Toronto's Suspect Video and Culture to Close in 2016

Published Jan 20, 2016

After 25 years in its iconic Markham Street location, Toronto video store Suspect Video and Culture will close at the end of this year.The news was reported by Torontoist , who shared a lengthy requiem for the long-running institution. As with other businesses in its Mirvish Village location, Suspect will be forced to shutter its doors to make way for a real estate development.Over on the shop's official Facebook page , they suggest that they're still looking for a new location. Still, speaking with Torontoist, owner Luis Ceriz does not sound too hopeful about the future of Suspect."The reality is, the rents are just insane," he said. "There are options: there's a possibility of going with a smaller place and just doing retail, or getting a smaller place and just doing horror and exploitation. But it does point more towards closing than anything, and just doing conventions and going online."Certiz continued by saying "every up-and-coming area in Toronto, essentially it starts of being interesting and eventually it's usurped by big-box stores, which drive the rents up, which drive everybody else out. That's increasingly becoming every part of Toronto. If rents were sea level, the independent stores jump from little island to little island, but the sea level keeps rising and eventually it's just impossible to find anyplace."Suspect Video and Culture does not have an official closing date just yet, though it will likely be shut down at the end of 2016.