Mondo Kim's NYC RIAA-ded (raided?) ?

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apparently this just happened at like 1, 1:30pm or so wednesday. like five staffers arrested re: buying/selling mixtapes in-store. anyone confirm/deny?

― Nick Sylvester, Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:04 (twenty years ago)

Oh I hope that isn't true.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:06 (twenty years ago)

i guess the game means bidness in his new feud w/ fiddy

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:07 (twenty years ago)

(no comment)

― donut e-goon (donut), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:11 (twenty years ago)

they should raid the place to make sure mr. kim pays his employees minimum wage.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:19 (twenty years ago)

word.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:21 (twenty years ago)

That's why they get for being such smug pricks.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:23 (twenty years ago)

That's what they get*

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:24 (twenty years ago)

I don't understand... why would selling/buying mixtapes be an offense?

― Gypsy King (Twilight), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:25 (twenty years ago)

*xpost)Wow you're a dipshit.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:25 (twenty years ago)

dude you'd be SO NICE to people if you were getting screwed, too.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:25 (twenty years ago)

xpost THAT IS MOTHERFUCKING SARCASM

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:26 (twenty years ago)

RIAA agents turn out to be disgruntled former customers

― H (Heruy), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:32 (twenty years ago)

PONY

― PONY (hstencil), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:34 (twenty years ago)

nobody has ever been at all rude to me in any kim's location. y'all are just paranoid.

― metal assembly (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:35 (twenty years ago)

i like their weekly deals!

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:35 (twenty years ago)

*xpost)Wow you're a dipshit.

You're just jealous of my wit.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:37 (twenty years ago)

i mean, seriously, anyone intimidated by a record store employee has issues that go far beyond anything any of us could help with.

IE GET YOURSELF A FUCKING GOOD SHRINK

IE BETTER THAN MINE

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:38 (twenty years ago)

MY SHRINK FUCKING SUCKS. I HATE THAT BITCH.

...

I have to see her tomorrow.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:38 (twenty years ago)

no, seriously, you're no brainwasher, but dipshit comes close, discriptively.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:39 (twenty years ago)

You're also jealous of my wit.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:39 (twenty years ago)

Weirdly, I was just talking to my brother today about a mixtape disc I bought at [an NYC rekkid store I won't name even under oath, so do your worst, coppers!] and he was like, "They sell those in the store?" And I was like, "Yeah, I mean, it's not like the FBI's going to raid them or anything."

That said, mixtapes should really be bought on the sidewalk. Keep it real!

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:41 (twenty years ago)

"wit"

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:45 (twenty years ago)

The only potential upside here is if Mr. Kim appears in a Pepsi ad promoting legal downloading.

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Thursday, 9 June 2005 05:46 (twenty years ago)

You wouldn't steal a CANDY BAR... you wouldn't steal a CAR.... but yet you'll buy the "It's the Motherfuckin' Remix" mixtape and "Piracy Funds Terrorism" from an East Village record store??

― On a Strict El Cholo Diet (Bent Over at the Arclight), Thursday, 9 June 2005 06:17 (twenty years ago)

I think this is absolutely horrible. The Kim's people are totally nice. This sucks.

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Thursday, 9 June 2005 06:19 (twenty years ago)

i steal candy bars all the time! take 5 motherfuckers!

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 9 June 2005 06:20 (twenty years ago)

The only potential upside here is if Mr. Kim appears in a Pepsi ad promoting legal downloading.

"I fought the law...and the law won"

― Cunga (Cunga), Thursday, 9 June 2005 06:30 (twenty years ago)

yo! can someone actually confirm this though?!

― Nick Sylvester, Thursday, 9 June 2005 06:42 (twenty years ago)

The Kim's people are totally nice.

yeah, fwiw i used to get way more attitude from the dumbass teenagers who rang up my dinosaur-rock cds at the wiz. every other transaction i've had at kim's has resulted in the clerk saying something like "hey, great record! i didn't know this got reissued!" or "did you know these guys are playing tomorrow night?" or "wasn't this the dude that used to be in _____?" mr. kim may be a prick, but i've never had a bad experience with his employees.

