Michigan Malls Had Suncoast Video Shops; So Why'd They Disappear?

Whatever happened to the Suncoast Video stores?

That was my favorite place to go to buy movies in the 1980s and 90s. Back then, it was VHS tapes, not DVDs. I'd drive over to the Suncoast shop at the Meridian Mall in Okemos and stock up on movies. Most of the time they had excellent sale prices, especially on many rare movies that currently are not available anymore...whether on DVD or otherwise. I'd take home my stack of tapes and watch 'em for days until I watched 'em all.

But Suncoast was not just movies...they had tons of collectables, t-shirts, movie memorabilia, vinyl records, laserdiscs, videodiscs.....just SO much stuff for any pop culture fan.

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And then all of a sudden PFFT! Suncoast was gone.....well, at least in Michigan.

The first Suncoast opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1986 (as Paramount, changing to Suncoast in 1988). In 2001, Best Buy purchased Suncoast's parent company, Musicland. Two years later, Best Buy shut down 20 Suncoasts. Why close a successful business? Did Best Buy feel Suncoast was taking away from their own video sales? Hmmm?

Musicland filed bankruptcy in 2006, causing 80 more Suncoasts to be closed. Trans World bought Musicland that same year, and shut down 150 more Suncoasts across the country in 2009. As of 2023, there are only three left (maybe not by the time you read this), in Nebraska, North Carolina, and Texas.

No doubt about it – Suncoast was cool. See for yourself in the photo gallery below.