49er was one of three places in town (the others being Dimple Records & Armadillo Music) with a DVD buffer that could repair scratched DVDs and CDs. They used this machine on their stock to maintain rental quality, and also offered this service on non-49er stock for a fee ($2.99 plus tax per disc)

They also carried a very impressive number of Blu-Ray titles that were available as one-night rentals.

The contentious relationship between Blockbuster and 49er first manifested itself in 1999 when the small rental business joined a multi-party lawsuit in which Blockbuster was alleged to have anti-competitive practices and price fixing. In particular, Blockbuster allegedly shared its profits with several major film studios in exchange for a choice selection of the latest video releases. The case was dismissed in 2002, but prior to that, two studios had settled out of court for $15 million.

Accounts

You needed an account to rent at 49er Video, without exception. This account was completely free, however you did need to have a valid credit card (Visa or Mastercard) on file and have a valid photo ID (preferably a California Driver's License) when you signed up in order to rent movies. These were the same guidelines for an account at 99% of all video rental stores. For families, the head-of-household may have placed any family members on the same account, as well as any restrictions for those individuals (for example, if you didn't want your 13-year-old checking out R-rated movies).

Pricing

New Releases were 4.59+tax for one night (Blu-Ray and DVD)

You could have added an extra day to a new release for the cost of 50 cents - at the time of rental only!

Library titles (older films) were 2.99+tax for five nights.

Specials

  • BLU-Ray titles that are not new releases 1.99+tax per night.
  • Any day! Get five library titles for 7.99+tax.
  • Any day! Rent one new release film with one library title for 5.99+tax.
  • Weekdays (Mon-Thurs): 2 new releases for 5.99+tax
  • Weekends (Fri,Sat,Sun): 2 new releases for 7.99+tax

MIDNIGHT MADNESS is no more.

FALL 09 UCD SPECIAL! == Extended through 2010!!!!!!!!! == ALL DVD NEW RELEASES ARE $1.65+tax per night! Does not include BLU-ray. Library title prices remain as normal. Limit per customer is 9 at a time. You must have a UCD STUDENT ID and have a valid VISA or MASTERCARD on file. All late fees are eligible to be billed to the CC on file two weeks after they have accrued. The late fee rate is $1.65+tax for every day they are late. If you do not return a new release title within eight days of the due date, you may be billed the retail price for replacement and will own that DVD.

Late Fees

  • New Releases: $2.79+tax per day - per title
  • Library Titles: $2.99+tax for every 5 days late.

The library titles "re-rent" to you for another 5 days - so if they are one day late or five days late the price is $2.99+tax. If you rent a set of 5 library titles for 7.99+tax the late fee for the set of 5 movies is 7.99+tax for another five days.

**Late fees for new releases added up very fast!** At 2.79 per day, plus tax, if you have just three new releases that are three days late each, you will end up owing 27 dollars! For fees that are very steep, you can usually (this is not a promise) have them cut down to 50% of what you owe if you talk to an employee when you return the late movies and kindly ask them if they can help you out. Even at a 50% discount, however, late fees can be very high, so rent only what you can watch and return your movies on time!

Comments:

You must be logged in to comment on this page. Please log in.

2005-12-31 02:38:11   This place is awesome. Five movies for seven dollars. —NickSchmalenberger

2006-01-19 00:28:45   No more 5 movies for 5 days for $5? That's a shame. —KurtMontandon

2006-07-12 23:49:31   The quality is excellent. It would be hard to find a better quality selection even in a big city. It's certainly helped me expand my film viewing. —MisterProfessor

2007-01-04 16:48:58   They have recently added a employee notes to a lot more of the new releases. These can help a lot when trying to decide on a movie, especially because the staff overall has great taste. —JanelleAlvstadMattson

2007-01-05 02:11:04   perhaps mention should be made of the employees getting there own section for there picks? —StevenDaubert

2007-08-15 09:01:35   employee picks and the wall for the most rented movies are awesome and their porn selection is far greater than stonegate. —piratechef

2007-08-16 15:24:13   I've found a lot of great movies here - check this store out if you're about to give up on films b/c of the Blockbuster/Big Box Office crap. —ChrisThielen

2007-09-11 22:32:23   i love 49er but you might want to keep an eye out for erroneous late fees. After getting one employee told me they don't check their drop off box late at night or early in the morning (in fact this person said to me they only check it twice every 24 hours, which may not be true for other employees). Therefore, if you are returning your movie the day or night it is due, you should return it in the store just in case (its good for the employees too, so they don't have to carry as many movies in late at night in the cold. They should probably just put a slot in the store wall, it actually wouldn't be that expensive). If the store is closed put the movie in the box and call them the next morning. If you are charged a false late fee and call them on it, some employees may or may not correct their error (even if you have a history of turning in all your movies on time). Based on other people's comments, this was likely the act of one particular employee and not the policy of the store. However, what ever you do do not pay the late fee , they take payment as an admission of guilt, and therefore you can not speak to the manager about it later if you payed the fee. So request to speak to the manager before you pay (of course you should pay it if you did return the movie late...duh). Hopefully this is an isolated incident, but its always a good idea to be careful. —MattHh

2007-09-16 10:14:34   MattHh, I am sorry if you've had issues with erroneous late fees here before, but speaking on behalf of myself and myself only, I can tell you that I've already checked the box once so far this morning (we just opened 10 minutes ago), and I'll check it at least 2 more times during my shift, including once just after noon. I realize your frustration with our drop box system, but try to remember that we often have only one employee working at a time, especially during the day, so for instance, if it gets busy, that employee can't just take a break from helping a line of customers to go check the box. Also, with regards to the fact that the box should be attached to the store - I agree! In fact, I'd bet good money that ALL of our employees agree. It's kind of inconvenient having to carry a big plastic box outside every few hours, open up a locked door and carry 50 to 100 movies inside. But think about how much money that would cost, and we are a small, independently owned business. Finally, if you're charged a late fee that you believe was incorrect, OF COURSE you shouldn't pay it — would you go to court with a speeding ticket, pay the full amount, and THEN tell the judge that you want to dispute it?? We try to do our best here but we're all human beings, and human beings do make mistakes. If we charge you a late fee you believe you shouldn't have been charged, just tell us you don't want to pay it and you'd like to talk to the manager. We try our very best to be reasonable and understanding, especially if the error is on our part.

