More than 40 years. Some 60,000 DVDs. And hundreds of CDs, VHS tapes, video games, vinyl records, and more.
They all add up to Video Horizons in downtown Astoria, Oregon, established by Neal Cummings (’79 Arch.). Cummings owned and operated what he calls the Pacific Northwest’s largest for-profit video rental store for 41 years. Last December, he announced the sale of the store and its collection, organized by category: classics, suspense, Disney, The Goonies.
(Courtesy The Astorian)
The famed 1985 adventure flick, filmed in and around Astoria, follows kids as they search for pirate loot. The historical home where they find old treasure map sits uphill from the town’s last video rental store—and one of the last around, well, anywhere.
Video stores began opening in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After college, Cummings worked in video rentals at 7-Eleven and National Video, an early chain, before borrowing money from his dad to go into business for himself in 1984—a year before Blockbuster. His initial inventory: 600 VHS tapes.
Among the titles are movies filmed in Astoria, such as Kindergarten Cop, The Ring Two, Free Willy, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, and Short Circuit. In recent years, Cummings had been growing his inventory by buying remaining stock from video rental stores that were closing. Customers also donated DVDs and VHS tapes. “My goal is to save physical media of all forms,” Cummings told the Oregonian in June 2024.
The appeal of physical media still runs across generations—from nostalgic Gen Xers reminiscing about their youth to Gen Zers interested in the novelty.
Cummings is no new release. “I’ve been thinking about (selling the store and retiring) for probably a decade,” he told the Astorian in December 2025. “It just took a long time to find the right person—someone who would keep it local—because I was concerned about my customers and keeping it in Astoria.”
December 31, 2025, was his last day at Video Horizons, which reopened under new ownership—including a former employee—January 6, 2026.