48 Hours Video, a Tamaqua rental and retail video store, will close its doors by late June, according to employees.

Employees at the 143 Railroad St. store will no longer offer rentals and will sell off inventory.A similar situation is taking place at the Lehighton location.The Lehighton store is located at 1018 Blakeslee Blvd. E.The corporation's website lists the Lehighton store as "Open for sale only."Between now and June, Tamaqua store employees expect to restock shelves with inventory from other stores.Video rental stores have been phasing out as more people are getting movies from pay-per-view and online streaming.The Tamaqua 48 Hours Video store opened in November 2000, at 801 E. Broad St., in the former Schilbe Lumber Company building.The store set up in space previously occupied by Silk Gardens Restaurant and Gift Shoppe.The outlet offered a selection of more than 10,000 videos for local movie and entertainment fans.The store originally was open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.It made sense to open on holidays, said Ed Moyer, manager at the time, because holidays prove to be some of the most popular days for watching videos."In fact, Christmas Day is one of our busiest times," Moyer said.However, the hours eventually were reduced and, several years later, the store moved to its current location near the former Genetti Shopping Center complex.The store has other sites in Allentown, Brodheadsville, Schnecksville, South Bethlehem, Forks Township and Pen Argyl.The video business is not the only retail closing announced recently. Kmart locations in the Schuylkill Mall and Mount Pocono will be closing in the next few months.