Hey all, I’ll be in London next week and was wondering if there were any “must see” video establishments. Ideally, I was looking for something akin to Kim’s here in NYC for more genre-specific titles, and a second, larger store that casts a wider net in terms of selection. Thanks in advance…

There are several HMV stores in central London with huge selections.

Forbidden Planet is pretty-well stocked on genre DVDs, and that store is like Willy Wonka's factory for sci-fi fans.

The Cinema Store might be worth a look - I've popped in a couple of times myself while in London - for the odd interesting item, but for picking up cheaper stuff you're definitely better checking out the sales in places like HMV.

The Cinema Store is on St Martin's Lane and is just up from Leicester Square, so it's also near a lot of cinemas too. If you're in town on the 19th, pop over the bridge to the BFI where surprisingly there's a rare big-screen outing for Goodbye Uncle Tom - for a second time due to popular demand!

Excellent - many thanks, guys.

Are you sure, Alan? I was in London in October and while I'd seen The Cinema Store the year before, in October, it was gone, replaced by food and clothing stores.

The Cinema Store is still where it always has been (it's recently condensed itself into one unit, but it's still there!)

It's in Upper St Martin's Lane. The phone number is 020 7379 7838.

The large Zavvi (formerly Virgin Megastore) shop on the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road is worth a visit, too (all these West End stores are within walking distance of each other).

It's quite shocking that there aren't more places that spring to mind.

You'll find that, promoted (blockbuster) titles aside (eg: Five for £30 offers), most shops charge full RRP, especially for catalogue titles. It's generally a lot cheaper to buy online!

The West End also has a lot of good book shops (Charing Cross Road area). Hardcore book collectors should make a point of visiting the shops in Cecil Court (very near the Cinema Store!)

If music's your bag, baby, there are quite a few specialist record shops in the West End. If you're into soundtracks, try HMV Oxford Street. Show tunes? Try The Dress Circle, which is virtually opposite the Cinema Store.

If you're interested in used (second-hand) discs, there are a number of branches of Record and Tape Exchange worth investigating (including one near the market in nearby Berwick Street). They also have several outlets in Notting Hill (a half-hour tube trip away). You might find some obscure or OOP gem there!

Do they have "Daily Price" in London? They seems to be everywhere,I even found one at the Canarries.

I will have a sleepover at Stansted and would rather spend the night at the city, in a grindhouse (if they still have something like the Scala). Tower Records is open till midnight but everything else is closing up at 20/21PM - what the heck??

Video Junction (aka Up the Video Junction) in Camden has a remarkable selection of DVDs from all over the world, including lots of Chinese discs with English subtitles. There's also a very good bookshop just opposite. Here's VJ's My Space page:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendid=84234403

Note that it's only open on weekends.