U. in talks with TLA for new video store

The store would occupy a vacancy next to Eat at Joe's on Walnut Street. Philadelphia-based TLA Video Store was contacted last week by University officials seeking to fill the area near 40th Street -- which will soon feature Robert Redford's new Sundance Cinema complex -- with new and improved entertainment options intended to make the area a destination spot for Philadelphians. "We're looking at the redevelopment that the University is pushing on campus especially in the 40th, Walnut and Locust Street area," TLA co-owner Eric Moore said. "The University got in touch with us and we're interested." Bringing to campus a video store with extended hours was one of the recommendations called for by Provost Robert Barchi's Working Group on Alcohol Abuse last spring as a means toward providing more non-alcoholic options on campus. Tom Lussenhop, the University's managing director of institutional real estate, cautioned that plans were still in the preliminary stages. The space now being considered is on the 3900 block of Walnut Street next to the Eat at Joe's diner. According to an Undergraduate Assembly-sponsored survey last December, 53 percent of the 470 students polled expressed interest in a late-night video store on campus. "The Undergraduate Assembly has been pushing for [an on-campus video store] for a long time," UA Chairperson and College senior Michael Silver said. "It is a top priority for us this year." The search for a video store also follows the recommendations of the committee of students and administrators that met following the ban on alcohol at registered undergraduate parties last spring. At the time, the committee came up with several ideas for changing the campus culture by adding late-night non-alcoholic social options. A video store that remains open until 2 a.m. was one of those ideas, along with longer hours for Eat at Joe's, a late-night music club and late-night recreational opportunities. The only video store currently on campus, Video Library on the 4000 block of Locust Street, closes at 10 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. Lussenhop said he couldn't promise a new video store would be open 24 hours a day, but the University would push for longer hours than the Video Library. "We will push for the longest possible operating hours, but it will be difficult to guarantee 24-hour operation," Lussenhop said. TLA management expressed interest in increasing hours of operation if it is profitable to do so. With the new theater and its neighboring fresh food market set to open next spring, University officials are looking to revitalize the surrounding area. They are expecting the construction to act as a catalyst encouraging other developers to come in with new stores to replace many of the existing ones.