—DavidObrien

  • thanks for the very civil and honest response. Its employee courtesy like this that keeps me coming back even after I had one bad experience. Thanks again. —MattHh

2007-09-27 02:43:27   Yeah, please don't listen to that Matt guy everyone, I've been working here for just short of two years and that box has always been checked at the VERY least 4 times a day. No one "admitted" to it being only checked twice - thats silly. But the box-checking is irrelevant, if we are late checking the drop-box we check all the movies in as if it was the day before. We do make mistakes occasionally but its so rare its hardly worth discussing, and I have never seen another employee (or myself) not give a customer the benefit of the doubt if they say they returned their movie on time and the computer shows that its one day late (unless a customer has had a history of lying to us or making excuses). Look, we get it, we know you dont want to pay late fees, but its part of the rental game. It's not our fault if you return something late, even if it's only a little late. We offer a 12 hour grace period, but thats all we can do. We are aware there are movie rental services out there that dont make you pay late fees, but thats not us - instead we offer the best customer service we can and give you the ability to select a huge variety of movies the same day you want them. We are also usually quite generous about cutting larger late fees in half, especially if you bring them into the store and take care of the fees the same day you drop off the late movies. We aren't mean-spirited and we aren't working on commision, so give us a break MattHhs of the world - we get paid minimum wage (or a hair above), work way into the night, and are open every single day of the year, no exceptions. Pay your late fees, it's good karma. —JakeJames

  • All I did was post a personal experience. You really should read over your comment and then read David Obrien's. His is very civil and genuine and reasonably says that there could have been a mistake, and that i should have never paid for a accidental late fee. To address your point I only said you shouldn't pay a late fee if you turned in the movie on time. If i ever turned in a movie late I would obviously pay the late fee. You can check my history, I have never turned in a movie late, so I obviously don't have a habit of lying or making excuses. Also how can you say no one admitted to checking the bin twice every 24 hours. I'm pretty sure you don't work their every hour of every day, so you don't necessarily know what some other employee said to me. I am sorry if I sounded accusatory, but I was just pointing out what happened to me, and gave advice if others find themselves in a similar situation. I never said that anyone should not patron the store, in fact i started by saying I love it. thanks for sharing your opinion —MattHh
    • I'm sorry if you didn't find my response civil - it wasn't my intention for it to not sound civil -and I still don't believe that anyone would have said that we check that drop box twice every 24 hours because the box would overflow in between that time . If it's true someone told you that, I don't know what they were thinking and I apologize, but I just wanted to make sure everyone knows that it is not true. I'm sorry if my response took on a personal tone, like David said we do on occasion make mistakes, but more often that not it is customers that are mistaken about when/if they returned films and it's hard to get people to see that they were the ones at fault. It can be a headache to sort out if we made a mistake, if a customer is mistaken, or if a customer is lying to us and trying to weasel their way out of fees, and if false information gets out such as the box being only checked twice a day it only helps that later category of people take advantage of our system. So that is why my response was so strong and again I am sorry if I made it sound personal. Thank you for being a good customer. —jakejames
      • Again, just to clarify the thing about the outside dropbox... I seriously doubt another employee told you we only check it twice every 24 hours. I know I can't be sure as to what someone else did or didn't tell you, but that's never ever been true for the nearly 2 years I've been working here. We check that box a minimum of 5 or 6 times a day, sometimes more if it's a heavy return day, like a Sunday or the day after a 3-day weekend. If someone told you that then they were... wrong. Simple as that. —DavidObrien

2007-11-07 14:01:47   I moved from San Francisco and despaired of finding a video store here on par with Le Video on 9th Ave. 49er is not quite as large, but for a town this size, it's incredibly complete, and the staff there are really knowdlegeable and give fantastic service. I am awed. —NotSure

2007-12-08 16:37:44   After a bad Blockbuster experience, I only go to 49er. It truly is the best. Just remember that unlike Blockbuster, late fees do exist. A friend forgot this and had quickly accrued a $30 late fee. I was a few days late on a DVD return and had to pay $6. I don't think they charge more than any other store, but people have just grown accustom to not having to pay late fees with Netflix and Blockbuster. —VinceBuffalo

2007-12-28 20:39:44   I have never once posted on Davis wiki but after my experiences with 49er video I felt obligated to warn others. The store is appealing enough initially, but the staff was very pompass and rude on nearly every visit, they rarely seemed at all interested in helping me, or even renting me the film after I found it myself. The rental charges are unnecessairly complex and the fees are without question exuberant. I always pay my late fees and I also see the reason which they apply (however any video store that does not offer some kind of flat rate monthly service is falling behind quickly) however beware as they will just Take your money from the account provided at the time of account opening, and without warning. Honestly most practices of this store are primarive and I STRONGLY encourage other guest to take their video business elsewhere. —Pmpman

2008-01-08 20:29:23   "beware as they will just Take your money from the account provided at the time of account opening, and without warning" Pmpman, you need to clarify what you mean by this. "Take money from the account"? Are you referring to overdue charges being billed to customers' credit cards? First of all, we NEVER charge anyone anything they don't legitimately owe us — and almost always, if someone contests a late fee or other account charges, we are at the very least willing to listen to their story and give them some benefit of the doubt. Second of all, the terms and conditions that EVERY new customer agrees to when they sign their membership form give us the right to bill credit cards for uncollected charges or unreturned movies, after a certain period of time. It's a right every video store that wants to remain in business reserves — it's not out of the ordinary at all. If you are accusing us of doing anything unethical or illegal please get your facts straight and be clear about what you are saying. I'm sorry if you're upset about an experience you had at our store with overdue charges, but please don't accuse us of doing something you don't have the facts to back up. —DavidObrien

2008-01-09 18:52:33   "The rental charges are unnecessairly complex and the fees are without question exuberant"

We have two prices. Two. 2.99 for a library or older movie, 4.59 for a new release. There are some deals if you get multiple movies, but still how can two standard prices in any way be considered complex. What do you do when walk into a grocery store where there are literally thousands of different prices? Do you hide your eyes and run out of the store screaming? —JakeJames

