Posted on 02/23/2010 11:18:29 AM PST by raccoonradio
Convenience, choice drawing consumers to other movie options
On a recent weekday, Ken Moore browsed the new release wall at Hollywood Video but he couldn’t avoid the “Store Closing’’ banners that draped the inside and outside of the Quincy store.
“I’m like a dinosaur,’’ said the father of two from Milton. “People tell me ‘You’re still going to the video store?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah.’ ’’
Moore is a part of a growing minority of movie renters who shun the convenience of instantly uploading moves online or grabbing a DVD at supermarket kiosks in favor of roaming the aisles of the big-box video rental stores such as Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. At a time when mainstream video store chains are being challenged like never before by the growth of on-demand cable movie rentals and Internet-based mail delivery outlets, these cinephiles are like nomads, driving farther and farther to find another video store when their neighborhood shop closes.
“The trend for video stores is, in some ways, going in the same direction as neighborhood bookstores, in that they’re closing,’’ said Gloria Boone, a media and advertising professor at Suffolk University. “Between choice and convenience, it really is dooming the local video stores. It’s their death knell.’’
The shuttering of movie rental stores has become common in recent years as closings have quietly dotted city neighborhoods from Dorchester and Porter Square to Abington and Quincy.
Earlier this month, Movie Gallery Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection and is closing 760 of its Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video (including five in the Bay State), and Game Crazy stores nationally, according to the company website. Blockbuster Inc., which owns Blockbuster Video, closed 300 stores last year and will shutter up to 600 this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Where am I going to rent “Breakin’ II Electric Boogaloo” On VHS?
I get some movies, etc. for free; library has some DVDs and also there’s options like my cable’s free on demand (where I got to see Nashville and In Cold Blood; have never seen before) and YouTube on the comp (where I saw all of The Friends of Eddie Coyle not long ago)
BUSH’S fault!
I’ve noticed our local Blockbusters are always empty of customers, even on the old busy times Friday and Saturday nights. The new $1 rental vending machines at grocery stores seem to be getting longer and longer lines.
Shh!! That’s what Cinemageddon is for.
maybe buy it cheap on Ebay, or look in a yard sale or at a new/used record/music store
I was up in Concord NH not long ago and they have a big place called Pitchfork Records. Not only did they have new and used CDs, cassettes,and DVDs but also used VHS videos, vinyl records, etc. Look around enough and you’ll find it...but that case isn’t a store that just specializes in DVD/VHS.
They add it to what is mostly a music store.
Redbox’s Fault.
We have an entertainmart store here where you can buy movies cheaper than they can be rented. That, the internet, etc., the old local rental store is just not a viable business model anymore.
Do editors actually do any work these days?
Quixk call Harry Reid, we need a TARP bailout of the Video Store Industry!
I managed to watch “The Legend of Boggy Creek” last week. It took Netflix about three months to get it to me. I was 9 when I first saw it. It seemed a lot scarier then.
It’s easier to discover a title digging through shelves or bins.
Netflix’s organization of titles is lousy and their listing of “new releases” does not list half of what they are adding to their catalog.
So if you know what you want to rent, it works ok but if you want to see something you’d be interested in and haven’t seen advertised, you have to wander around awhile and maybe you’ll find something.
But Netflix has broader inventory of titles than most brick and mortar stores.
I know of videotape rental stores (still in business) with decades of titles (most now out of print). Oddly, they never went into DVD rental. The explosion of releases on DVD means it is unlikely to find everything stocked anywhere and there are titles that go out of print (and then seem to “get lost” at Netflix).
Ultimately I like a big inventory to choose from. But looking at physical shelves gives you an easier chance to discover releases than an incomplete category listing online.
I have gotten to the point I just buy everything instead of renting. When you can buy a new release for $10, what’s the point of renting for $5 and paying a few bucks more for the eventual late fees.
Too big to fail! Rental Stores need our bailout money now! I propose 500 billion dollars to keep these video stores from going out of business! They provide a valuable entertainment factor, and provide jobs in the urban environments that no one else could provide! Bailout now!
Or, let capitalism reign. And everyone ends up winning in the long run.
Jumbo...shrimp
Growing...minority!
Blockbusters can choke on their DVDs, BRDs, VHSs etc. For a couple of decades they ripped off eager customers, hitting them with ‘mystical’ late fees and gave them bad service to boot!...now, they can take their rightful place in the buggy whip museum. Every one I see brings a smile to my heart.
Video Rental has been dying for a decade. I remember their heyday when rental places used to get VHS movies several months before they were released for public sale. But, that agreement was apparently only for VHS ... and died with the DVD.
Now, its almost cheaper to buy a used DVD than to rent one (They’re about $3 at pawn shops). And, downloading or Netflix is much more convenient for rentals.
The movie rental business is pretty much a relic, and will likely be confined to the porn market from here on.
SnakeDoc
though I think youtube had to take down Eddie Coyle due to copyright complaint
But Youtube, Hulu, etc. do have entire movies or TV episodes (limited selection maybe)
They need to become MEDIA STORES - games, movies, tv series, music, and carry related relevant merchandise, not just movie rental stores. Good point that these are the places adapting to the changes of the consumer.
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