Inside an abandoned video store in Georgia frozen in time after it closed about twenty years ago – with Disney’s The Lion King and Beauty And The Beast among the sought-after VHS rentals

Movie buffs may want to press pause here.

A fascinating series of photographs captures an abandoned video store, with the shelves still carefully organized with thousands of VHS tapes from the 1980s and 1990s.

Each of the tape boxes comes with a colored sticker with a unique number so they can be cataloged accordingly. The photos highlight some of the popular releases of the day, including the VHS releases of Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King.

The photos were taken by urban explorer and photographer Leland Kent at an unknown location in Georgia.

Each of the tape boxes comes with a colored sticker with a unique number so they can be cataloged accordingly

The photos highlight some of the popular releases of the day, with a well-organized collection including the VHS releases of Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King

The photos were taken by urban explorer and photographer Leland Kent at an unknown location in Georgia

The cameraman, known for capturing abandoned and forgotten places in the South East, revealed in an accompanying blurb on his website that the family-owned video store opened in the 1980s.

He explained that it later functioned “as a community space where neighbors and old friends could chat while checking out the latest releases or catching up on a favorite movie they’d seen a thousand times.”

However, as the days of VHS rentals slowly waned and DVDs entered the scene, the store lost its appeal.

Kent notes, “After serving the city for over thirty years, the owner closed the video store, which has since been abandoned.”

Although he often explores interesting spaces, he said the video library was particularly “cool” because he got to see some of his favorite movies on VHS.

Although some of the old cassette boxes are a little discolored from the sun, the store looks to be in excellent condition and, apart from a few cobwebs, ready to go.

One of Kent’s photos proves his place at the heart of the community, revealing a montage of personal photos from Halloween and Christmas parties hosted at the store.

Another shot of his captures a “junk room,” with “vacuum cleaners, cleaning supplies and board games” strewn about.

The cinematographer, known for capturing abandoned and forgotten places in the South East, revealed in an accompanying text on his website that the family-owned video store opened in the 1980s.

The store served “as a community space where neighbors and old friends could chat while checking out the latest releases or picking up a favorite movie they’ve seen a thousand times.”

Kent also came across a ‘junk area’ in the store where he said ‘vacuum cleaners, cleaning supplies and board games appear to have just been left behind’

One of his photos shows a montage of personal photos from Halloween and Christmas parties held at the store

Video rental stores opened in the United States in the late 1970s.

The first store opened in December 1977 in West Los Angeles, California.

As the popularity of video rentals exploded, more and more stores opened in the ensuing years, offering consumers across the country access to movies and other media.

By the mid-1980s, video stores had become an important part of suburban life.

With the advent of the World Wide Web, Internet services that streamed content, such as Netflix, became increasingly popular from the mid-2000s.

With all the new ways to watch movies, demand for video rental stores has plummeted, and as a result, many have closed.

Kent adds that the only VHS stores left in existence today are considered “specialty stores.”