Wait, Is Kim's Really closing?

A friend told me this. Say it ain't so!

 

That's too bad. It used to be a good place to buy Japanese toys, too.

 

When? I know the one by Columbia closed. I figured the one by St. Marks could push through though.

 

He told me next week, but I'm not sure where he heard it. He said they were maybe reopening in a smaller location and getting rid of rentals. sad!

 

That's terrible. Although I always found their employees jerky and their prices high they had everything I could ask for. I wonder if they're having a huge sale now?

 

I've heard of Kim's a million times but I'm not sure if I've ever been too it thinking back, does anyone have the address I'd like to stop by seeing as this is my only chance

 

St. Marks btwn 2nd and 3rd

 

THE RECORD STORE!?!?! i dont know where my mind was earlier, i love that place. so many fucking memories..

 

you cant be serious. i really hope this isnt true.

 

Also heard love saves the day will be closing too.

 

Yes they are. More info here. I've never had worse service than at Kim's, but went there like everyone else because they had a great selection. They also had a nasty history of bootlegging EVERYTHING including stuff indie filmmakers would bring them. Buy one tape or DVD or as for a review copy, reject it and then suddenly sell copies on their shelves the next week. Not cool to say the least.

Yes they are as well. More info here. I actually vented a bit about their closing in another thread here, but Love Saves the Day closing is not as heartbreaking for me personally. And many others. Their prices were a rip-off even with supposed discounts and they have never had a good selection.

And since this post sounds grumpy, picture me waving my fist and telling you to get off my lawn, kids!

 

What a shame, now I have no place to go if I feel like spending $20 on a MASK figure without the mask.

 

They opened the new shop, I heard it is quite small but haven't gone yet. I've dropped thousands and thousands of $$$ at the old one. I used to frequent the very first one that carried music, all the way in the back of the old VHS rental dungeon on Bleecker, since they were the only shop in NYC (or in the USA for that matter) where I could pick up stuff like Keiji Haino, Boredoms, PSF Records, etc. and then rent some sick anime like "Supernatural Beastie City" aka Wicked City on the way out. This was pre-DVD, no subs, etc. so we never knew what the fuck was going on...must be close to 20 years ago.

Between illegal downloading and internet superstores/Ebay, expect more closures of your favorite music/film shops. From what I understand, this last year has been absolutely brutal on independent shops, labels, etc. across the globe.

 

They're not closing - they're downsizing and moving.

I was there in November and a sales-dude told me they're moving to 1st Avenue, I believe. Even though they are remaining open - it won't be nearly the same. They've eliminated the bookstore and apparently are getting out of the movie rental business.

Ironically, my last DVD purchase at Mondo Kim's was some Japanese edition Toho films. I also picked up some amazing 60's garage comp CD's. Mondo Kim's selection of foreign garage comps was second to none.

Another lower east side landmark gone. But face it - that neighborhood hasn't been the same since the Tompkins Square riots were quelled and the yuppies started moving in.

 

the new location is MAYBE 1/10 of the total size of the St. Mark's location. One small store VS. a 3 story megastore for music/movie geeks. I'll miss it, but bittorrent and other downloads eventually had to take a toll. I def. cut back on my buying over the last few years...except for bands I've always supported.

 

I used to live right above that shop

 

damn, a few steps away from the best rental shop in history...envious! I used to make the trip from Jersey and Bklyn just to rent stuff there.

saw the new shop today - total disappointment. scored a copy of the Criterion release of White Dog and off to watch it now...

 

I owe that place just as much as NYU film school

 

Sucks about Kim's - one of my "must" destinations every time I was in NYC. I can't count the number of times my wife had to pull me out of there . . .Despite the "too cool for school" staff, their music and film selection was incredible.

And James is right - the biggest of the two indie record shops here in Milwaukee (a place where I worked for 6+ years in the '80's and '90's) is closing next month. The owner told me it's been a downhill slide for years now, and he decided to get out before he went completely bankrupt.

 

Wow when I lived in NYC I was in Kim's on St Marks at least once a week. I would find so many great underground movies and records there. The world is becoming a sadder place with all these smaller shops closing. I guess having a cyber location is alot more economical than paying rent on an actual location. Especially a NYC location.

 

Well to show I'm not a grump, the thing with Mondo Kim's to me is the same thing as Love Saves the Day. They were unique, but what makes people really getting bummed about these guys is they are the literal last places of their kind in the Village... And now they are gone...

When I was in JHS and in HS in the 1980s, getting off at West 4th Street and then exploring the Village was mind-blowingly amazing. Lots more record stores, vintage stores and basically anything. Rents were reasonable, so you'd have crammed storefronts just selling punk buttons or even this one place on West 3rd Street near where Boston Comedy Club more recently was that just sold "Horror, Sci Fi & Fantasy" stuff... Models, toys, soundtracks, all kinds of stuff. Heck, I worked for Catalan Communications for a while in the late 1980s (the sold European graphic novels and stuff from Heavy Metal magazine) and had to do some deliveries from our Gramercy office via hand truck to the usual Village shops.

Now it's all chain restaurants or NYU related stuff. Thank everything there's a solid Ukranian and even Japanese population in the East Village now, because they make things bearable.

Even in the outer boroughs we had decent record stores like Zig-Zag (metal) and Titus Oaks (classic old school indie record shop) and they were a bus ride away from where I lived without ever entering the city.

So R.I.P. old Village. I hate Love Saves the Day and Mondo Kim's but they were the last of a dying breed. So respect to that.

 

Where is the new location again?

 

I LOVED THAT SHOP...I don't think I ever knew its name though. I would go in there and stroll around like a hallucinating bum looking at all the cool shit

 

Yeah, that place was a classic hole-in-the-wall that I wish NYC still had more of. I scored tons of Gigantor episodes on VHS back in the day.

 

Do any of you guys remember when there was a toy shop maybe 4 doors down from it? It was down toward the corner of Thompson.

I used to make the circuit of Kim's, that toy shop, and then Generation records. Good times.