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.
After a while you end up having to rent a storage unit for all those DVDs.
[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.]
Exactly, especially when as you get older, you’ve forgotten what you’ve seen in a week and can watch the same show over. Pretty soon I’ll just be able to put John Wayne in Rio Bravo on a continuous loop and not even have to get up off the couch. Perpetually entertained.
“Mystical late fees?”
You mean those pesky fees that showed up when you didn’t return your movies on time? I don’t think there’s anything mystical about them.
“Mystical late fees” is right up there with “Predatory Lenders” that hunted innocent people and made them by homes they could not afford.
I hadn’t rented a movie in quite a few years. I’d either bought or DVR’d them. Then we got into the mode of upgrading our TV. So in December I looked at joining Netflix, or some other DVD rental.
Not being big movie buffs, I stopped when I saw it would cost a monthly fee whether we ordered movies or not. I looked into Redbox, but what they have locally is pitiful, and I want to be able to walk into a store and walk out with something. So, I set up a membership at our local video rental store. I’ve only rented two movies since then (like I said, we’re not into movies much), but will rent more now that we have our new, super duper TV.
It’s all in what one’s needs are.
Netfix streaming is the final nail in the coffin.
Do editors actually do any work these days?
<><><><><><><
Can a minority not grow in size and still be a minority?
Eddie Coyle was a tough movie to find.
I grew up in the town where the bank they robbed is located.
My town also has the plaza where Eddie bought the guns.
I buy most of mine via Amazon. I get many DVDs for less than $10 including shipping and I do not have to worry about getting hit with a rewind fee if forget to when I send the rental DVD back.
Yes, it can--but this article is about a shrinking minority. The group going to rental stores is getting smaller--not growing.
Netflix streaming is great. Netflix has stuff you’d never find in a million years at a video store, and they have imports that would cost $30-40 dollars if you had to buy them. Between Netflix, Redbox, YouTube, Hulu, On Demand eps from the networks, On Demand from DirecTV, Tivo, DVR’s and BitTorrent, people have no need for video stores anymore. If I miss a tv ep, I can pull it off the internet, stream it over my network and watch it on my TV with my XBox. Or I can watch Netflix on demand with their XBox app. I haven’t been in a movie rental store in years.
I’m more amused by “instantly UPloading movies online.” The writer and copy editor don’t understand the difference between uploading and downloading.
No, they aren’t. It’s part of their company FAQ. They made a business decision not to carry porn or mature titles.
I am 1/2 mile from a Redbox. I get movies for 1 buck a pop.
On Demand is a good thing too.
They carry “9 Songs” “Brown Bunny” that is not porn?
BTW, if you're in the market for an excellent documentary (one of three in the world that is not liberal) rent "King of Kong."
It's about a couple of guys battling for the world record in Donkey Kong, which you would think would be incredibly boring, but it's not. I only watched it because it was one of the few rated better than 4.5 stars. I can see why now - it's absolutely fascinating and hysterically funny at times.
There is a whole very weird world out there where competitive gaming is bloodthirsty and ugly.
We joined netflix about a month ago. Then we heard about Lost and have watched all five seasons through their instant watch program. Sometimes we watch two or three in one day.
Yeah, but the scene where that big, hairy arm reaches in through the bathroom window is still a classic. Hmm, I wonder if NetFlix has Gargoyles on DVD?
RedBox is good, and it’s cheap.
Don’t you end up with a lot of videos?
I liked the local video-rental stores in the ‘80s, as they often had a nice variety of vintage fare... classics, silents, foreign films, old serials, 50s/60s horror sci-fi schlock, etc. Always something fun to discover. But some time in the early-1990s, all the stores around here seemed to weed out all that variety, and concentrate entirely on ‘new releases.’ So, I gave up on them entirely. Haven’t rented anything since those days.
In the past decade, I’ve just been buying discs, so now I have my own library of favorites to tap into any time I want.
The only thing holding up online rental is selection. Once I can get anything online that I can from a store it’s all over, and they know it.
I still love the song about Travis Crabtree :-)
Hundreds..
I’m the opposite. When you can rent a new release for $1 (or less via monthly fee), what’s the point of buying for >=$10 when you’re only going to watch it once, maybe twice, and have to dedicate shelf space to it forever after.
Short of dirt-cheap ($2 or less) specials, I only buy premium/box-sets of the few movies I especially like and particularly want to own (Blade Runner, Brazil, Watchmen, etc.), as much for the extras as for the main title. I should start dumping what I do own and won’t watch again (few would pay enough for those aging DVDs to warrant the bother of selling them). I’ve got too much stuff, and about 1/3rd of my stuff is media.
Thanks for the tip, just added it to my instant queue.
Maybe it will inspire my teenager to quit putting in so much time playing call of duty 4 modern warfare.
No. The fees that appears when all too many B-workers just didn’t check in the dropped-in movies during their shift. It finally got so bad I had to
hand deliver to them directly and physically watch them log them in.
If you never had this happen you musn’t have rented from them much. Either that or you manage one if their stores. Ha ha.
Is it any wonder why they are failing? =
. Why spend $6 at Blockbuster when you can rent the exact same DVD from Redbox for a DOLLAR!
I hope Redbox begins to rent Blu Ray movies in their kiosks.. the sooner the better!
LOL. So busy looking at the words, I failed to note the context. You are quite correct, editors and proofreaders are apparently in short supply.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.