Why people are buying DVDs again in San Antonio
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Blu-ray DVDs for sale at Movie Exchange - Bandera in Leon Valley in San Antonio. Photo: Megan Stringer/Axios
DVDs are making a big comeback in San Antonio.
Why it matters: People are shunning streaming algorithms to create their own physical media libraries — and it's good business for some local stores.
By the numbers: Adult DVD rentals from the San Antonio Public Library jumped nearly 39%, from more than 195,000 in 2022 to more than 270,500 in 2025, per checkout data shared with Axios.
- Adult Blu-ray checkouts nearly doubled in that time frame, increasing 93%. Children's Blu-ray checkouts jumped 60%.
- Regular children's DVD checkouts are up 55% from 2022.
- Combined physical circulation of books, DVDs and CDs is down from 2019, showing DVDs' resilience.
Zoom in: San Antonians are also buying DVDs. Half Price Books saw a 20% increase in DVD sales at its San Antonio locations between its 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 fiscal years, the Texas-based company tells Axios.
- Local DVD sales were up another 13% the year after that.
What they're saying: "It's the hunt, the find, sharing it — it's all part of the process," Matt Dalton, executive vice president of operations and IT for Half Price Books, tells Axios.
- "There's a younger generation shopping our stores, and I can see them get excited when they're flipping through the bins or going through the aisles and finding that thing and holding it up. It's pretty exciting."
- "There's just something very personal about the process of finding the physical item."
Dalton says he never got rid of his DVD collection when streaming went mainstream.
- He loves that he can access movies that haven't been digitized, and watch his favorites without purchasing a new streaming subscription.
State of streaming: The early days of streaming offered relief from expensive cable packages. But that's not the case anymore, as consumers are paying more for several different services.
- Building your own media collection offers guaranteed access to the titles you want.
The big picture: It's not just DVDs — people everywhere are clambering to return to physical media in rejection of all things digital. In a world where our books, movies, TV shows, music and more are all available through a screen, people are longing for something tangible and feeling nostalgic for what was.
- The renaissance is especially embraced by members of Gen Z, the oldest of whom can remember wandering the Blockbuster aisles as kids.
What's next: San Antonio's Free Blockbuster, which operates similarly to a little free library, is reopening at The Shops at Bandera Road on Nov. 21. It first opened near San Pedro Avenue and Loop 410 about a year ago, meeting demand for DVDs.
Tell us: Have you revived your DVD library in recent years? Email [email protected] to tell us why.