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The DVD rental store in the basement of Houston Hall opened early this fall, following construction over the summer. The store, which is operated by Penn Student Agencies, offers over 600 titles at $2 each, payable with PennCash, cash and bursar bill.

With around 650 titles, the new Penn Student Agencies' DVD rental store in the basement of Houston Hall is now up and running.

Over 300 students have already rented from the store, according to employees.

"We've had quite a few returning customers," employee and College senior Laura Vago said. "We're hoping it goes up -- we need to do a lot more advertising."

Originally conceived in April, the rental store was constructed over the summer when PSA -- the student-run business that operates the cafe in Williams Hall and provides laundry and care package services -- took over the game room across from Houston Market.

"Students have reacted very, very positively," said College junior Tracy Turo, the store director. "It's very convenient and accessible."

Students echoed these sentiments, praising the store for its convenient location.

"I think it's cool, especially since the Video Library is pretty far," College senior Christy Green said.

Located at 4040 Locust St., the Video Library -- which offers over 30,000 titles -- has not been affected by the new store, according to Video Library employees.

Prices at the Video Library range from $1 to $3 a night, while at the PSA store, all titles are $2 and payable with PennCash, cash or bursar bill.

Calling the Houston Hall venue "a little expensive," College freshman Caitlin Hartigan said she used the PSA-run store for her film class.

"I probably wouldn't rent regular movies," she said, noting that her friends mostly download movies from the Internet.

Currently the store buys new releases each week and expects to start carrying PlayStation games in the future.

Yet some students around campus had not heard of the store.

Noting that the idea "seems reasonable," first-year graduate student in philosophy Jason Rheins was unaware of the store.

"Knowing myself, I'll probably forget it's there after this," he said upon learning about the rental location.

PSA members also hope to draw customers with snack options and Coke products.

And according to Turo, "There will be a lot more things coming.... We're going to start selling ice cream."

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