Charlotte is becoming retro-active 🎞️

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Welcome back, readers. It’s Lindsey, here with a PSA: Vinyls, film cameras, DVDs and the like are back. That’s right, folks. It’s time to open up those boxes in the attic and dust off the buried treasures from your adolescence. (Maybe leave the shoulder pads and neon tracksuits up there.) Today’s newsletter takes a look at how young people are bringing retro favorites back into style — and Charlotte businesses are taking notice.

As a fellow Gen Z-er, I joined in years ago with a record player and a humble collection of now 11 vinyls, including an original 1986 copy of Madonna’s “True Blue” and an original 1982 “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, passed down from my mom. Keep scrolling for photographic evidence.

by Cooper Hall

By the end of 2010, both Blockbuster and Hollywood Video had declared bankruptcy. Around that time, VisArt Video, a local independent video store, seemed to be headed for the same fate.

The store was in the process of selling rare film titles and was planning to close when Mickey Aberman, a local attorney, walked in.

“Mickey went in the middle of that and said, ‘Whoa, this place should be here. Can we stop this?’” said Gina Stewart, the executive director for VisArt Inc., the new name for VisArt Video.

Aberman bought the store and hired Stewart to manage operations. She looked over the store’s books and immediately questioned how it was ever going to survive. 

Fast forward to 2026, the store houses over 50,000 titles, which Stewart says is more than Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu combined. VisArt is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, featuring a courtyard, a small screening theater and a cafe, offering beer, wine, coffee and food.

In the past few months, Stewart said she has seen a growing number of people coming into VisArt to rent or buy movies, searching for the security and quality of a tangible good. 

Other retro stores in Charlotte have been experiencing the same heightened interest, some for even longer. 

Troy Tomlinson, the general manager at Biggs Camera, said the store processes more film now than it did in the 1990s.

“In the year 2025, we processed about 36,000 rolls of film, and that was up even from the year before that, which was up the year before that,” Tomlinson said. “It’s been trending up quite a bit.”

Tomlinson said the trend largely involves younger generations and began about 10 years ago, after the usage of film and film cameras dropped during the rise of digital cameras. 

Jimmy Parker, founder of Commonwealth Park record store Repo Record, had previously closed his store in 2005 when downloading, burning CDs and Napster, a platform for sharing music, became popular. But he decided to reopen the store in 2012 because vinyl was starting to make a comeback.

Scott Wishart, the founder of Lunchbox Records, a record store in Plaza Midwood, said his store has grown every year since it opened in 2005. 

“At this point, it’s a lot easier because records are cooler now than they were 20 years ago,” he said.

When Wishart first opened Lunchbox, he had more CDs than records because not every musician released their music on vinyl, but now, everyone does. Parker carries younger artists like TV Girl and Olivia Rodrigo in his store. He also noted there’s been a swell of effort in newer records’ design, with many featuring gold lettering, embossed covers or colored vinyl.

In part, it seems people are returning to retro products because of quality.

Wishart and Parker both said they think records sound better than music played on a phone. Parker described records as having “pop” and seeming to “come alive.”

Similarly, Tomlinson said film photo quality is different from a photo taken on a phone or a digital camera.

“It’s a true look,” he said. “It’s not a fake look that we’re seeing now coming out with some of the AI-generated stuff that you even have built into cameras and phones now. There’s a tonality to it that, especially with film, there’s a tone that you just can’t get even with regular digital cameras nowadays.”

Laura Lundie, a customer at Biggs, told The Ledger she noticed a difference in quality and vibe in how she looked in film photos her husband took of her versus a phone camera.

Stewart also said there’s a quality of experience that a movie rental store offers customers over streaming a film.

“There's a real nostalgia attached to walking in that store and having that movie in your hand,” she said. “People are very connected with spending a Friday night picking out two or three movies at Blockbuster.” 

Beyond quality, some feel that the renewed interest in older goods came from a desire to put down phones and get off social media.

“I think it’s kind of a backlash against all the digital stuff, and the way everything on social media is constantly just crammed down your throat,” Wishart said. “Well, I want something real in my life. It’s something that I chose. It’s real. It’s not just forced on me, the way everything is digitally.”

