Toronto Star
· collected 2026-10-10 · by Eric Veillette Special to the Star
On a cloudy afternoon in April 2010, Daniel Hanna had trouble getting into his Queen Street video store.
asserted
Hanna → have → store
There was a lineup all the way down the street, and he was fairly certain nobody was waiting to rent movies.
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nobody → be → movies
Eyesore Cinema, which he founded in 2008, was then located upstairs from Rotate This on Queen Street West, sharing an entrance with the record shop.
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he → found → shop
Hanna soon realized he had arrived at work on the third annual Record Store Day, a celebration of independent record shops that draws crowds queuing up for exclusive vinyl releases.
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that → realize → releases
Once upstairs, he looked online to see if anyone was running a similar “Video Store Day.”
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anyone → look → Day
He found nothing.
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He → find → nothing
“I thought to myself, well, that’s a crying shame.
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that → think → myself
Let’s do something about that
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’s → do → that
,” he told the Star.
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he → tell → Star
Now in its 16th edition, Video Store Day falls on Oct. 17, a North America-wide celebration of physical media and the video stores that once dominated the way we watched movies.
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we → fall → movies
This year brings 12 exclusive releases to participating stores through a partnership with home video distributor MVD.
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year → bring → MVD
Hanna, whose shop is now on Bloor Street West, is particularly pleased about Deaf Crocodile’s edition of the 1975 Estonian film “Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel,” a favourite of his.
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shop → please → his
“I love my Soviet-era crime and science fiction,” he said.
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he → love → crime
Toronto is a video town
Even with streaming a household fixture, Toronto has customers buying enough movies to support new stores, while shops offering rentals, like Eyesore and Bay Street Video, continue to sign up new customers.
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shops → have → customers
Collectors come looking for everything from new discs from boutique labels like Arrow, Kino Lorber and Severin Films (in the 4K Ultra HD format, which offers a sharper picture than standard Blu-rays) to VHS tapes and LaserDiscs that require decades-old machines to play them.
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that → look → them
Video stores and movie theatres intersect across the city.
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stores → intersect → city
On Roncesvalles Avenue, friends meet at Vinegar Syndrome to browse new releases before crossing the street to the Revue Cinema.
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friends → meet → Cinema
In BMV’s Bloor Street basement, a search for cheap DVDs or film books can precede a movie at Hot Docs Cinema.
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search → precede → Cinema
Eyesore, near the Paradise Theatre, has its own screening room in the back.
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Eyesore → have → back
Until now, Vinegar Syndrome, which opened in 2023, was the most recent addition to Toronto’s brick-and-mortar shops.
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which → open → shops
Cinema Cellar, the distributor formerly called Unobstructed View, launched its John Street retail space with a Criterion Closet takeover during September’s Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled to reopen under its own name Oct. 16.
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Cellar → call → name
BMV’s four locations have kept used tapes and discs circulating within the city for decades.
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locations → keep → decades
For Hanna, who once worked at the legendary and now-closed Suspect Video, owning a copy of a film means keeping control over what you watch: a streaming service can pull a title or replace it with an altered version, but the movie on your shelf stays yours.
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movie → work → shelf
At Bay Street Video, manager Brendan Whelton estimated that some 450 people have joined its rental membership roster so far this year — a 25-per-cent increase over 2025.
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people → estimate → 2025
The shop’s biggest seller so far this year has been Matt Johnson’s Toronto-set comedy “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” which prompted a disbelieving call from a supplier.
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which → prompt → supplier
Had the store really meant to order 250 copies, rather than 25?
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store → mean → copies
“We blew through that in a week,” Whelton said.
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Whelton → blow → week
At BMV on Bloor, buyer Dan Corbett regularly purchases older DVDs and Blu-rays from collectors who are replacing their copies with new 4K editions.
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who → purchase → editions
An unusual influx of “Miami Blues” discs tells him a restoration is looming; Criterion’s forthcoming “The Complete Kubrick” 4K collection has resulted in a lot of Kubrick trade-ins.
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collection → tell → ins
But not everyone is a videophile; some just want to watch movies.
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some → want → movies
At BMV, DVDs still outsell Blu-rays and 4K discs roughly two to one.
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DVDs → outsell → one
“You have a lot of people who never upgraded to a Blu-ray player, and a younger generation who just really need to own ‘Space Jam’ on DVD,” Corbett said.
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Corbett → have → DVD
But people looking to sell their collections should arrive with realistic expectations about what they’re worth.
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they → look → what
“We know what we’re looking for, what we’re not looking for,” Corbett added.
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Corbett → know → what
“I see too many seasons of ‘Yellowstone’ coming through.”
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seasons → see → Yellowstone
Everything old is new again
New disc releases often make hard-to-find films available again.
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films → make → ?
David Marriott of Canadian International Pictures, a home-video label that restores and releases overlooked Canadian films, says most of the movies CIP has released were previously available only on VHS or had never been released for home viewing.
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CIP → restore → viewing
“To find your next favourite film, you need to be able to see it,” he said.
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he → find → it
CIP’s restored Blu-ray edition released this summer gave audiences a chance to finally see an important film in Canada’s indie-film history.
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edition → restore → history
Of course, a gorgeous new restoration doesn’t mean everyone’s ready to part with that battered VHS tape.
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everyone → mean → tape
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
