TLA Video closing its Center City store

TLA Video at 1520 Locust St., a beloved Center City store catering to nearly every taste in film, will be closing its doors for good.

The store will end rentals after Aug. 21 and close until Aug. 25, when it will sell off inventory through Aug. 29 and again from Sept. 1 to 6.

Customers this week lamented the soon-to-be passing of the neighborhood institution, which has been there since the late 1980s.

Terry Bosworth, 53, recalled how he would tell employees about a film he was looking for: " 'I want that movie where so and so do this and that,' and they come up with the title."

He pointed to a sign directing customers to TLAvideo.com and shrugged. "I guess I'll eventually be doing that," he said. "It won't be the same as putting your hands on what you want to see."

At one time, TLA operated seven stores, including one in New York City. But as the video business has shifted away from bricks-and-mortar stores, so has TLA.

Last year the company made $22 million, mainly through its Internet operation, said Ray Murray, TLA's president. The video stores accounted for about $2.5 million of that.

After the Locust Street store closes, the last TLA location will be in Bryn Mawr. And that will close in a year after its lease runs out, Murray said.

What made the Locust Street store, which opened in 1988 after two years at 20th and Sansom Streets, so popular? For one thing, it has 20,000 titles from all over the world. There are sections for movies from Russia, Japan, the Netherlands.

There are plenty of other choices, too.

"I'm here for the porn," one man said.

TLA stores also were social hangouts.

"It became something more than just a place to get your movie," Murray said.

Carl Roberson, 48, said he had been a customer for "oh, God, probably about 22 years."

He said he just found out that it was closing and he wasn't sure what he would do for movies. Maybe finally go online, he said.

"It's a great location," Roberson said, "and the employees have always been so friendly."

Kim Racicot, 27, said she uses Netflix, the mail and streaming-video service, but comes to TLA for quality and hard-to-find titles.

"It's bad enough they closed Fourth and South," she said, referring to the flagship store that was shut down in 2009. "Now this?"

She added, "I love TLA."