After 43 years of providing movie recommendations, posters and popcorn to Long Beach residents, Broadway Video is in danger of shutting off its neon “VIDEO” sign for the last time.
Much like the protagonists in the classic films that the store offers, owner Steve Tsepelis is not going down without a fight. Broadway Video has been a staple on the corner of Redondo Avenue and Broadway Boulevard for over 26 years, and he has plans to keep it around.
“To just lose it and close it down and walk away would be very devastating. That’s tough, it’s a very hard thing to endure, especially after that amount of years,” Tsepelis said. “I know the neighborhood, I know so many people around the neighborhood and they know me.”
As streaming companies have become the go-to for movie viewers, Broadway Video has relied on movie fanatics who crave the strange and antiquated films that can’t be found anywhere online in order to stay open. The store has hundreds of old animated movies, foreign films, productions in the Criterion Collection and of course, posters and candies they sell in order to stay afloat.
Tsepelis says it’s not enough, and announced in February 2021 that Long Beach and Orange County’s last video store would soon be forced to permanently close, mostly due to forced closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The community responded with its support through GoFundMe donations which were able to keep Broadway Video open for another year and a half.
“They were quite shocked and overall mostly just sad. There was a lot of emotion,” Tsepelis said. “People came into the store and we got kind of busy all of a sudden with people coming in to buy DVDs and buy souvenirs … and sharing stories and letting us know how sad they were that we were leaving and it was very emotional at times.”
The community response and donations through GoFundMe have helped to pay Broadway Video’s cost of rent and utilities. However, Tsepelis had been waiting on COVID relief grants from the City for nearly a year before he was told he didn’t qualify because the store’s zip code, in Belmont Heights, was not considered an underserved location.
Now, Broadway Video is facing possible closure again and Tsepelis has a new idea to keep it open.
If able to receive funding and investors, Tsepelis plans to transform the store into “Neighborhoods,” a community gathering spot for movie nights, live music, an ongoing gallery space, community events, restaurant pop-ups and an office space for hybrid businesses.
Posters, many of which are for movies, sit in ranks near the movies at Broadway Video on Jan. 24, 2023. Much of the store’s business these days comes from the sale of movie posters as the video rental marketplace has dwindled in recent years. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Art of Robert Senske adorns a back wall of Broadway Video on Jan. 24, 2023. The artist takes inspiration from his hometown in Long Beach and captures some of its most iconic locales. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Steve Tsepelis, the owner of Broadway Video, moves the Christmas movies back onto their rank inside of the store on Jan. 24, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
The store would still sell its vast collection of CDs and DVDs along with paintings from local artists.
“When I sit and I assess the bigger picture, I think that it’s just time that rentals are over,” Tsepelis said. “The only time we would get people coming in is if there are titles we had that you could not find on any streaming companies … but it’s not enough to keep the doors open when somebody comes in once every couple months just to pick up that one film.”
Tsepelis has already begun clearing out sections of the store for what he envisions as a “loungy” space for residents to use as they need. He said there has been interest in business owners who need a place for holding meetings, artists who want to display their art and restaurant owners who are interested in intimate tastings.
None of this will come into fruition however, if Broadway Video is unable to find investors in the project. Tsepelis said that donations have mostly stopped coming in and he’s only been able to find one partial investor, with little help from the City.
“I need to clear out things because if I can’t make this new venture happen, I can’t keep the store. I don’t have the income, the money to just keep paying rent on this space to keep it going,” Tsepelis said. “If I don’t get the rent paid by the end of January, we’ll definitely lose the space … I’m really trying to frantically talk to people about this idea and find money to make it happen.”
Broadway Video’s GoFundMe has raised a little over $6,000 in the past two years, all of which have gone towards rent to keep the space.
Tsepelis said that he has three more years on the lease; enough time to transform the spot into a community gathering location. He plans to keep portions of the video store intact for sentimental reasons, including the large neon “VIDEOS” sign hanging in the back which has invited residents into cinematic adventures for decades.
“I would sell the movies still and have movie nights and that keeps a little piece of it. That’s a memory of it staying alive,” Tsepelis said. “If I could transform it I’m excited about that. I think the change is good … of course the video store after being there so many years, there’s a sadness to see that go, but if I have [Neighborhoods] to replace it, I’m excited about that and making that transition happen.”
To donate to Broadway Video’s GoFundMe, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/broadway-video-relief-fund.