Local DVD Shop Knows How to Get Along

Streaming video has changed the way we watch movies. The days of perusing the franchise video stores are dwindling. The Scotts Valley Blockbuster is long gone, and the Santa Cruz store is on its way out. Netflix has changed the game and taken over the cyber video world.

So how is it then that a small DVD rental store in a small town has managed to stand up against such a mega-movie mogul?

Linda Walton, owner of DVD to Go in Scotts Valley, says she isn’t even sure she has the answer to that.

However, her loyal following of customers may have a few ideas as to why. Reviews on Yelp say such things as, “Linda and the few other employees treat everyone like family,” “The owner and all who work there are very friendly and as good with conversation as they are about their wares,” and “DVD to Go is where it’s at if you live and rent your DVD's in Scotts Valley. Linda (the owner) is sooooo sweet and helpful and will buy any DVDs you want to rent!”

Walton does concede that Scotts Valley is a special place where people like to support local business. And even though she feels that “Netflix is a good thing for some people” and recognizes that a lot of her customers have it, she may have a handle on something that the big guys can’t grasp—movies are a shared and social experience.

“It’s a social event for a lot people,” Walton said. “Like when you come in here on a Friday night, people know each other. They bring their dogs and, I mean, it’s kind of fun.”

Walton opened DVD to Go in November 2002, but she was building her customer base way before then.

She has always loved the movies, so a part-time job in a San Francisco video store was a perfect fit for her. That was in 1992.

Shortly after that, she began commuting to Scotts Valley to help manage a video rental store called Our Video.

“I just fell in love with it here,” she said.

And eventually she and her family moved to Scotts Valley, putting into place a chain of events that would land her where she is today.

“At that time, DVDs were just beginning to come in,” Walton explained. “At Our Video, we had, like, 5,000 tapes and maybe 100 DVDs. Right around that time, the owner was wanting to retire.”

That’s when she decided to open her own store.

“I had seen this place for rent,” she said.

She knew the rent was something she could handle, so the day after Our Video closed, Walton was in business for herself.

“When I opened, I had two sections of new releases. I had three shelves of old releases. I made $12 my first day,” she said. “I’ve still got that $12.”

Now, as the proprietor of her own show, she has managed to retain a lot of customers from her days at Our Video.

Although she says the hardest thing about owning her own business is the lack of time off, she’s careful not to complain.

“I’ll never retire,” she said. “This is the first time in my life that I haven’t worked for somebody else, since I was 16. It’s kind of hard to describe what that’s like. I like it. It’s nice.”

And as a little fish in a very big pond, Walton proves she’s got what it takes to survive.

“I just feel like when you’ve got a job like this, you have to leave your bad mood or personal problems behind when you’re at work,” she said. “People can go somewhere else. And I want them to come here. I do have a good relationship with a lot of my customers.”

DVD to Go is at 5171 Scotts Valley Dr. For more information, call 831-438-0469.