2008-01-15 08:46:45   My fiance and I have been patronizing 49er video since we moved to Davis almost two years ago. I have always had such a positive experience and the selection is by far the best in Davis. The employees are all movie fans and have given us great advice on films we may have not otherwise seen. I am a high school teacher by profession and the manager spent almost a half of an hour looking for historically accurate films on WWI with me. If you need help—or advice in my case—just ask any of the wonderful employees. As long as we live in Davis, we will not go anywhere else! —hbrittan

2008-01-15 09:29:27   I agree with the positive comments. We have always had a good experince with 49er and love the selection and prices. —MyaBrn

2008-01-31 09:38:23   I'm a fan of 49er and their employees despite having an idea, I think, of what the "complex fees" complaint is about. I blame the signage. The full structure seems only to appear on one sign near the front, which I routinely find myself unable to reference from even half-way across the store, either because the font size of the key info is too small or because it appears in a not self-evident place among other items and heads and fonts of different size. Plus it's not the big sign over the register, and little reminder signs amongst the shelves seem everywhere with the deal price for renting 5 or the basic price dare you to scan for the particular fact you are looking for ("First-run rentals are cheaper through Thursday night?"), but it's only on the white sign at the entrance, which seems to be an introduction to first-time visitors, and so can raise the implication that, if you're a semi-regular, you must be mentally deficient if you find yourself always having to cross the store to take another look at it. Probably the state had more enemies before the recent trend to make public transit maps and rules easier too. Love it or leave it. —oliverevilo

2008-02-01 00:22:47   Great selection, very helpful staff, reasonable rates. The broadest range of titles I've seen in a video store. —DonShor

2008-02-23 17:27:37   Best video store in Davis, they love film, they love to help you out in picking what you could be looking for, amazing selection in all genres English and foreign language, just the best place to get a vid in Davis. —AggieFinn

2008-06-07 18:48:26   In my opinion just having good movie taste does not remove the requirement for having respectable business practices. They make a lot of money charging exorbinant late fees. Then if you happen to not be in the store for 30 days they just send you to collection agency. Imagine having your credit trashed by a late fee you didn't even know about. (In my case because they rented to someone else on my account without my permission) So beware under the guise of being cool they are steling blind from us. —cmj

  • I don't know this person's exact story but here are the store's policies regarding some of what they are saying here: The late fees are posted throughout the store and we always tell you when your movies are due so it's up to you to get them back on time or you face paying late fees. If you have late fees that have not been taken care of in the store after 30 days they are eligible to be billed to the credit card you put on file. Usually we try and call you before we bill the amount to your credit card on file. When the credit card on file is expired or not working we always call the person to try and have them come pay the fee off in person or phone in with a different credit card to bill. Sometimes people don't get these calls because they change their phone number and don't inform us of the change. Sometimes people just flat out ignore us when we call. In both cases, if we cannot reach the customer or they don't come down and pay the fee in person after a few weeks the owner or manager will begrudgingly send the account to a collections agency to collect the fees. We never rent to anyone whose name is not on a rental account, in fact if someone wants to rent under their parent's or friends or other acquaintance's account and their name isn't listed as a supplemental renter we will immediately phone whoever owns the account to make sure they give authorization to rent to that person. This is a hassle and half but we do it to make sure thing's like what this customer above says happened don't. Once authorization is given the person who owns the account is responsible for all fees and penalties anyone on the account incurs - this is one of the terms of service that people sign their name and agree to when they set up their membership. One flaw in the system is that friends or kids will often lie and say their name is the main person on the account - we try and combat this by offering customers the option of making their account check for ID and we usually waive fees that incur the first time this happens. No one is 'stealing blind' from anyone, nor are we trying to be cool to lure you in - we are just a video store offering the best selection in town and trying to maintain good business and happy customers.

2008-06-09 16:33:43   I really like 49er, I haven't had any problems. A year or two ago they had this end of the year deal where you could put $20 on your account and get a free rental. I have 16 cents left, and I like that it was just there for whenever I wanted to rent a movie for the past two years.

Plus, they had reduced prices on new releases for students this quarter. That's cool, too. —ChristyMarsden

  • And just to add—We do the $25/$20 deal (where you give us $20 and we give you $25 credit...New releases are $4.59 so it's basically a free rental) every 6-8 weeks. Check back often or call the store to see if we're doing it! —SarahOsler

2008-06-09 19:35:47   I don't need blockbuster anymore. Thank you 49er.

p.s. go for the employee picks!!!! —Adaleen

2008-07-16 16:43:28   I've always liked going here but not so much lately. The staff seems to be getting grumpier. Maybe their pay should be upped.. —GabeDavis

2008-07-16 23:17:17   49er is the best video store in Davis! Hands down. Not only is their large and diverse selection way batter then blockbuster, they carry older and/or obscure titles. The service has always been great here and have never had a problem with anything here. If one must rent movies, rent them here. —sweetsoni

2008-09-16 17:14:46   Third best place to meet a mate in 2007, according to the Aggie! —SallyHensel

2008-12-25 18:30:19   I miss Mike. Mike - we love ya. Heard the circumstances weren't ideal... too bad, quality employeees are too good to lose. Sad to see you go but to everything, a season. Best wishes. —toyon

  • We miss Mike too :-/

2009-02-21 18:52:45   Overrated. With employees that suspiciously stare at you. :( —AnnieSirrah

  • I am a 49er employee and am curious, how did we stare at you and what made it suspicious?

2009-03-20 18:11:13   I love 49'er and rent from them on a weekly basis. I loathe Blockbuster and wouldn't dream of going to one of those soulless, censoring chains. I love their "past 12'o clock means a cheaper rental" thing, since I am a night owl, and often when we rack up late fees like nobody's business certain employees seem to cut us a little slack with the fines. Perhaps they notice how much money we give them every week due to our laziness? Who knows!? I am mainly writing to comment that about two weeks ago, on our weekend soujourn to get a video or five, one of the employees (a new face, lighter curly hair, glasses) smiled and joked with us. So simple, right?! It was refreshing, since as much as I love 49'er, the staff always looks very bored/neutral and somber and are hard to get a smile out of. I often suspect they are not paid very much, since my days in soul-crushing retail made me that way too. I always protest that "I want my indie video store clerks WEIRD"!, since I am used to strangely-coiffed, film-studies-majoring, movie snobs in suspenders that look down their nose at me when I rent Underworld and freak out when I rent Kurosawa, or whatever. Maybe I think I'm living in a John Hughes film. Maybe those weirdo film-nerds are all older grad students who won't work for minimum wage. Maybe 49 is a soul-crushing place to work and I just think it rules because it carries awesome films? Who knows? Anyway- to the nice curly-haired employee; Thanks. Little things like that make me glad I canceled my Netflix subscription. —KaiSmart

  • You're most welcome. I no longer have the curls though.E.C.H

2009-04-11 22:12:53   I just got an account at this store tonight, and the service is excellent. There was a cute girl with really long hair and a cute dyed hair girl with glasses and they were both super knowledgeable! I even quizzed them! A+!! I'm curious to come back in and see how well the rest of the staff holds up, but I'll tell you.... The cute girls are good. I also wonder if they are single :-0 Just kidding... Kind of.

