With the rising popularity of movie rental and purchase options such as Netflix and iTunes, the last local movie store in downtown State College will begin closing its doors forever.

"No one delivers ice anymore. You get it right out your fridge," Mike's Movies & Music 14-year owner Alan Abruzzo said. "There are a lot of different venues to get movies. It just became not cost effective to keep [the store] open anymore."

The 210 E. Calder Way store, which has been in downtown State College since 1984 and has served until recently as downtown's only major movie renter and vendor, is going out of business.

The store ended movie rentals on July 30, and the shop's inventory is currently being liquidated. Mike's Movies & Music will no longer operate after August 23.

"It had just run its course," Abruzzo said.

Abruzzo, who also owns and operates another movie store in Bellefonte, said the downtown store's revenue made up only one percent of his business.

It's expensive to have a store downtown, Abruzzo said, and the rent in Bellefonte is much cheaper.

Considering his employees makes Abruzzo especially sad to close the shop, he said, calling them "really good people."

Assistant manager Jacci Kaschak said her coworkers are a "close-knit group" and they're all sad to see the store close.

"We're all depressed about it," Kaschak said. "It's a lot more like a family than just a working environment."

Kaschak, who has worked in the movie store for more than four years, said her coworkers always hung out after work, celebrated each other's birthdays and exchanged Christmas gifts during the holiday season.

She said she would miss not seeing the local customers anymore, with whom she said most employees had close relationships.

Kate Mattes (graduate-political science) said she preferred to shop for movies locally because it is cheaper.

"Its nice to go to some of the local businesses," Mattes said. "They have a wider selection of older videos."

Mattes said the local store was "a lot cheaper" than Blockbuster, and now that Mike's Movies is out of business, she said she would probably use Redbox to rent movies.

RedBox is a movie rental machine sometimes located in supermarkets. It allows customers to rent DVDs for $1 dollar per night.

Abruzzo said that all of the store's inventory is up for sale and he appreciates the business he's had during his ownership.

"We plugged along for a long time," Abruzzo said. "But its time has come."