For a generation that grew up with a camera in their pocket, Tomlinson said he thinks film cameras take away the instant gratification of seeing a photo pop up as soon as you snap it.

Lundie brought two girls she nannies, Josie and Anna Clary Weindruch, to Biggs to buy Kodak Charmeras, small keychain digital cameras. The group agreed that using the Charmeras and disposable cameras, which the Weindruch girls bring to camp each year, forces you to be in the moment, taking away the option of checking a photo, putting on a filter or retaking the shot.

“You pull out your phone to do something, you can do a million different things and get distracted, but it’s good to be in the moment,” Lundie said.

Stewart said that, recently, more movies have been taken off streaming platforms, and people are finding out that they didn’t actually own the movies they bought online. This realization, she says, has created distrust of online platforms and companies, which has compelled more people to buy physical copies of movies and is bringing customers through VisArt’s doors.

“People are returning to us and walking out with armloads of movies that they want to have in their collection because it's so unsure whether you'll be able to see those movies [on streaming],” she said.

Wishart said owning a tangible record is more meaningful, and Parker noted that having the physical vinyl means customers don’t have to rely on their phone for streaming.

Both Weindruch girls also said they enjoy getting physical prints back after developing film from their disposable cameras.

“It’s tangible,” Tomlinson said. “You have something in your hand. It’s not going to get necessarily lost online if your phone dies or the internet goes down. It’s going to be there.”

Even with their recent success and popularity, retro stores are still faced with problems. 

Parker said he gets lots of customers looking for “old vinyl,” but he only gets records from people when someone dies or is downsizing, and most of the time the collection has already been picked through. Stewart said that VisArt continuing to be able to sustain itself is always a worry. However, she believes that the store's customers care about the business and the goods they offer.

“I have lived in Charlotte for 40 years now, and I've watched things go away that are heartbreaking, and I'm hoping that that isn’t what happens with retro organizations — Repo Records and Lunchbox Records and our friends who are doing similar things,” she said. “I'm hoping that Charlotte loves us enough to make sure that we don't close.”

Cooper Hall is a summer reporting intern for The Charlotte Ledger. She is a rising junior at UNC Chapel Hill, double-majoring in media and journalism and exercise and sport science. She can be reached at [email protected].

Today’s supporting sponsor is Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:

The N.C. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that two parents can continue their lawsuit against Charlotte Latin School, which kicked out the parents’ two children in 2021 after the dad objected to what he described as politicized curriculum.

The ruling keeps alive a suit by Doug and Nicole Turpin. They sued Charlotte Latin in 2022, a year after the school invoked a clause in its enrollment agreement that allows it to expel students if it believes a collaborative working relationship with parents has been made impossible. Charlotte Latin expelled the couple’s children, aged 11 and 13 at the time, during a heated meeting between the head of school and Doug Turpin, who had complained about the school’s increased focus on racial and social justice and transgender themes, according to court documents.

Charlotte Latin said it was within its rights to discontinue enrollment.

In the 5-2 Supreme Court decision, in which the court’s five Republican justices were in the majority, the court said it was not deciding the merits of the case but rather allowing the suit to proceed on procedural grounds. A Mecklenburg judge and the Court of Appeals had largely thrown out the Turpins’ suit, which alleges breach of contract, fraud, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and defamation.

The case will return to the trial court for additional proceedings.

Private school associations and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Charlotte Latin’s side, arguing that allowing the case to proceed could undermine the ability of schools to govern themselves and make enrollment decisions. The court’s two Democratic justices wrote that the decision could “open the door to litigation against all private schools.”

More than a dozen Republican politicians as well as conservative educational groups filed briefs backing the Turpins. They argued that schools should not be immune from lawsuits if they retaliate against parents for raising concerns.

In a statement after the ruling, the Turpin family said the ruling signified that “woke schools and their administrators can be held accountable for treating children abusively in a manner not allowed by their contracts or by the laws of North Carolina” and called for Charlotte Latin to fire its head of school and “immediately begin the process of reform.”

Lawyers for Charlotte Latin did not respond to emails from The Ledger on Sunday. –Tony Mecia

➡️ Read the N.C. Supreme Court decision for yourself

Related Ledger articles:

Queen City Nerve, Charlotte’s alternative newspaper created in 2018 from the ashes of the old Creative Loafing Charlotte alt-weekly, said in an email to subscribers Monday that it is closing effective immediately.

