Queen Video has been serving film buffs in Toronto for 38 years, and now its last remaining location is closing down. Located in the Annex across the street from Lee’s Palace, the video rental company opened its Bloor St. store in the year 2000. The shop is known for attracting film fanatics from all over the city. 

“This place has movies you can’t get anywhere else, not on Itunes, not on Amazon,” remarked a customer named Bob. “It has been a jewel, so for somebody like me who’s a bit of a film geek, this was the best thing in Toronto.”

Store owner Howard Levman says the number of people renting movies has declined steadily over the past seven years. “I’ve loved the interaction with the customers,” he says. “It’s just that there aren’t enough of them.  There’s also an availability issue: some really good TV shows and movies are never even made into DVDs now.”

Levman told his staff that the Annex store has been the busiest branch of Queen Video, and he’s going to miss it. Customers can take advantage of Queen Video’s closing sale until April 28. 

—Nabahat Hussain/Gleaner News