-Ryan —HunkyDavisLoveMuffin

2009-04-23 18:23:32   I'm always amazed that 49er can stay in business given the rise of NetFlix, but every time I stop in I remember why - they're just so great! From the special deals to the employee picks section to the friendly counter banter on Saturday nights, I'm always happy to find myself here. I do have to say that I seem to have rented an above-average number of DVDs with scratches (meaning you have to stop the movie halfway through and FF through the scratched parts), which might (?) be the result of how many people in Davis throw their stuff into their bags onto their bikes before they pedal off? - but even that doesn't keep me from coming back. 49er forever! —calvin2

2009-06-15 17:25:13   Staff is really courteous and helpful; selection and depth of inventory greatly exceed expectations. This store is a real asset to Davis! —DataPoint

2009-07-31 22:36:33   We have just become members and maybe it's too soon to make this comment—but everytime we have been in to rent a movie and even to set up our account, the staff has seemed grumpy and bored. Again, we've only been in a handful of times, but form those experiences I'd say they need to work on customer service to keep us and others coming back! However, the selection of movies is great and we are happy to support a local, independent business. —Devrey

2009-09-13 19:25:47   this place has a GREAT selection and the workers know their movies and won't say that everything is "pretty good." however, the last 3 or 4 times i've been there at least 1 of the dvd's i rent will be defective and be scratched and thus freeze halfway through. they used to use the dvd-cleaning machine everytime you rent a dvd, but now they don't, so make sure to tell them to clean the dvd's whenever you rent there. —boing3887

  • The DVD cleaning machines we use are actually resurfacers, they aren't meant for everyday cleaning of the discs. Their job is more to repair discs. That being said, we actually clean a lot more discs as they are rented than we ever have before in the four years of my working here; we have never had a policy where we clean every disc as customers rent them, that would really put the buffer machines under unnecessary wear as well as severely increase the wait time for check out. We will gladly run your movies through the buffer if they need cleaning and we have time. Unfortunately DVDs just don't hold up very well, they are very easy to damage. Any time you have a rental that doesn't work for you, let us know, and we will gladly exchange it for a new copy or a free rental that you can use either right then on the spot or at a later date. —JakeJames

2009-09-20 01:09:55   i have been going to 49er for a long time, since i was a middle school student, know i am in college. I have never had a problem with the employees before, i actually thought most of them were very nice, but my last 2 visits i have left very mad, they were really really rude, and were not helpful in the least, it seemed my questions about videos were an inconvenience to them. i was also given a hard time when i was not questioned about my identity, and was told that i was not a regular because this employee had never seen me before. i am in the customer service business, and this is not how u treat a customer. —patty45

  • Hi Patty. I don't know exactly what happened, but I can offer some possible explanations. First off, we have had lots and lots of employee turnover in the last year and there are currently a total of three staff members (out of 7 total) who have a month or less of work under their belt so far. I'm not sure what the confusion was regarding your identity, it may have just been them asking for your name after typing in your phone number - this is how we confirm that we have the right customer. After a while, we put faces to some of the regular customers names and then don't have to confirm in this way, but until they know who you are they are taught to ask for a name. Some accounts also have notes that say "Check for ID" - if this is on your account, this may have been why they were giving you a harder time about your identity. As far as someone treating you as if you were an inconvenience, that is a big concern, and you are welcome to discuss this with myself (the manager) or the owner to see if we can find out what happened. The reason that 49er has outlasted almost every other video store in Davis has been because of it's excellent customer service, and while I do realize that several people on this forum think we look bored or groggy on the job, once we are asked a question we most always do as much as we can to help and assist. I hope whatever bad experience you had was just a result of a new employee not knowing their stuff yet, and I hope your experiences are much better in the future. —JakeJames

2009-12-15 00:40:51   They do have a decent selection and every other video store in Davis has closed. I do prefer going here as to having to order DVDs through the mail, but I finally decided to stop. 9 times out of 10 the staff is rude and there may be three people behind the counter and if I walk up to ask about a movie no one even looks up. Then one of them will huff and roll their eyes. It's not worth it. I've been going there for over four years, but I guess I've outgrown rude young goth kids. I like the idea of supporting local businesses (even though they are a small chain), but for the same reason I like going to Starbucks. At least people are friendly. —bradjone

  • Hey brad. 49er is no longer a small chain, Davis has the only store. There used to be a few more locations but not for over 6 years or so. I am confused when you say you like the idea of supporting a local business for "the same reason" you like going to Starbucks, which is obviously not a local business. Sorry about the perceived rudeness, while I haven't worked at 49er in about 3 months I did work there for four years and I will say that there is an amazing contrast between the compliments the staff receives in person and the criticism given by you and a couple others on this site, and I am not sure why that is. Also, not that it really matters, but there have been no "goth" kids ever employed at 49er in the last 4 years, and all employees are over twenty and the average age is about 25 so they aren't really "kids" either. —JakeJames

2010-01-10 22:23:03   I've rented from them on occasion. I find that their selection is far better than Blockbuster. Their staff are friendly and knowledgeable about the movies they have, and make good recommendations. Their pricing is also much better than Blockbuster, at least at certain times of the week (ie. midnight madness) although for most people, probably not nearly as good as Netflix or Redbox. Their pricing seems rather high the rest of the time. One thing that does concern me is the requirement that a credit card number be kept on file in order to be a customer (not to rent something - just to actually *have* an account). They do not take strong measures to identify the person renting a movie unless you ask, and sometimes even if a certain measure has been requested for that account. This opens the customer up to someone using their account other than themselves, and it would be very hard for a victimized customer to show that they weren't the person who rented the video. While this may or may not be a real problem, it could be avoided by requesting an ID from everyone at the time of rental, or by allowing customers to not allow their credit card info to be kept on file (ie. to only be used at the time of rental.) This practice is common at Hollywood Video, a major video rental chain (but not one with any stores in Davis). —IDoNotExist

