When Mondo Kims closed in early 2009, NYC lost access to its huge collection of video rentals, about 55,000 movies. The collection was sent to Sicily, but now it is coming back, as Alamo Drafthouse has acquired it all for its location in Downtown Manhattan, where they will be available for rent. Here is the press release:
From 1986 to 2012, movie lovers from around the world flocked to the East Village to browse the legendary diverse and esoteric catalog of Kim’s Video. One of the largest video collections in the world, Kim’s Video Collection has close to 55,000 of the deepest cuts and the hardest to find selections – and many are not and may never be available on a streaming platform.
After a 12-year, 9,000-mile odyssey that included a trip to Italy and back, Kim’s Video Collection is now back where it belongs – in New York City. It will be permanently located and available for rent at the Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan.
Details beyond that are sparse, but there is a press preview next week, so hopefully we will know more soon.
The last Kim’s Video & Music, which did not rent movies, closed in 2014 just after Record Store Day.