Ray's Video was a video store in Chico. The original location on Walnut Street (next to Ray's Liquors) has since been taken over by All the Best Video. They rented VHS tapes and video games for the consoles that were currently released (NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, etc.). In addition, you could rent VCRs, camcorders and other electronic equipment for your video needs.

They opened a second location on East Avenue, which was more than just a video store. It was Ray's Video and Family Fun Center, and featured entertainment options for kids of all ages. There were pool and air hockey tables, a giant ball-pit for climbing through and video game stations to rent hourly for use on site. Renting the console gave the user the privilege of using the store's rental games while playing. This was a popular place for kids' birthday parties, as there were so many options for things to keep children entertained.

Ray's was known for having a huge selection of videos (especially at the larger East Avenue store), especially more obscure titles. If a video was to be found anywhere in Chico, it would be at Ray's. When they went out of business, the entire stock of videos went for sale, many of them went to competitor All the Best and the rest went into the hands of Chicoans.

The former owner of Ray's, Bernie Richter, was well known in Chico. He eventually became a state Assemblyman for California.

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Comments

2010-06-01 13:08:40   me and my two older brothers used to go there growing up, it was the coolest place in the entire world! so retro, I loved it! but then they closed it down when I was I think.. 11 or 12, then I was sad.I still wish it was open so I could go back and relive old memories, and go with my friends and be soo totally 80's/90's! —69.110.248.93

2012-03-28 08:30:57   Loved going here for the video game stations! My grandpa would take my cousins and I there for all the genesis and SNES we could get! Good memories! —166.205.136.92