Le Video

I’m wondering if there is a way to contact Catherine T., the owner… any email address or phone number… my husband and I frequented the store for many years. Unfortunately, my husband died a few months ago, and I’ve been somewhat out of the loop, and today, when I walked over there to check on our account to see if we had any credits left, that was the first I knew that the store was closed. I’m hoping it’s not too late to connect with someone there. I, too, am very sorry that it has closed, as we were studying Spanish, and always found Spanish films to watch. thanks.

It’s Christmas Eve, and all through the house, not a movie could play, because Le Video closed!
So disappointed — this was an institution, and where else could you find all of Ozu, Kurosawa and every other major director!
I wish the owners the best, and truly hope they can reincarnate the collection somewhere.

I’m not surprised they went out of business, thier idea of a bargain was for you to pay them $ 50 in advance for a «package deal» that wasn’t much of a package. The whining was a turn off too, my family often were given a sense like it was our job to keep them in business instead of theirs to find business solutions that worked (have a bake sale, w/​e it takes, but begging is unprofessional). Le Video didn’t run prices to compare with various on-​line services. You literally would be doing them a favor to shop there.
I really, really wanted to support them but I just did not have the funds and I don’t think I was alone. If they had done some cheap deals, we would’ve been on it. More customers in small amount might’ve helped, but clearly wasn’t desired, not even at the end. OK.
Stuff with their logo on it for a fair price might’ve helped keep the word out there too.
Oh well.
Me and my kind were not to be found in the hipster staffed bookstore with $ 40 moleskin diaries. Not that I’m not grateful to Green Apple, but that was not my idea of a place to «browse» (it fit in with the yuppy ‘hood though). You’ll find me at the Clement Street bookstore, although I wish both GA & LV had a search engine so that you’d know w/​o calling if they had certain things in stock. It wouldn’t have to be perfect, but something would help. I can order off Amazon and be 100% certain something is in stock. See what I’m saying?
I came here when I needed a hard copy, needed it NOW, or it was hard to find. Sometimes, with foreign flicks, you’d get a fair deal on that rental. Long hours were a perk too (though they understandably had to shorten them). Staff could be knowledgeable and could also be judgmental/​snobbish about your selections. Frankly, I didn’t much care if they approved or not.
But yeah, it was an icon, so I’m still sorry to see it go. Sayonora.

so sorry to read on the le video website that they are officially closed as of November 28, 2015.
this was the best video store in san francisco since it opened in 1980.
may the staff and owner find happier times in their next adventures

We need a «Healthy Sweets Le Film* Coffee Shop» opened on West Portal! (Name change of Le Video collection to indicate fresh start.) and bring back all those friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful le Video staff! I hope they are all well!

I was looking for a S. Korean film. Couldn’t find it. I called Le Video (spoke with Dave), and they didn’t have it. But, they ordered just for me! I even received an email confirmation from the owner (Catherine) to confirm it would be there. I arrived ahead of schedule. Thanks so much for the great service!
I hadn’t been to Le Video since Green Apple moved in downstairs. What a fabulous place to visit! My kindergartner is begging to go back! Insisted on knowing when we were returning the movie.
You have two new fans!

They have a lot of stuff, however converting to a book store downstairs. Was not what I expected 9:45pm Oct 18^th a Saturday nite.
Le Video should post their real hrs. We all have better things to do than, waste time

After the re-​opening of Le Video as the upstairs of Green Apple books, I’ve stopped by twice and both times I still found a great selection that actually seems even easier to go through now. I will still continue to come here as much as I did before, if not more given that my favorite bookstore is downstairs and (bonus) they sell vinyl :-) Note: both Green Apple Books and Le Video are still dog friendly — so my dog still counts it as her favorite place in the Inner Sunset.

Wow, some of the other reviewers on here clearly haven’t read any of the numerous articles about Le Video that came out in SF Weekly, SF Bay Guardian, and Time Magazine. This place has busted its butt to stay open in the Netflix/​Hulu/​Amazon era. They had to do something because it was going to close and renting out the bottom to a bookstore made the most sense. Now we have a Green Apple Books and Le Video’s awesome collection all in one place. What’s not to love?
Yes, it’s still a work in progress but the DVDs are in there in the back if you really want something specific. Give them a chance before bashing them as «back in name only.»

A lot less fun to come here now that they are a bookstore/​video rental, with the video rental portion being more of an afterthought that was put upstairs like the redheaded step child with his room in the attic.

I can’t wait for Le Video to re-​open this week!
I went in after the remodeling and fell in love with Green Apple Books downstairs (Le Video will now be upstairs). Everyone there was so friendly. Green Apple Books has my favorite stationary, greeting cards, puzzles, and of course you can’t forget about the books! This collaboration between Le Video and Green Apple is what 9^th/​Irving St. needed and I cannot wait to check out the movies once it’s all remodeled!

Love it. They had a huge, interesting selection and the store is organized in a good way. They also have good discounts. I really hope they stay in business.

They have everything! EVERYTHING! And the staff is so knowledgeable. Most recently, I came in and asked for a super rare TV movie and the guy behind the counter didn’t even need to look it up! Told me exactly where it was!
Le Video, I love you forever.

You don’t come here for low prices, and you don’t come here for the latest Hollywood crap, but you do come here for an unsurpassed selection of obscure, art, classic, foreign, indie, alternate, experimental, and just about any other kind of non-​mainstream video anywhere in the Bay Area. Add to that a highly knowledgeable staff of hardcore cinemaphiles, and you’re got a winning experience.