― metal assembly (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 9 June 2005 06:56 (twenty years ago)

Is there anything that can quite take Kim's place? It seems kinda strange that one of the most ostensibly important chain of record stores in the largest U.S. city (and one of the largest in the world) as far as selling stuff under the radar, if you will, has such an extraordinarily shady reputation behind it all.

hmmm, I take that back. I guess that isn't so odd, is it?

― donut e-goon (donut), Thursday, 9 June 2005 07:48 (twenty years ago)

I don't doubt that the employees or former employees there are great. I'm very very good friends with several ex Kim's employee's, but they all stress the "ex-employee" part whenever the store is mentioned. Fun place to shop.. apparently very unfun to work at, I guess.

― donut e-goon (donut), Thursday, 9 June 2005 07:50 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, yay to Mondo Kims, at least the people who work there. One of my fav recshops of the world.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 9 June 2005 07:55 (twenty years ago)

an Amoeba in Soho would clearly put Kim's out of commission, future raids or not, however.

― donut e-goon (donut), Thursday, 9 June 2005 07:56 (twenty years ago)

i hope it's not true, although that little stand at 14th and 6th has a better mixtape selection

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Thursday, 9 June 2005 12:26 (twenty years ago)

Word. I don't remember one unpleasant conversation with a Kim's/OM/Etherea record store clerk, and I spent a lot of time in those establishments. At worst the cashier would silently take my $ and bag my record, but it never felt personal.

I get much more attitude at Vintage Vinyl in STL.

― mike a, Thursday, 9 June 2005 12:29 (twenty years ago)

it's true.

i was in there yesterday—looking at, erm, porno selections. After about three minutes of discrete browsing, my shoulder was tapped, and I nearly jumped out of my skin to see that the tapper was a shorts clad cop. "Had porno become illegal as of 12:30pm?" I thought for a split second…

He told me to leave the store immediately— the clerks on the third floor were lined up, as were their counterparts on the second and ground floors.

― veronica moser (veronica moser), Thursday, 9 June 2005 12:38 (twenty years ago)

nobody has ever been at all rude to me in any kim's location. y'all are just paranoid.

totally. there are complaints about other, as well, and i've always been treated well there. bitch all you want about the aggressive record store employee, but the aggressive record dork customer is always gonna be worse.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 9 June 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

I've had unpleasant encounters with two Kim's employees - one male, one female. The guy eventually got friendlier, though, and anyway, Craig (aka I-Sound) is so easygoing and cool that it all evens out.

Vintage Vinyl in Jersey is clerked exclusively by assholes.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Thursday, 9 June 2005 12:41 (twenty years ago)

(Adult Crash, on the other hand, could get rude if you caught 'em on a bad day.)

― mike a, Thursday, 9 June 2005 12:42 (twenty years ago)

Wow- this sucks. Poor Kim's.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 9 June 2005 12:47 (twenty years ago)

i hope it's not true, although that little stand at 14th and 6th has a better mixtape selection

I have never EVER been able to get anyone to sell me anything at that kiosk, and gave up all hope of trying ages ago. NOBODY IS EVER THERE.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Thursday, 9 June 2005 13:02 (twenty years ago)

I wonder if this means they're hiring now. I need a job.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Thursday, 9 June 2005 13:14 (twenty years ago)

i guess i'll have to ask my drug dealer for a copy of "Got That Purp" now...

― Beta (abeta), Thursday, 9 June 2005 13:38 (twenty years ago)

There's something comical about raiding a Kim's store over piracy, as opposed to employment, which consists of a whole lot of under-the-table sub-minimum wage hiring of illegal Canadian immigrants. It's not a fun place to work uptown, and I seriously doubt it's all that exciting in the center, either. Raid-wise, though: this is shit, particularly if there really were employee arrests.

― nabiscothingy (nory), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:05 (twenty years ago)

NB I seriously doubt this was about mixtapes! They've got pirate copies of a lot of DVD stuff, which is surely a bigger target. A lot of it is import material that might otherwise be hard to get, or impossible to get in the right format. But now and then I think they do get a little lazy about what gets the copy treatment.

My advice: run uptown and rent bootleg "The High Life" (BBC, 1995) before it goes away forever!

― nabiscothingy (nory), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:10 (twenty years ago)

any idea why particular employees would be arrested, nabisco?

― peter smith (plsmith), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

were they just the ones who happened to be working at the time?

