SEATTLE — Scarecrow Video, the nonprofit video store in Seattle’s University District, will remain open after all.
The store has purchased the building it occupies on Roosevelt Way Northeast.
The owner says they have the world’s largest publicly accessible physical media collection. The archive contains nearly 155,000 titles. Many of those titles may never become available on streaming platforms.
“This milestone ensures that Scarecrow can remain an iconic hub of creativity, connection and community for generations to come,” said Vicky Tamaru, Scarecrow Video Archive’s Engagement and Strategic Partnership Director. “Owning our home allows us to invest boldly in the future while honoring the past that so many people helped build.”
Merely one year ago, Scarecrow Video faced the threat of permanent closure and loss of its irreplaceable archive. In 2024, the organization launched the S.O.S. (Save Our Scarecrow) fundraising campaign, which ultimately raised $1.8M to sustain operations and invest in staff, equipment needs, and software infrastructure.
In early 2025, the building’s owners notified Scarecrow Video that they were placing the property on the market. The leadership and board members scrambled to gather personal loans to secure the down payment before developers could purchase the property.
“We still have a long fundraising road ahead of us, between paying off the purchase financing and much-needed improvements to make our collection and public programming even more engaging and accessible to everyone,” said Lacey Leavitt Gray, Board President of Scarecrow. “For today, I’m thrilled that now we can do it from a place of security, with gratitude to our community and our (now former) landlords that we’ll be able to stay—and grow—in this beloved building we call home.”
Since 1988, Scarecrow Video has been deeply beloved by generations of film lovers, artists, educators and creatives.