This place flat out saved me and I have so many fond and fantastic memories of coming here and renting the crap out of movies.
When I had moved to Inner Sunset I made a point to tell myself I was going to get out and walk every day, just to get out of the house and also to give me something to do. On one particular day, I remember feeling super blue and aimless, I was literally wandering around the neighborhood reconsidering my move to San Francisco and my life and how bored I was when I stumbled upon Le Video– a shining beacon of EVERY MOVIE EVER. Suddenly the hours upon hours I spent in college renting and watching movies from the library came flooding back to me– and here it was, even BETTER and just blocks from my house! I immediately went in, signed up and rented three movies. And then subsequently came back as often as I could. I remember just being so freaking impressed with their selections… specifically I remember being so impressed they had a copy of Ken Russell’s The Devils… that was the first time I saw that movie too.
Man, what a great freaking store. I still even carry around my membership card in my wallet, this place left such a great impression. If I still lived in San Francisco you can bet your ass I would hand them all of my money to keep them from closing. That said, if they have a Kickstarter I will absolutely donate, distance be damned.
You’re great Le Video!

It’s really hard to get behind a business model that’s been taken over by online streaming and Red Box kiosks.
Why would I pay $ 4 (plus a $ 5 membership fee) to watch Love Potion No. 9 when it’s probably on Crackle, Hulu, or Netflix for free or a monthly rate? …or free on any number of streaming websites. Having said that, it’s super fun to browse all the titles from yester-​year. The staff are both and pleasant and seemingly clueless, as they were in movie places like this in the 1990s. Lines move so freaking slowly.
I came in here to get a Wii game cleaned in their resurfacer, which was, actually, an unmitigated disaster. They said it’d work fine in their DVD resurfacer and they could do it for less than $ 5, which was fine with me. When the employee pulled it out of the machine 15 – 20 minutes later, he had a sheepish look and hesitated to hand it back to me.
«I’ve gotta tell you,» he said. «It looks worse than when I put it in there.»
And it did. It looked like someone had put on the disc one of those spinning tops that has a pen attached to it to make designs. The solution? «Let’s put it in for longer and at a stronger setting!» I figured it was already ruined, so I let him.
This time game disc looked like its data had been bleached right off the edges. He looked apologetic and gave me a number to call the manager.
The game never was definitely toast when I got it home. I never called the store about it – I knew it was a risk bringing it in to begin with. And they were nice enough about it. Hard to tell, though, if they would have been nice about reimbursing the $ 30 I spent replacing it.

What makes this place awesome in my book is the staff. You’d think that it’d be prime breeding ground for snobby elitist hipsters who openly scorn your choices, but instead they employ friendly, personable, and helpful people. Prime example — I was looking for a video for my girlfriend and I to watch the other day.
Me: «I need a recommendation for a sci-​fi film for someone who hates sci-​fi (me) and a sci-​fi nerd to watch together (her).»
Staff: «What about A, B, and C? Looks like they’re all in stock too.»
And I didn’t fall asleep during a single one of his recs!

Some backstory for me and Le Video: I took a Surrealism & Dada class at SFSU in ’08-’09 and we were told to watch Jean Cocteau’s «Blood of a Poet.» Our instructor told us of a small, reclusive video store in the Inner Sunset, called Le Video, where we would be sure to find a copy of the film. I have always appreciated that referral; had I never walked into this place, I would maybe still not know of its existence.
I grew up with The Movie Groove in Redwood City, where I experienced A Hard Days Night for the first time as a child. There is magic in independent movie rental shops that I never felt at Blockbuster and certainly don’t get with Netflix. Last night left me wanting to watch Midnight in Paris with a friend, and upon finding that, I also discovered a VHS about irezumi and Takashi Miike’s remake of Hara-​Kiri. There are films here that you can’t get anywhere else, especially the ones that will never make it to DVD/​the internet. If you get the chance, watch The California Reich, a 70’s documentary (VHS) about Neo-​Nazis that lived in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. They have an amazing animé selection (pretty much all of Leiji Matsumoto’s universe exists in this building) for those of you like myself that grew up watching 80’s-90’s animé before you could buy boxsets at BestBuy.
Support this store!!! I want to take my children here so I can rent The Chipmonk Adventure/​Serendipity the Pink Dragon for them the way my mom used to do for me. :)

I have been coming here since I was young. It’s an amazing place. Great place to rent movies and buy used movies.
1. This place is organized like no other movie rental place on the Earth! They have a superhero section, sections by actors, sections by country. Amazing
2. Love the staff and they have amazing recommendations.
3. Huge selection of tv shows
4. They have package movie rental deals so if you buy a package it’s cheaper than paying every time you rent something. Trust me you will rent a ton.
5. Amazing foreign movie selection
5. The second floor is all action and scifi an stuff. Amazing I mean organized by swords and sorcery, magical creatures, dystopian futures. Amazing
6. Kids movies are organized in such a neat way too!
7. There is the new movie wall they even print out a list of new movies with reviews and they are so easy to locate.
I love this place. Trust me rent movies here it’s so worth it. You will make discoveries of such amazing things. Bring at home movie nights back!

If you want confused organization, esoteric films, and attendants replete with numerous piercings, this is your video store. If you actually want to _​find_​a current video that you might want to watch, run, do not walk, away from Le Video.
Seriously, while Le Video has an extensive video selection, a mere mortal cannot decipher their filing scheme; the only way to actually find a video, is to ask one of the Gen Xer attendants. The beginning of a relaxing evening curling up to watch a video this does not make.