Business

This is what it’s like in Boston’s last DVD rental store

The VU Cinema Cafe in Jamaica Plain has become a community staple for movie lovers — and coffee lovers too.

Customers browse the shelves at The VU Cinema Cafe in Jamaica Plain on April 18. Emilia Wisniewski/Boston.com

April 22, 2025

3 minutes to read

Kevin Koppes moves swiftly to brew a coffee order he remembers even before a customer gives it to him. He makes effortless conversation while the machine whirs in the background.

This isn’t a coffee shop, though — the walls and shelves are lined with DVDs with classics like “Kill Bill” and “Good Will Hunting” as well as new releases like “The Substance.”

“I love the whole aesthetic,” said Rachel Crowell, 23, a nursing student at Northeastern University. “It just makes me feel really nostalgic.”

The VU Cinema Cafe in Jamaica Plain is the last standing DVD rental store in the Boston area, but it also provides freshly-brewed coffee and a customer experience that has made it a community staple.

Koppes, 43, has managed The VU for over 10 years and has amassed over 17,000 film titles in that time. About 4,000 movies are available for rental and are categorized by filmmaker, new releases, and genre.

Over 4,000 movie titles are available to rent at The VU. – Emilia Wisniewski/Boston.com

Koppes moved to Massachusetts from Iowa City in 2013 and quickly found and frequented The Video Underground — which hosted regular movie screenings coupled with DVD rentals.

“It was awesome that there was still a video store [around],” Koppes said. “It was neat that it was aware of its differentness.”

That same year, Koppes learned that the store would be shutting down — and he wanted to save it. After a change of ownership, a relocation, and a name change, The VU at 3203 Washington St. was born in 2014.

The VU uses a subscription model, offering three tiers of subscriptions that range from $20 to $60 a month and vary in terms of the number of movies members can rent at once, access to subscriber events, and how many people can rent under one account.

Ali Motame from Brockton owns a DVD player and visits the store every month for titles he doesn’t have in his own personal collection. Motame, 24, first visited The VU last July and rented out “Mullholland Drive” and “American Beauty.”

“This is my favorite place in Massachusetts,” Motame said. “I’ve been to the other video stores in deep Western Mass. … but [The VU] has all the good s— because they don’t let it go.”

Motame said the access to movies that cannot be found on streaming services and Koppes’s movie knowledge are what keeps him coming back.

For Koppes, he said he believes being “decent and real” with customers is crucial and wants them to feel “rewarded” with quality service and good price points.

“Having people on your side and vouching for your business, and even vouching for you personally, it makes a really big difference in a place like this,” Koppes said.

Kevin Koppes, manager at The VU, makes a pour over coffee on April 18. – Emilia Wisniewski/Boston.com

One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Koppes figured he could use his barista experience and make cafe drinks for customers in addition to renting out DVDs. The store is now equipped with a six-kilogram roaster and offers monthly flavors alongside classic drinks.

“Anyone that does retail right now knows that adding a service is a really big part of navigating brick-and-mortar of any kind,” Koppes said. “Coffee seemed like a natural fit.”

The VU has developed a reputation for its drinks around the neighborhood, since it has grown more popular over the last six months, Koppes said. David Meropol, 41, and Choon Yong, 37, moved into a nearby condo in 2021 and have been regularly ordering coffee ever since.

“Besides the coffee … I love Kevin and I love his staff because they create such a fun and welcoming and joking atmosphere,” said Meropol, a nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital.

While Meropol and Yong don’t rent out movies from The VU, Meropol said he likes to “bounce ideas” for movie recommendations off Koppes, who has a “great grasp” of film.

Koppes said it’s “rewarding” to do the work he does and to be able to meet people who share a love for movies and coffee with him.

“It’s nice that even though no one’s getting rich doing this, I’m still able to work in a place with stuff that I really enjoy,” Koppes said. “The day I stop getting a charge out of it is probably when this is over.”