When the last remaining location of Kim’s Video & Music announced it was closing for good, most agreed it was just another nail in the coffin, the latest reminder of what the Times called “a downtown culture now largely lost.”
Others were amazed it didn’t happen sooner: “New York City changes so much, so fast,” said former Kim’s manager and buyer Steve Puchalski. “Mr. Kim being able to stay open for 25-plus years is really a tribute to him.”
Yongman Kim opened the first location of Kim’s in 1987, expanding what was then a video nook inside of his laundromat into a proper store, down the block at 85 Avenue A (it lasted until 2004). Kim’s quickly became the place to rent videos that defied mainstream taste, from B horror movies to Czech New Wave films. A second store at 133 Second Avenue (on the corner of St. Marks) was followed by outposts at 350 Bleecker (Kim’s West, 1990-2002), 144 Bleecker (Kim’s Underground, 1991-2005), 6 St. Marks Place (Mondo Kim’s, 1995-2009), 2906 Broadway in Morningside Heights (Kim’s Mediapolis, 2001-2008), and 89 Christopher Street (Kim’s Video, 2005-2009). There was even a Jersey City store.