The letter, from editor Ryan Pitkin and publisher Justin LaFrancois, said a potential sale of the publication fell through and that financial hardships would not allow it to keep going. It is the latest casualty in Charlotte’s local news scene, following the closure last year of Charlotte magazine.

“Today, we sadly must announce the closure of Queen City Nerve after nearly eight years of providing community journalism to the people of Charlotte,” the letter said. “…Having exhausted all options in our efforts to keep Queen City Nerve alive, today we must shut the doors.”

Queen City Nerve, known for its coverage of the arts and community issues, had said earlier this month that it was halting publication of its free print publication to focus on online publishing after advertising revenue sank.

Its 2026 media kit said the publication distributed 7,000 to 10,000 print issues every other week and reached 30,000 monthly unique website visitors, 97,000+ social media followers and 39,000 email newsletter subscribers.

The publication’s leaders called its closure “part of a larger pattern that’s been slowly unfolding across the country,” marked by “the rise of unsourced ‘influencer’ journalists and AI-generated news stories.”

“To our readers, thank you for being in community with us and giving us purpose over the years,” the letter said. “We put everything we had into making Queen City Nerve the best it could be. It’s been a great run, and we wish it could continue on, but all great things must end.” —Tony Mecia

If you want to read the book before watching the movie, you might have to wait.

The Ledger checked in on several books with high-profile movie and TV adaptations, and, according to library data pulled Aug. 10, some are drawing dozens — if not hundreds — of holds at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

The biggest standout is Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary.” The sci-fi novel has 278 holds for 87 print copies and another 593 holds for 132 digital copies. The Ryan Gosling-led movie adaptation hit theaters in March and is now streaming on Prime Video.

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” which opened in theaters July 17, also appears to be sending readers back to Homer. The library has 114 holds for just 30 print copies of “The Odyssey,” compared with 22 holds for 179 digital copies.

Other adaptations haven't hit screens yet, but readers are already lining up. Colleen Hoover’s thriller “Verity,” which is headed to theaters Oct. 2 starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, has 72 holds for 20 print copies, and 42 holds for 28 digital copies. “The Love Hypothesis” by Ali Hazelwood, coming to Prime Video Sept. 23, has 49 holds for 12 print copies and 114 holds for 15 digital copies.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s new “Little House on the Prairie” series, which premiered in July and has already been renewed for a second season, may be introducing another generation to Laura Ingalls Wilder. “Little House in the Big Woods” has 18 holds for 16 print copies and 12 holds for four digital copies.

One notable exception: Suzanne Collins’ most recent Hunger Games installment, “Sunrise on the Reaping.” Despite the movie arriving in theaters Nov. 20, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library reported no holds on its 142 print copies or 190 digital copies as of Aug. 10. (I’m hoping that means everyone has already read it. If you haven’t yet, get on that list, pronto!) 

A library spokesperson said it's hard to predict how long you might have to wait for a book, but each title can be borrowed for up to three weeks (21 days). —Lindsey Banks

Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19: “‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ with David McGee,” 6:30-9 p.m., at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, 420 S. Tryon St. Celebrate the closing week of “David McGee: The Griot and the Nightingale,” on view through Sunday, August 23, with a special screening of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” Presented in partnership with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation and Independent Picture House, the film will be followed by a talkback with artist David McGee. Registration requested. Free.

AUGUST 26: “August After Hours,” 5:30-7:30 p.m., at Town Brewing Co., 800 Grandin Rd. Please join Business Leaders of Charlotte for its monthly networking event. This is Charlotte's best networking event for professionals who build business through relationships. Everyone is welcome to attend. Free for members. $10 for non-members (pre-registration). $15 for non-members (at the door).

OCTOBER 3: “Pink Cupcake Walk Presented By Audi Charlotte,” 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Truist Field, 324 S. Mint St. Join Taste of Charlotte for the 6th Annual Pink Cupcake Walk. Grab your pink, green and teal attire, and take steps at the Pink Cupcake Walk! Enjoy four sweet laps around the field with a mini cupcake at each stop, and help honor and celebrate survivors, fighters and thrivers during the special Breast Cancer Lap. $40.

➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.