Kensington Video will reopen in September

You can’t keep a good Winnie down. “Mom was bored to death,” laughs Guy Hanford, soon-to-be sole owner and operator of Kensington Video. “Retirement didn’t meet well with her.”

That’s just one of the reasons Guy has decided to reopen the family’s world-class video outlet. “I never wanted to close,” Guy continues. “Why should a successful business shut its doors?”

The “Everything for Sale” signs that began to line shelves a few months before the store’s first official closing last March were only half serious. “Sure, I’d have sold you Jurassic Park III or something like that,” said Hanford, “but I wasn’t going to let go of any of the rare stuff that I spent years accumulating.”

Plans to lease the storefront to a sushi restaurant fell through. With the larger portion of the space still on the market, Guy decided to turn back the clock and reinvent the 19' x 69' foot storefront that played home to the Hallmark Card Shop in 1963.

The west wall will be lined with a dozen or so ten-foot-high shelving units to accommodate approximately 15% of the collection. Take a deep breath, fellow vidiots. For the first time in its 30 year history, the complete Kensington Video catalog — all 70,000 titles — will be searchable online! If it’s not available in-store, send Guy your wish list, and he’ll have it ready for pickup within 48 hours.

The old counter space will be transformed into the Vidajuice Smoothie Bar. Continuing the family tradition, the fruit juice stand will be operated by Marc Sisneros, with an occasional appearance by his mother, one of the original Four Musketeers, Pam Hanford Sisneros. Expect chairs and benches as well as a video-projection system. It’s Guy’s dream to “give the space over to the local film community” one evening a week by starting the video equivalent of an open-mic night.

What about Winnie and Rich? “Dad wants nothing more than to build bookcases,” Guy jokes. “The last thing he needs is another customer asking for a title he’s never heard of. The reason I assumed sole proprietorship was so that Mom and Dad would be obligation free. There will be a showcase counter for Winnie’s Picks, and Mom is welcome to report to work whenever she feels like it.”

As for those not-so-friendly reminders to delinquent renters such as myself, the voice on the other end of the phone asking you to return a late movie will no longer be that of Winnie. “Let her have fun,” says Guy. “She’s spent enough of her life playing the part of late-fee vigilante.”

This news goes a long way in helping to take the sting off the loss of Landmark La Jolla Village. Expect the grand reopening to take place sometime in September. Happy days!