  • First off, thanks for the kind words about the staff. It's nice to be able to respond to a logical concern without having someone completely insult the entirety of the store. Having a credit card on file is an unfortunate necessity, but it is a necessity all the same. To my knowledge, everywhere in Davis where you can rent a DVD absolutely requires one, including Blockbuster and Redbox (this is how Redbox profits, by instantly and automatically billing lates). I admit that I haven't been in Hollywood Video in sometime, but I know they used to require credit cards just like Blockbuster. 49er uses the cards for two reasons, and two reasons only: one, to bill for a replacement cost if a DVD is not returned at all (after 30 days and multiple attempts to reach customers on the phone, we consider the DVD gone for good) and second if there are late fees that are not taken care of after 30 days beyond their return. If merchandise isn't returned, it's only a little bit better than if it was flat out stolen, and for an independent business surviving on small profit margins 49er can't afford people to run away with expensive films (and oh yes, it happens). Along the same lines, if 49er didn't enforce their late fee policy for everyone, films would never be on the shelves in a timely manner therefore causing customers to go to rival rental businesses to acquire the films they want and losing the store lots of money. 49er only uses the credit card on file to collect fees that do not get taken care of within 30 days - we don't allow customers to charge rental purchases to the card on file, they have to have the physical credit card with them. The only real problems that arise with credit cards are when supplemental customers on the account (kids, flaky roommates, etc) amass late fees that don't get paid off in 30 days because the primary person on the account didn't know about them. This is why, whenever you start an account, 49er stresses in the documentation on the membership application that the primary account holder is responsible for all supplemental customers, so that customers are less likely to put people on there they don't absolutely trust. 49er's rental computers are also not hooked up to the internet so there is no way the CCs can be tampered with from the outside. I do agree wholeheartedly that checking an ID would be the best way to go for the ultimate protection of everyone's account, unfortunately it just wouldn't be practical as an overall rule. It's not practical because you would be amazed how many people do not carry ID with them (I know this because of the amount of people that have to go back to their homes to retrieve their ID when starting an account). These people would put up a fight about how they have rented before without an ID and how the staff must rent to them and it would become a big hassle. Also, there are several kids that rent using their parents' account and they would never have ID on them. If, however, you want the added "Check ID" protection on there, 49er will gladly do it for you and it will remain there unless you tell a staff member to take it off. The store's default security is that they require phone number and then the person's name each time a customer rents, and if the name given doesn't match the account we call the customer on the account to make sure it is ok to rent to the person currently in the store. Also, in regards to your concern here: One thing that does concern me is the requirement that a credit card number be kept on file in order to be a customer (not to rent something - just to actually *have* an account) the only reason to have an account is to be able to rent a movie. The only other service we offer is purchasing DVDs from a separate selection outright, in which case you do not have to have an account at all. I hope this helps to explain the reason for the store's credit card policy. —JakeJames

2010-02-12 21:43:11   I've had some good experiences at 49er in the past and the prices are typically competitive compared to Blockbuster but I was very dissatisfied with the service there this evening. Called ahead to see if they had a previous season of a television show in stock and they said they did. Asked about the price and they said they had it at 5 discs for 5 days for less than $9. Drove all the way over there to find it was not in stock and the 5x5 deal didn't apply. Was treated rudely by the sales associate. In this economy you'd think that customer service would be a requirement for a local business. At this point, I'm not sure if I'm interested in going back. —theschu2

2010-02-23 12:29:58   I have been a Davis resident since 1998, and a patron of 49er Video since that time. In the past I was always impressed by their video selection and good customer service.

However, an event that occurred on Monday night, February 22 will cause me to never come to this video store again. In October 2009, I rented 5 movies, and due to unforseen events, I returned the movies 6 days late. I have had every intention to pay the late fees, but didn't return to the video store until February to pay them. Here is what happened:

(1) The store clerk told me that 49er Video had sent me to a collections agent and with the stated intent to damage my credit if I didn't pay. (2) I have had no phone contact or written notice from 49er Video. (3) 49er Video added $10 to the late fees bringing the total to $42. These videos were only 5 days late and they were old movies. (4) The store clerk was rude and accusatory. She made a big deal out of the fact that the videos had been late since October and why would I want to damage my credit. The fact that I had been at this store for more than 10 years made no impact. (5) Previously I had late fees that were automatically charged to my credit card with no phone call or notice. These charges caused $100 in overdraft fees. The same thing happened to my roomate, who is also a 10 year patron of the store.

I would love to support an independent store despite the wide variety of more cost-effective choices (i.e., internet, Netflix, Red Box). However, with unprecidented threats to my long term credit and exhorbant fees I have a difficult time justifying that support. —JDamoth

  • At the risk of blaming the victim here... you were four months late in paying your late fees. That is quite late. And you can bet that the big boxes wouldn't be happy with that, either. A $10 charge for being late with your late fees doesn't seem excessive to me. The only criticism you give that seems legitimate to me is that they didn't try to contact you about the late fees — sending your info to a collections agent w/out contacting you first is wrong, imo, especially for a longstanding customer. Then again, it doesn't sound as though you tried to contact them. —CovertProfessor

I see your points. However, as a longstanding customer, I believe it is appropriate to be contacted before being sent to collections. The video store has my number and address. Also, they should provide a courtesy call prior to charging a credit card for late fees. I have more debt than I can pay, but with a simple courtesy call I could have re-prioritized my debt load to pay them and still remained a happy customer.

In addition, the late fees were $42 for five regular movies being late for 6 days, which is excessive in my opinion. Blockbuster would not charge for this (see their website- there are no late fees for Blockbuster), nor would Netflix. As a consumer with choices, I believe that the practices described in this response warrants me to post this and to choose other options. I believe in good customer service- it is the most important thing to me.

