AfterDawn: News

Redbox continues fast paced expansion

Redbox, the number one DVD rental kiosk operator, is expanding their operation into a pair of supermarket chains in the Midwest. Hy-Vee stores in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Kansas, as well as Buehler locations in Ohio have all gotten the kiosks this year.

Last year a massive shift from traditional brick and mortar video rental operations to kiosks seems to have begun. With McDonald's, owner of a substantial stake in Redbox, making them a common sight outside their fast food restaraunts and Blockbuster shifting from a focus on their Total Access "Netflix killer" to a plan that includes putting branded kiosks in a number of retailers' establishments, taking advantage of their established name.



Less than a month into 2008, Redbox has added more than 400 kiosks around the country, apparently continuing the meteoric rise they experienced last year.

Meanwhile Movie Gallery, the number two brick and mortar DVD rental operation, was forced to file for bankruptcy and close more than 500 stores last year, with more closings expected within the next few months.

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 29 Jan 2008 23:01

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• 10 comments

• sk8flawzz

  I've still only seen one, at my local Stater Bros.

  29.1.2008 23:09 #1

• 2colors

  Go Red Box. $1.00 rentals compared to almost $5.00 at Blockbuster. Guess which I'll rent from.

  30.1.2008 02:00 #2

• ikari

  I have been hearing good things about this product from coworker and friends. It sound like a few bugs still need to be worked out in the billing department but the overall concept is wonderful.
  
  
  
  Originally posted by sk8flawzz: I've still only seen one, at my local Stater Bros.<OT> sk8flawzz - never heard of Stater Bros. What kind of store is it?</OT>

  30.1.2008 10:32 #3

• silk42

  So has anyone here actually used Redbox? I'd like to hear from someone with firsthand experience.

  30.1.2008 10:41 #4

• M4DHATT3R

  I've used Redbox quite a bit actually. We have a lot in my area, including in Wal-Mart, Giant (grocery store), and Bloom (grocery store). I have Netflix and as anyone who has Netflix knows sometimes the new movies can be a long wait, so if I'm out picking up some groceries and that movie is in Redbox I'll pick it up because it's only a dollar. It's a dollar per movie (plus tax so actually it's like $1.05) and as long as you have it back by 9pm the next day that's all you pay, otherwise it's an additional $1 per day. It's fast, convienent, and cheap....what more could you ask for? However, I still wouldn't get rid of my Netflix b/c they offer a ton of movies that Redbox doesn't (like older movies).
  
  I highly recommend it, or at least giving it a try.

  30.1.2008 10:49 #5

• Globe08

  redbox is all over the place where i live and i live in Virgina. Its extremely cheap and convenient, you can rent from a redbox and return the movie to any other redbox in the damn country as opposed to blockbuster where what you rent must be return to that exact same store.

  30.1.2008 11:08 #6

• BludRayne

  I've used Redbox a couple of times. They are of limited use to me though. They only carry Theatrical release versions. I only want the unrated/uncut version.
  
  You can rent for free if you use the free rental codes. Just sign up for their mailing list or go to insideredbox.com to get your free code. Don't abuse the free rental codes though, don't want Redbox going belly up because of too many leechers!

  30.1.2008 12:07 #7

• Globe08

  yeh i know all about the free codes. i work at giant and they always have some sort of promotion going where by u get one free rental with a certain code. but the hickup they ran into is its one free rental with that per credit card. so you can use that code over and over until it expires which is generally about 2 weeks as long as you are using a different credit card.

  30.1.2008 12:30 #8

• Mez

  Red Box spells the end of Block Buster. They have grown too fat and bloated to compete with Red Box. They have been living on easy street for too long.
  
  They buy a movie for less than $10 rent it out 20 times for 5 a pop then sell it used for $10 and still make a profit on the dump. They are losing money with those kind of profits that is unbelievable!
  
  Wait until they kill total access. When you bring an internet movie back you can rent a movie from the brick and morter store for $2. I will buy it at Red Box and drop total access. After 5-6 years of online rentals we have seen all the old movies we care to see and have been working on TV shows and documentaries for the last few months.
  
  I will probably just quit on line all together. I will never use NetFlix again. They are too evil for me to give them any money. Anyone that says differently has not used them long enough. BB is just starting to get sleezy. They are now holding my disks 5 days before the claim to receive them. NF worse case for me is, I sent 2 disks in the same packet. They claimed to get one in on one day the other disk 'did not come in" for 10 more days! There is no way to complain to them. If you quit NF you need to do it midway in your billing cycle. You stop getting disks within an hour of your notice however, they don't take you off the billing cycle for a week or so. So if you quit in the last week you have to pay for the next month even though you stopped getting disks the month before. That is what I call evil. You can't complain because they don't take complaints.

  5.2.2008 08:21 #9

• borhan9

  See i am still wating for goodies like this for Australia why ohh why do we not see the same innovation.

  21.2.2008 00:05 #10