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T.L.A. Video Locust Street to close its doors in September

News Philly Film — 09 August 2011 » Written by
T.L.A. Video Locust Street to close its doors in September

Those who have noticed that the Locust Street T.L.A. recently lost both its retail section and the “id” in the “video” sign probably saw this coming.  The closing of the 20ish-year-old flagship T.L.A. location marks the end of video rental in Center City aside from Spruce Street Video on 12th Street, which is still hanging in there in its basement location.  The proliferation of film distribution via OnDemand/Netflix/torrents has obviously taken its toll on the brick and mortar shop, not to mention the 1520 Locust Street location’s $17K a month rent.  Film vultures can begin picking the carcass when the inventory sale begins on Thursday, August 25.  The store will shut its doors for good on Tuesday, September 6.  Don’t count a good video store clerk out though, for I have it on good authority that something good shall rise out of this like a phoenix heading south…

The Bryn Mawr T.L.A. location is also reportedly seeking a new tenant for its space thus revealing that its demise is also inevitable.

Cinedelphia will be posting interviews with longtime T.L.A. Video employees in the coming weeks.  Until then, I wish you all the best of luck, your late fees and “there’s a drop box up front”‘s will be sorely missed.

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About Author

Eric Bresler

Eric is the Founder/Site Editor of Cinedelphia.com whose additional activities are numerous: Director/Curator of the Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art (PhilaMOCA), founder of Tokyo No Records, the brain behind Video Pirates, and active local film programmer including the Unknown Japan screening series. He's served as a TLA Video Manager, Philadelphia Film Society Managing Director, and Adjunct Professor in Cinema Studies at Drexel University. He is shy and modest. Email Eric.

(4) Readers Comments

  1. Herbie

    August 9, 2011 at 10:43 pm

    Bummer, though I never frequented this one as much as the now-closed Spring Garden and (close to) South Street locations.

    Reply

  2. Kisa Charles

    August 13, 2011 at 4:14 am

    I worked there for years and before that, a customer. Never met a nicer, cooler shop. Educational and fun! Completely heartbroken. I’ll miss you Vid2- until I die. Xx

    Reply
  3. August 13, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    Same here, five year customer turned six year employee (VID5). The stores will be dearly missed by many.

    Reply
  4. August 16, 2011 at 7:08 am

    I was Locust St TLA store manager during the great blizzard of 2003. Center City was virtually shut down for two days. Not us. We did record business as seemingly every resident in the area came in for a movie and a chat. What I’ll remember about TLA is the camaraderie between the eclectic neighborhood and an amazing staff of film geeks who worked there largely as an expression of their passion for movies.

    Reply

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