Inqlings | For sale: A piece of Rocky's turf

Philadelphia Inquirer, The, January, 2007 by Michael Klein

A piece of cinematic history is for sale, and the buyer might be able to snap up two movie stars, too. Joseph Marks tells me he wants to sell the building at 2146 N. Front St. in Kensington, which housed J&M Tropical Fish and doubled as Adrian's pet shop in four Rocky movies, including Rocky Balboa.

Marks closed J&M three years ago after a 40-year run, and the building sits as it was, under the El, behind a steel grate. (Walk in, and it's 1975 again.) Though Marks is touting its place as "a Hollywood set," he acknowledges that "it's in disrepair. I'll sell it as a handyman's special." He would not state a price; he says he has a lawyer but not a real estate agent. "I'm not going to equate [the shop] to the Rocky statue," Marks says. "But it's not an unfamiliar landmark in...