A new storefront from Eric Ingala and Jessica Howell invites shoppers to step into the bygone days of analog media and collectible goods for a treasure hunt.
By Matt Skoufalos | November 19, 2021
Eric Ingala outside his store, Time Lapse, in Collingswood. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
When attorney Eric Ingala set out to open Time Lapse, a vintage collectible shop in downtown Collingswood, his vision for the brick-and-mortar storefront was simple.
“Basically, it’s all the stuff I’m into,” the Medford resident said.
“I wanted to make the store that I wanted to go to,” he said, “but I want anybody to be able to walk in here and find stuff they like.”
If, like Ingala, those shoppers enjoy estate, garage, and yard sales, antiquing, and collector swaps, they’ll be right at home in his storefront, which will boast an inventory of VHS movies, vinyl records, out-of-print books, vintage clothing, toys and collectibles, and more.
“Maybe it’s countercultural or subculture now,” Ingala said. “[But] that’s one of the benefits of real-life retail: you can see something you never thought of rather than searching on Amazon.”
Ingala wants to create a transportive retail experience that will encourage customers to linger and explore the shop. Time Lapse will encourage “treasure-hunting” among an inventory of throwback artifacts from bygone days.
Whether that means Japanese robots that retail for thousands of dollars, or 50-cent cassette tapes, Ingala wants to have something for everyone.
“You can do that with vintage in a really special way,” Ingala said. “It’s not stuff you’re going to see anywhere else.”
Ingala met his business partner, Jessica Howell, at a VHS collector tape swap at Tattooed Mom’s in Philadelphia. The two share a love of the physical medium, which eventually inspired the name of the shop, a nod to slow-exposure photography and cultural nostalgia.
“You can get any movie you want in 4K quality, but VHS is this artifact; it’s collectible, and cool to look at,” he said. “VHS is what brought us together, and it’s getting more popular to collect.”
To help cement the analog underpinnings of their storefront, Ingala said he and Howell hope to fill its front window with cathode-ray-tube (CRT) televisions playing “crazy clips and old video games.”
Analog media like VHS tape may have less fidelity than their digital counterparts, but they’re still collectible. Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash.
Other sections of the shop will conjure up different retro-themed vignettes, from 1980s arcade complete with pinball cabinet and antique video game systems, to “your uncle’s basement in the 70s,” Ingala said, to a 90s-era Southwestern-decor motif, to “a fancy area” with vintage Dungeons and Dragons collectibles.
Ingala believes the complementary variety of products will hold a degree of crossover interest.
“If you’re into VHS, you’re into pinball and action figures,” Ingala said.
“You see a lot of that overlap.”
Ingala also believes Time Lapse customers will benefit from the proximity of his shop to its neighbor, Clutter Vintage, just a few storefronts down in the 600 block of Haddon Avenue. It’s one of the reasons he and Howell chose to establish their business in the former Beauty Trenz location.
“Having more is better with vintage stores,” Ingala said. “People want to pop into a bunch; that’s one of the reasons I thought this storefront was perfect.”
Although Time Lapse doesn’t have a target opening date, Ingala hopes he can capture some of the seasonal interest from holiday shoppers before the year ends.
After it does cut its ribbon, the shop will welcome guests from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and until 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit timelapsevintage.com.
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