By the way, the bad marks on my credit bring absolutely no threat to me. My credit is already damaged. What I want is to be able to rent movies from a store that provides good service. I feel no reason for the clerk to be rude, and I am a consumer who has choices. Had the clerk been polite, I would have paid the charges. That is in fact why I was at the video store in the first place.

  • Blockbuster has you purchase the movie if it is a certain number of days late. Netflix charges a late fee if you keep a movie past your subscription date. —hankim
  • JDamoth, you should get in touch with a supervisor/manager/owner of 49er. That's not the appropriate way to deal with a late creditee. Re: CP's point about you not contacting them, it's in their financial interest to pursue it with you. I haven't looked into laws regarding sending an account to collection, but it's certainly not a good policy to do so without contacting the customer. Is your address and everything up to date with them? It may be too late to protect your credit, but I'd still pursue it... on principle if nothing else. —TomGarberson
  • And as I said above, I agree with you (JDamoth) and everyone else that they ought to have contacted you. I was just indicating a way that you might have prevented this problem, but that doesn't excuse their behavior. Calling a collections agency without contacting you for the money is not very nice, imo. (Just to clarify my comment, since I think I am being misunderstood). —CovertProfessor
  • I looked into your situation JDamoth. The reason we weren't able to contact you is because we have both an out of date street address and telephone number. There are notes in your account saying we were unable to contact you. In the rental contract you signed to become a member it clearly states that 49er does use collection services to retrieve fees, and it also explicitly states that an extra charge is added to cover the fees the the collections company charges 49er. However, in your specific case your lates were billed incorrectly; the owner billed the lates without grouping them as a set of 5 which would have saved you around 17 dollars. This is fully the mistake of the owner. Another employee has written a note to the owner about the situation, but he will probably not get back to you unless you contact him. His name is John Merchant, he works mornings most weekdays. I would contact him as soon as possible. —jakejames

2010-03-06 11:11:01   Thoughts on "Midnight Madness":

I'm not sure if other customers experience this, but I find that I rent less because of how midnight madness is set up! When I want to rent a video, I'd usually like to rent it right now. But I know that if I wait until after midnight on Friday or Saturday, I can get the video much more cheaply. So I wait. But then I may be too tired to go get it after midnight. Or I may not want to stay up that night watching a movie, and might not have time the next day. So I might wind up renting nothing, because I know I can come back the next week if I do feel like renting something then. Midnight Madness is also not very convenient, since I might be near 49er now and know that I want to watch something later this evening. It requires a special trip to the store at a very inconvenient time.

It would be much better if the store offered a "24 hour madness" option. Same price as "Midnight Madness", but you can rent the video any time that the store is open, and have 24 hours to return it. I'd rent a LOT more videos if they did this. It would be convenient, because I could rent a movie when I actually wanted to watch it, and when I actually had time to watch it, rather than being forced to stay up late or watch the next morning. Plus, I wouldn't avoid renting at regular times so that I could get the midnight madness price, since I could rent at any time. —IDoNotExist

  • Also, for Midnight Madness you only get it for a night. On older titles, if you pay a dollar more and rent at any other time, you get it for five days, which is nice if you rent a season of some television show. —hankim
  • I usually only want it for one day, which is why Midnight Madness sometimes works for me. It's just that I don't want that day to have to start with a trip to the video store at the most inconvenient time possible. On several occasions, I've actually been *at* the video store, because it was next to something else I was doing and wanted to see what they had. I would have rented something on the spot, but decided that I would rather do Midnight Madness and save some money on it. I went home, and by the time Midnight Madness came around, I was either too busy or too tired to go pick up the video, and didn't rent anything for several weeks. So 49er lost out on the rental right then, and on a potential future rental that I might have made had I not delayed renting what I previously had wanted to watch until Midnight Madness came around. But if they had the 24 hour special starting at any time on any day, I'd have rented those videos on the spot, and possibly rented additional ones when I returned to drop those off. Note that the convenience thing is very important here. At the higher prices, if you rent several videos per month, Netflix is a much better deal. Much larger selection, and lower price per movie, but also less convenient. Redbox, or the video thing they have in Safeway, are much cheaper ($1 per night), but don't have a very large selection, so I'm not very likely to find what I want. 49er is a win for me if they have what I want and their prices are better than Netflix. Their selection is usually pretty good, but the Midnight Madness pricing is where they really hit the right price point for me. They just need to make it more convenient to use it - by allowing you to use it in any 24 hour period.
    • I totally get you there. There have been so many times I just wanted to watch a movie after getting home and was tempted to stop by on the way except it wasn't midnight yet. And most of the time, I watch the movie the same night so the extra dollar for an extra four days seems useless most of the time. I just wanted to say the midnight madness deal is not really cheaper in any way for the number of nights kept to the cost, so it is more like buying a single bottle of soda at the store rather than a bulk pack. —hankim
  • Midnight madness is a more than a 50 percent discount on the cost of a new release rental. It's offered at a specific time (Friday and Saturday nights) to give incentive for people who are up that late and wouldn't normally be out shopping to come rent from 49er. Just like how the movie theaters downtown offer discount pricing on Tuesdays, a day when people wouldn't normally go out to the theater, 49er does the same for a late night special on the weekends. If the movie theater offered discounted 5 dollar movies all week long, they would lose money - so would 49er (based on their current pricing structure) if they offered the midnight madness price all week long. However, you can always rent 5 library titles for 7.99 plus tax. They are five day rentals, so you could watch one each night, and the price per film is even less than the midnight madness price. I think part of the problem is that people see redboxes around offering 1 dollar movies and they expect this to be set price everywhere, and as so, a $4.59 rental seems extremely expensive. This is just a very recent development, however, as the cost for new releases has been between $3.50-$5.00 for several years ($4.99 for any rental from blockbuster, currently). As netflix, redbox and cable on demand change the rental industry, however, pricing structures have begun to change pushing "traditional pricing" stores like Hollywood and Blockbuster to the edge of bankruptcy. 49er has begun to experiment with different price structures through its UCD student deals and the midnight madness special. If the owner discovers through these experiments that he can make the store more profitable by lowering new release prices the cost for new releases could see a change. —JakeJames
  • Hi, Jake. I know there are other deals that 49er offers, such as the ones that you mentioned. But they don't really address my particular movie watching needs. It's great that I could rent 5 movies for 5 nights, but I don't have that much time to watch movies, or the desire to watch them all in a row like that. It's really more of a spontaneous thing for me. I suddenly decide that I want to watch a movie, so I go to the store and rent one *now*. But 5 in a row is just way more than I could ever imagine wanting to watch in such a short time., and at $7.99, it's nearly as expensive as watching one in the theater given that I would probably only watch one at a time anyway. At $4.59 for a single rental, it only takes one rental per week before I've matched what I would spend on a Netflix subscription that would let me rent as many movies as I want in a month. So if I were someone who rented a large number of movies, Netflix would make much more sense. Since I'm not, the price per movie for whatever frequency that I do rent has to be lower than Netflix. At $4.59, it's only a win for people who rent < 1 movie per week. But I'm sure that 49er wants people to rent more often than that, right? There's also the assumption here that if the price stays higher at other times, that I will want to rent at the higher price at those times. In my case, this isn't true - although I can't speak for anyone else. But at $4.59, it's at least half of the price of a movie in the theater, so I may just catch it when it comes out in the theater instead. And it's also at a high enough price where I might consider an alternative on Hulu or read a book or just go do something else. Basically, I guess that means that I'm in the segment of the market where I have to *really* want to watch something to be willing to pay $4.59. But at the midnight madness price, I'd rent a lot more videos, and the store would make more money overall (at least on me...) —IDoNotExist
  • It sounds like netflix or redbox would make more financial sense for your overall renting habits - netflix because of its low monthly rate, and redbox because of its low rental rate (for a limited selection of films). If you like to rent several films a month and you are not a UCD student, 49er can't beat the value of these two rental services because unlike netflix and redbox they are an independent business without the infrastructure of a large corporation. The store knows this and therefore tries to excel in other areas like film selection and customer service. I will say, however, that the cost of a movie theater price is always increasing with 3D films charging about 13-14 dollars a ticket, so 4.59 is still way under half the cost of movie ticket, and films that aren't new are only 2.99 a piece and are thus cheaper still. 49er also understands that they have several casual renters - people who may be netflix and redbox customers as well - and they are completely fine with that. The store doesn't mind being there to fill the gaps when you can't or don't want to use a different rental service, so if you feel it's only a good deal to rent during midnight madness, the store is there for you friday and saturday nights! —JakeJames

