Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee Store Going Up for Sale

The building home to historic video store Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee could be put up for sale as early as next week meaning relocating may be in the picture, says Donavan Brandt, son of the shop’s late namesake.

In business at 5006 Vineland Ave. since 1969, the property was initially on the market from fall 2011 until this spring, when the younger Brandt said he became dissatisfied with his realtor’s performance.

Now, he’s looking to Marcus and Millichap to close the deal, which is just one of a few ideas for earning himself a huge payday.

“I haven't even listed it officially and I already have a $1 million dollar offer,” Brandt said.

He says developers are mainly interested in buying his lot, in conjunction with the two adjacent lots, in order to build a larger property across all three of the spaces. A single-family home and a foreign auto service shop, British Cars USA occupy the two other lots respectively. 

The three lots are zoned for both commercial and residential development.

“You're zoned for five stories here, so somebody could really, if they got these three pieces of property, put up a mammoth of a building here.” Brandt said, “Somebody wants to tie them together by buying all three, which is smart.”

But Brandt may not sell the property if he is able to execute a business deal concerning his 22-ton collection of photographs and movie posters that date back about 100 years.

His family acquired the photos and posters when they bought the Los Angeles Herald's photo morgue and two of the National Screen's warehouses. The National Screen is a defunct company that used to provide all US movie theaters with their posters, lobby cards, and photos.

“If Ken Burns were to come in here, I really think he would be beyond ecstatic and wouldn't even know how to take it all in.” Brandt said. “Any Ken Burns documentary that you can think of, we would have photographs that would highlight those documentaries quite well.”

Brandt estimates that the collection is worth around $30 million, but doubts that he will be able to find a buyer at that price. His father’s massive collection of old movies would remain untouched.  

He says hopes to sell the photos and has several potential deals pending. Interested parties include an auction house, an independent collector, and the Getty Center.

If any of the deals come to fruition, Brandt plans to keep his property, buy the sought-after adjacent lots, and relocate to a smaller store.

“[If I buy the properties] I'll develop it and make the money off of it instead of some big developer making the money off it,” he said. “I wouldn't mind having a three story building here, with a-- I don't care-- a Starbucks and a Carl's Jr. on the bottom, a couple of offices." 

No matter what exact fate awaits, Brandt will continue to operate the store launched by his father, who passed away last year at the age of 90.

“If I do sell it, it will only be because we'll be moving someplace close and doing it there,” Brandt said. “We don't want to go away.”