Edith Yang and her husband have owned Presse Internationale, a small magazine shop on Toronto’s bustling Bloor Street West, since 2005. The shop has become a beloved staple of the city’s dense Annex neighbourhood, long known for its plethora of small businesses. Increasingly, these small stores have disappeared in the wake of the pandemic under the pressures of skyrocketing rents and a shift towards e commerce. Now also faced with a series of rent hikes and a corporate landlord unwilling to renew their lease at a rate they can afford, Edith and her husband have been forced to close their shop by the end of the year. Presse Internationale has become known as one of the last places in the city selling many foreign magazines and newspapers, and longtime customers fear they will no longer be able to find the newspapers and magazines they rely on to stay informed.