VisArt Video co-owner Gina Cerniglia posing in the Elizabeth store in 2011. The store will either re-sign its current lease or move somewhere else, she said.
VisArt Video co-owner Gina Cerniglia posing in the Elizabeth store in 2011. The store will either re-sign its current lease or move somewhere else, she said. ROBERT LAHSER ROBERT LAHSER - rlahser@charlotteobserver.com
VisArt Video co-owner Gina Cerniglia posing in the Elizabeth store in 2011. The store will either re-sign its current lease or move somewhere else, she said. ROBERT LAHSER ROBERT LAHSER - rlahser@charlotteobserver.com
What's In Store

What's In Store

Surveying the retail landscape in the Charlotte region and beyond

What's In Store

Is VisArt Video closing?

By Katherine Peralta

kperalta@charlotteobserver.com

May 14, 2015 08:11 AM

A “For rent” sign in front of iconic video rental store VisArt Video is throwing many customers for a loop.

But co-owner Gina Cerniglia has one message for confused passersby: “We are definitely not closing.”

Rather, VisArt will either re-sign the lease at its current space in Elizabeth at 1945 E. Seventh St. at the end of August or move to a different space. The retro retailer, Cerniglia said, is about 90 percent of the way through lease negotiations and will make a formal announcement soon.

“We really don’t want people to think we’re going out of business,” Cerniglia said. “It’s been a little stressful this week.”

One of Charlotte’s last remaining independent video stores, VisArt, short for Visual Arts, has over 30,000 titles in categories including independent, foreign, cult, documentary and mainstream, according to its website.

Local attorney Mickey Aberman purchased the store in 2011, a year after five other VisArts had closed in North Carolina.

Peralta: 704-358-5079;

Twitter: @katieperalta

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