2010-04-12 23:30:21   My roommate and I are getting into the TV series "Dexter" and have rented the first 2 DVDs from here. However, they are 1 day rentals. When we asked why, the girl working there said "all new releases are 1 day rentals." This seemed odd to me because they have 3 season of "Dexter" on the rack, so it can't be that new. I looked online and this show came out in 2006 and the DVD was released in 2007. If you ask me, a 3 three old DVD of a 4 year old program is not by any means a "new release." Plus, one day to watch four hours of a TV show is not really a reasonable expectation. I'm just saying. —spalka14

  • It's true that a few rentals remain on the "New Release" area for quite some time. For example, up until a few months ago, every single season/episode of Battlestar Gallactica was only available as such a one-night rental under "New Release" restrictions and a few select title remain one-night rentals years after their release in the "Store-Favorites" section. This is because these titles are deemed more likely to rent than others and, as long as they continue to rent frequently, will remain under the "New Release" pricing. I suspect that once season 4 of Dexter is released around the end of summer, that one or two of the seasons will become five-night "Library Title" rentals. —E.C.H.
  • Part of this is supply and demand. They are smaller than the 'Big Box' video renter centers (ie: Hollywood and Blockbuster) so may not have the quantities that the others do while the demand for the same videos remains high. Like BSG, and yes, even Dexter, there are more renters desiring these videos than they can accommodate with supply so they have no choice but to limit the rental periods to try to accommodate as many as possible. I have always enjoyed their policies and their honest to goodness 'mom & pop' attitude. —Wesone

2010-07-15 01:59:11   I love 49er, has that classic video store smell. Also has a great selection of foreign films and such. I have a netflix account (figured what the hell, it's only 9 bucks a month) but will probably cancel it. I seem to get a dvd that sounded cool when i saw it on the list, but don't much want it when it gets to my house a day or two later. it'll sit around for a few weeks before watching. I end up usually only watching maybe 2 rented movies a month, so 49er is probably a better choice. —EugeneB

2010-07-30 22:10:08   I really like 49er for all the reasons others have listed, but I have the recurring problem that every time I rent a movie from there it skips when I watch it, and almost always freezes. I would question my DVD player except it ONLY happens with movies from 49er. Aside from that I've had great customer service and always find what I want. —jeanvaljean

2010-08-03 03:48:11   Best place to rent movies in town! Great prices for students and they have a huge selection. —Saher

2010-08-12 22:59:35   49'er Video is easily the best video store I've visited in my personal experience. The selection is fantastic, and I don't think I've ever gone in with a movie in mind (no matter how obscure) that they haven't had. I've always received great customer service. Most of the employees are extremely helpful, especially when they let me know about ongoing rental deals that I otherwise would have overlooked. In fact, my overall experience with 49'er Video has been so positive that I still choose to support this local business over the nearby DVDPlay and RedBox machines. I hope they stay in business for many years to come. —DerkB

2010-09-04 23:23:10   I used to love 49er because they're friendly, have a good selection, and good prices. However I will no longer be renting there as the last 3 movies I rented there were messed up! I understand the movies are rentals but when you spend money you expect to be able to actually watch the movie. I now have a credit there instead of my money back that I will never use as I will definitely be going back to blockbuster from now on. —jadeeyes1113

  • This always happens to me, even when they clean the disk. I have resorted to grabbing the ones in the back or avoiding popular titles all together. —hankim
  • Although we do our utmost to preserve the quality of our DVDs while they are in-store, unfortunately, we cannot control how well our patrons care for the discs when they check them out. We replace items when we can confirm that DVDs are damaged and do our best to make our customers happy when something goes wrong. I would not assume that Blockbuster has higher quality controls nor that they will replace items any more frequently. Sorry for any inconvenience. —E.C.H.

2010-09-16 11:39:11   Coming here and browsing for movies was one of my favorite pastimes. My netflix expires in two weeks...Is that five dvd thing still in? —Davekhuh

  • Yep. As noted above in under our Specials: Any day! Get five library titles for 7.99+tax. —E.C.H.