― peter smith (plsmith), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:12 (twenty years ago)

Plenty of DVD and VHS bootlegs bought, sold and rented. This is not news, and one of the things Kim's is good for. They used to have a heads-up for this sort of thing. In the nine months I worked there I never saw or heard a peep of fed activity, as my time was spent fending off thieves who tried selling boosted DVD box sets from the Wiz.

― mosurock (mosurock), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)

"I get much more attitude at Vintage Vinyl in STL."

Really? Those folks were always really friendly to me. (Although I guess I did see 'em be kind of dick-y to some other folks.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:19 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 191 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

they closed the Uptown one

― gabbneb, Monday, 10 November 2008 17:44 (seventeen years ago)

the way I understand it, the whole rental collection is being sold. the rest of the store (vinyl, CDs, DVDs for sale) is moving to 1st Ave

http://racked.com/archives/2008/10/14/discontinued_is_st_marks_place_losing_mondo_kims.php

― dmr, Monday, 10 November 2008 17:54 (seventeen years ago)

― SNAKES! (ice crӕm), Monday, 10 November 2008 17:55 (seventeen years ago)

oh wait not sold, they're trying to find someone to "adopt" the vid collection and still keep it available (?? seems unlikely)

― dmr, Monday, 10 November 2008 17:55 (seventeen years ago)

tho u know if i had to choose one im def picking the internet

― SNAKES! (ice crӕm), Monday, 10 November 2008 17:56 (seventeen years ago)

yeah, and they want it to be kept as a whole, single collection, which is scaring peopole away.

― mizzell, Monday, 10 November 2008 17:57 (seventeen years ago)

I rented there for the first time in months last week, and the clerk said they had a buyer for the video-rental collection and it wd be moving to somewhere in the EV.

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:23 (seventeen years ago)

How long before there are no video stores and it's all Netflix and On Demand?

― Alex in SF, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:26 (seventeen years ago)

7 years

― SNAKES! (ice crӕm), Monday, 10 November 2008 18:26 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah I'm thinking it might even be less. Esp. the way streaming video has improved lately.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:28 (seventeen years ago)

the tubes have to be sorted def but the biggie is the battle for who will deliver the content

― SNAKES! (ice crӕm), Monday, 10 November 2008 18:32 (seventeen years ago)

I rented there for the first time in months last week, and the clerk said they had a buyer for the video-rental collection and it wd be moving to somewhere in the EV.

huh! well that's good. you obviously have got the more recent update, all I had heard was from a couple of blog posts

― dmr, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:37 (seventeen years ago)

I don't think I ever got a genuine, branded VHS tape from Kim's in all my years of renting there.

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:44 (seventeen years ago)

Argh I have already said this upthread :(

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 10 November 2008 18:45 (seventeen years ago)

I noticed the sign on the 1st ave location just this past saturday. Was confused. Didn't notice if it's open or anything.

― dan selzer, Monday, 10 November 2008 19:16 (seventeen years ago)

1st ave is open, and has been since at least last week.. it's a weird space. Selection looked weak, but they're still moving things from the St. Mark's location I think.

― ian, Monday, 10 November 2008 20:39 (seventeen years ago)

but i just bought my girlfriend a bunch of kim money!

― poortheatre, Monday, 10 November 2008 22:50 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.nomad4ever.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/money_changer_bali_seminyak.jpg

― ian, Monday, 10 November 2008 22:51 (seventeen years ago)

KIM

― poortheatre, Monday, 10 November 2008 22:54 (seventeen years ago)

NO CHEAT
NO TRICK

― Uncle Shavedlongcock (max), Monday, 10 November 2008 22:55 (seventeen years ago)

Well it wasn't long ago that everyone was complainin and moanin about the death of the typewriter store, but we seem to get by just fine ordering our typewriters on the internet.

― Albert Jeans (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 01:21 (seventeen years ago)

There will be specialty video stores for the foreseeable future.

― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 21:01 (seventeen years ago)

maybe in YOUR foreseeable future; some of us have fifty, sixty years ahead of us!

;) ;) xoxoxoxo ;) ;)

― ian, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 21:51 (seventeen years ago)

Kim Money only buys Kimya Dawson CRAP

― LUTE JOINTS (Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃), Tuesday, 11 November 2008 22:29 (seventeen years ago)

last time i was in the st. marks store (a few months ago) it was dispiriting. the used music selection seemed understocked (presumably they're buying a lot less stuff these days) and it all just felt kinda dead.

