Sacramento will soon have a brand-new video rental store. Does that mean physical media is back?

Very Good Video’s champions believe that taking a trip to the video store is an important piece of the film-watching experience.

The co-owners of Very Good Video aren’t starting their video rental business on a hunch. Recent data and their successful $30,000 Kickstarter campaign indicate that physical media is on the rise, especially among Gen Z.

Vinyl sales grew for a 19th consecutive year in 2025, and 12 percent of U.S. recorded music revenue was from physical media purchases. And while streaming services remain vastly more popular, a niche market among young adults is slowing the decline in DVD and Blu-ray purchases.

Print, too, is seeing a resurgence, with some exclusively online publications returning to newsstands and reinvigorated sales for luxury and niche magazines.

We investigated what’s driving the demand for analog and where you can participate in the trend in and around Sacramento.

– Dakota Morlan, managing editor

It’s the Best Season to See Elk by the Seashore

On the Tomales Point Trail, you can see tule elk on a peninsula with views of the Pacific Ocean, Tomales Bay and Bodega Bay.

Inside Sacramento’s Dolly Parton and Tim Curry ‘Tribute Economy’

Many independent Sacramento businesses found ways to turn grief over their deaths into honest profit by providing services and products dedicated to Dolly Parton and Tim Curry.

September Used to Feel Like a Fresh Start. What Happened? | Essay

September can arrive with tears. And if you let the psychologists mess with your mind, there are also neurological and biological phenomena to deal with. Summing up all of the above, September can be a mood-altering experience.

Some recommendations from our editors

Judy: One of the most fun events I’ve been involved with for the past three years as editor of Comstock’s is Jimboy’s media taco eating contest. The contest pits TV, radio and print media against each other to see who can chomp down seven tacos and two churros first. I always try my hardest to give it a go, but my male counterparts finish before I’m done with my second taco. Props to Sactown Sports’ Chris Verlod for winning this year’s trophy, and a big thanks to Jimboy’s for giving each of us a generous donation to our favorite charity; mine being the Orangevale-Fair Oaks Food Bank.

Jennifer: I’m still on my French New Wave kick when it comes to movies, and this week I watched one that’s definitely going up there among my favorites: “Léon Morin, Priest.” I tend to prefer films written by women, which was somewhat rare in the 1960s — but this one is based on a novel by the female author Béatrix Beck. Starring a beguilingly intellectual Emmanuelle Riva alongside young Jean-Paul Belmondo at his most charismatic, the film explores power, morality and culpability through a uniquely French-Catholic lens.

Odds and ends

Water scarcity is driving Central Valley farmers to innovate, while abundance yields regulation. Our September issue digs into the paradoxes of California agriculture and the future of farming. Read it now on your computer, phone or tablet.

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