Kim's Video and Music is a now-defunct video and music retail store in the East Village of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, described as the "go-to place for rare selections" and "widely known among the cognoscenti of new, experimental and esoteric music and film". Its owner was Yongman Kim.

History

It opened at the site of Kim's dry cleaner business and eventually moved to its own location on Avenue A in 1987. It expanded to five other locations, including St. Mark's Place (Mondo Kim's) in the East Village, Kim's Underground at 144 Bleecker Street (on Laguardia Place), Kim's West (350 Bleecker Street & West 10th Street), and Kim's Mediapolis (2906 Broadway). By 2008, it had over 55,000 rental titles, many of which were rare or esoteric. The original Avenue A location closed in 200

Mondo Kim's, to a lesser extent, also had a reputation for "ornery" service. In June 2005, police raided Mondo Kim's, alleging they were selling bootlegs. In September 2008, Kim announced he would be closing Mondo Kim's and giving away the film collection to anyone who could fulfill certain criteria, stipulating that the entire collection was to be taken intact and that Kim's members would continue to have access to the collection wherever it resided. In December 2008, it was reported that

Salemi Salemi is a town and ''comune'' in southwestern Sicily, Italy, administratively part of the province of Trapani. History Salemi is where Giuseppe Garibaldi announced the annexation of Sicily on May 14, 1860, as part of the Expedition of the Tho ...

, Sicily had made a successful bid for the collection, as part of a village restoration effort. In 2012, a

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

article entitled "The Strange Fate of Kim's Video" reported that the collection, though remaining intact, had essentially disappeared from public view after arriving in Salemi, and that the initiatives promised by Kim and the government of Salemi remained unfulfilled. The last remaining location of Kim's Video & Music, located on 1st Ave, announced its closure on April 21, 2014. On April 1, 2022, Kim's Video & Music was relaunched as Kim's Video Underground with the help of the

Alamo Drafthouse The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

theater chain. The new store is located in the lobby of Alamo's Lower Manhattan location in the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

, with the collection being relocated from Salemi back to New York. The store also now offers 5-day rentals for free.

Notable employees

Kim's was known for its staff,The Story of Kim’s Video & Music, Told By Its Clerks and Customers.
''Bedford and Bowery.''O'Connor, Brendan
Who Killed Kim's Video?
The Awl. who were described by

The Awl ''The Awl'' was a website about "news, ideas and obscure Internet minutiae of the day" based in New York City. Its motto was "Be Less Stupid." History Founded in April 2009 by David Cho and former ''Gawker'' editors Choire Sicha and Alex Balk ...

as "legendarily knowledgeable and haughty." Some of its employees later went on to successful careers in film, music, and the arts. * Aurelio Valle, Musician, member of

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Isabel Gillies Isabel Boyer Gillies (born February 9, 1970) is an American author and actress. She played Kathy Stabler, Elliot Stabler's wife in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Her memoir ''Happens Every Day'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller, and h ...

, actress, writer * Robert Greene, documentary filmmaker *

Albert Hammond Jr. Albert Hammond Jr. (''born'' Hammond III; born April 9, 1980) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his role as rhythm and lead guitarist, as well as occasional keyboard player and backing vocalist ...

, musician, member of

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, director, screenwriter *

Todd Phillips Todd Phillips (né Bunzl, born December 20, 1970) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He began his career in 1993 and directed films in the 2000s such as ''Road Trip (film), Road Trip'', ''Old School (film), Old School'', ...

, director, producer, screenwriter * Christopher Pravdica, musician, member of

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Kate Lyn Sheil Kate Lyn Sheil (born June 13, 1985) is an American actress. She is primarily known for her roles in independent films ''You're Next'', ''V/H/S'', '' The Color Wheel'', '' The Sacrament'', and the award-winning Netflix series ''House of Cards''. ...

, actressTinkham, Chris
Kate Lyn Sheil's Video Past and Netflix Future.
''Interview'.' *Chris Vanderloo, founder of

Other Music Other Music was a music retail store that sold CDs, records and cassettes online and at their brick-and-mortar location in the Noho neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The store specialized in the sale of closely curated underground, rar ...

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, cinematographer *

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, musician *

Nick Zedd Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

, filmmaker *

Eric Copeland Eric Copeland (born 1978 in Brunswick, Maine, United States) is an American experimental musician based in New York City. He is a core member of Black Dice and forms half of the duo Terrestrial Tones with Animal Collective's Avey Tare. Copelan ...

, musician and member of

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* Michael M. Bilandic, filmmaker *Chris Ryan, editorial director at The Ringer *Kat Toledo, comedian and filmmaker *Jody Avirgan, podcast host and producer

Trivia

● The Kim's Video closure is referenced in the Bleachers song "Dream of Mickey Mantle".

History

Notable employees

Trivia

References

Further reading