― tipsy mothra, Tuesday, 11 November 2008 23:00 (seventeen years ago)

three months pass...

new Kim's on 1st Ave kinda sucks imo. looks ok for DVDs but barely any vinyl

also it looks like Etherea (former Adult Crash) on Ave A is closing at the end of the month. everything's on sale. the guy behind the counter said the owner is pulling out and he (guy behind counter) is trying to find backers to go partners with and keep the place for himself .... but doesn't have very long to make it happen. didn't seem too likely to work out but maybe I'll be surprised

― dmr, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 23:44 (seventeen years ago)

On the Etherea blog it looks like they're only open by appointment now. Are they really still open generally until the end of the month? I'd like to check out the sales...

― jonathan - stl, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 23:54 (seventeen years ago)

I was there last Monday and they were open. I thought I overheard the guy saying he had two or three weeks to get something together

― dmr, Wednesday, 25 February 2009 00:27 (seventeen years ago)

but I can't say 100% yes they're open

― dmr, Wednesday, 25 February 2009 00:28 (seventeen years ago)

three years pass...

http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-09-12/film/kims-%20video-Sicily/

― am0n, Thursday, 13 September 2012 14:17 (thirteen years ago)

What a fascinating article. It's almost like a Roberto Bolaño novel or something!

― Walter Galt, Thursday, 13 September 2012 14:35 (thirteen years ago)

yeah pretty interesting. best thing I've read in the Voice in ages.

― dmr, Thursday, 13 September 2012 15:10 (thirteen years ago)

pretty sweet gig for that one guy digitizing everything tho.

― one dis leads to another (ian), Thursday, 13 September 2012 15:19 (thirteen years ago)

all three posts ^^^ are otm

― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 13 September 2012 15:20 (thirteen years ago)

just nuts.

I didn't get a Mondo Kim's membership til about 3 months before the end cuz I figured I had FOREVER to watch all their shit. Also p sure I got a snarky rental comment from the pre-"famous" Alex Ross Perry, true to the store rep.

― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 September 2012 15:21 (thirteen years ago)

i still want to see mr. kim's film.

― one dis leads to another (ian), Thursday, 13 September 2012 15:23 (thirteen years ago)

I want to see "his" 55,000 films that he shipped off to FUCKING SICILY.

― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 September 2012 15:33 (thirteen years ago)

get a karagarga invite

― am0n, Thursday, 13 September 2012 15:42 (thirteen years ago)

i can understand that the vacation flight was already booked but when she finally got into the collection and met the man digitizing it i wish she'd been like, fuck that flight, i've finally got a source and i'm going to have more than a 2-minute conversation with him about it

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 13 September 2012 15:52 (thirteen years ago)

yeah kinda. or like, have someone with you who knows English and Italian so you can speak more than five words to each other.

― dmr, Thursday, 13 September 2012 16:19 (thirteen years ago)

don't know how the boyfriend would have felt about sharing a room with a translator though

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 13 September 2012 16:22 (thirteen years ago)

well, it's Karina Longworth.

― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 September 2012 16:23 (thirteen years ago)

that doesn't mean anything to me morbs. is she famous for writing stories off the back of her vacations?

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 13 September 2012 16:30 (thirteen years ago)

no, but it's a testament to the pull of the Kim's story that even she couldn't screw it up.

― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 September 2012 16:57 (thirteen years ago)

I really like her writing.

― Walter Galt, Thursday, 13 September 2012 17:30 (thirteen years ago)

lol this article

― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 13 September 2012 17:36 (thirteen years ago)

v enjoyable

― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 13 September 2012 17:36 (thirteen years ago)

i agree! it's an a amazing story and i'd tell my friends about it if it were me, it's just too bad the vacation logistics ended up trumping the payoff

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 13 September 2012 17:41 (thirteen years ago)

I think the plot of Expendables 3 should be a commando raid to bring the collection back to Gotham.

― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 25 September 2012 13:49 (thirteen years ago)

that actually sounds like the plot of a donald westlake novel, complete with high-speed chase through the streets of new york at the climax.

― one dis leads to another (ian), Tuesday, 25 September 2012 15:49 (thirteen years ago)

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