for sale: big-ass video collection

In New York, the owner of the East Village's famed Kim's Video store is putting his vast movie collection up for sale: VID KING READY TO UNWIND. Facing declining revenues, Yongman Kim is making all his 55,000 films available to a worthy buyer... but there are some strict conditions.

The buyer has to purchase the collection in its entirety, house it in 3,000 square feet of space and allow access to those who used to rent films at the store, "charging a minimum membership fee." Kim has spent over 20 years amassing the 55,000 films, so it's no wonder he's got a bit of an attachment to this collection.

Kim's situation actually strikes me with a little nostalgia. Once upon a time, during the better of the 1980s, my parents owned a video store. It was a small, modest operation, and we had nowhere near as many titles as this guy, but it had a huge role developing my love of cinema. I was kind of sad when we sold it off, so in a way, I understand where this guy is coming from.