2010-10-25 00:36:45   I visited 49'er video on Saturday night for the first time in almost 2 years. It is still a superb store with great selection and many obscure titles (relative to more mainstream stores), but I was appalled by the the lack of customer service skills (and people skills, in general) possessed by the young woman behind the counter. No eye contact, gave a snarky answer to my question and was obviously bothered by my presence (even when I was handing her cash). I have fond memories of a super-friendly, helpful and informative team of employees. I miss them and don't plan on patronizing this business if I have to continually encounter rude service by the current staff. Boo. —AlvinoGina

2010-12-28 18:40:34   We love 49er for the selection of old movies, the fact that they carry VHS, the interesting way movies are displayed (e.g. the Top 100 Store Picks are excellent), and the general high knowledge level of the staff. It's GREAT to have an indie movie store in Davis.

However, in the past year almost 100% of the DVDs we have rented have been scratched and have skipped. Sometimes we could fix it by washing them and other times they completely refused to play. When we mentioned this to the proprietor while renting some more discs, he muttered 'We'll resurface these for you' and put our chosen discs into the store's cleaning machines which — in our experience — have done absolutely nothing to prevent the problem.

As much as we love the whole 49er experience otherwise, it is not going to work if the movies don't play....

—SusanHarrison

  • We do do what we can to preserve the life of DVDs and offer credit/replacements when a customer has a complaint about movies not working properly. We also remove DVDs from circulation when it is apparent that the films will no longer run in our own machines. Some customers' players are more finicky than others (especially blu-ray machines and laptops). One customer who had had frequent complaints recently mentioned to me how they picked up a cheapo model for $20 or so over at an outlet store to replace their machine and hasn't had a problem since. All I can recommend with your situation is to be sure to let us know WHENEVER you have an issue with a movie not playing properly and request a replacement or credit to your account when this occurs. —E.C.H.

2011-01-09 22:53:47   I'm sad that it's going, but between Netflix, iTunes, RedBox, Amazon, and other competitors, it seems like the era of the video rental store is probably over, so it's probably a good time for the owner to cash out... —IDoNotExist

2011-01-16 15:18:50   49'er closing? Dang, I don't mean to be old school but I don't see this as progress. Browse titled on line now? Where is the atmosphere in that? —DavidFeliz

2011-01-17 09:25:51   Crap. I really love this place but am sad its closing. —jsbmeb

2011-02-14 16:46:17   So sad that 49'er is closing. It's been a Davis staple and an asset to the community. —EliseKane

2011-02-14 16:58:04   IT'S CLOSING???? Whhhhhhhhhyyyyyy God Whyyyyyyyyyyy!?!??? —ScottMeehleib

2011-02-14 17:41:16   looks to be closing soon

employees tried to buy it but dude seems like he would rather sell inventory and retire —StevenDaubert

  • Just to clarify... None of the employees have attempted to buy the store as we do not have anywhere near the amount of money on hand to afford the inventory as well as pay the lease on the location. There were a couple of interested parties who did consider buying the business but they, too, could not justify trying starting up the business at cost in this economy. One must consider that there were over 30,000 titles to take over ranging anywhere from $2-$150 in value (the average value probably being around $7). To purchase the collection could easily be as much as 200 grand. Add to that the location's lease (this is a HUGE location when it comes to the available square footage). Additionally, one may add on whatever cost the owner might tack on for rights to the name of the business itself. Anywho, there's little to no way a few college-aged Davisites could pool their funds together to grab this business before it shutdown and somehow avoid future bankruptcy. —E.C.H.

2011-03-19 17:18:43   I am sad 49er video store closed. I remembered they were open until 1 am and had a large selection of domestic and international movies on DVD and tape. I was able to find a few international movies there and rented them. They may not had the latest movies in large quantity but provided alternate selection. —SimonFung

2011-03-22 13:25:34   Lots of things have changed in Davis in the last couple years, but this is the one change that honestly changed my level of attachment to this town. What a bummer. This place was everything an indy video store is supposed to be, and there aren't so many of them left. —calvin2

2011-03-27 13:23:26   bought several movies when they were going under. Pretty expensive if you ask me. 2 out of the 5 we bought were severely scratched. One, a fairly new movie, couldn't play more than 1/3 of the entire movie! Trying to contact them so I'm not stuck with expensive pieces of worthless plastic. Thought they weren't going under til March 31st, but their phone is already disconnected. frustrating! —Sabrina

2011-04-05 22:21:27   49er was a wonderful store, but there was still plenty of room for improvement. I worked as the manager of the store for several years and had intimate knowledge of the business. If anyone has the start-up money and wants to try their hand at opening their own I would be happy to lend my advice and possibly my services. 49er remained incredibly successful up until the owner's retirement this year. Stonegate video is still in town and I know Bizzaro World is trying their hand at rentals, but that still amounts to very little competition in terms of brick and mortar video rental stores. The Davis community deserves a first class rental store and it is a shame that there won't be one for the foreseeable future. —JakeJames

2011-08-04 16:50:56   Back in the 80's, if you didn't have a membership, you'd have to put a deposit down of like $80 for a VHS rental. I remember when "Back to the Future" came out on video, they got 50 copies in... all got rented out in an hour. Remember when you couldn't buy movies, only rent them? Guess I'm old ($#%!) —OldDavis73

2011-08-20 13:27:21   I am really sad these people are gone. I honestly think that as nice as it is to have Netflix around, that there are certain things you lose out when you don't have a video store. I remember in my first year at Davis, I had to rent a movie for film studies. I neither had the option to wait around for Netflix, or get it from Blockbuster. Blockbuster no longer had the movie either, which made 49er a great asset. I will miss this place. It truly was amazing. —davisaggie1

2011-11-17 09:26:46   I just got an email from 49er again. I was hopeful and thought maybe they had reopened, but it does not look that way. How strange to get the email again though.... —LolaTorney

2012-02-15 23:06:06   what year did it open? —davisrox

2022-02-15 12:45:46   Does anyone have any other pictures of the shirts and what they say? The back is obv the logo and 'an independent video store', and the front says 'fierce service', but I cant make out what it says above or beneath that. I'm interested in reproducing the shirt for fun. I've redone the logo already, just need the finishing touches! —JorrenThornton

Add tags