New era in video rental

“They say the business is dying,” said Jamie Hartman, owner of Video Escape. “You see stores close all of the time.”

The movie rental business has changed.

Advancements in technology have revolutionized the way people rent movies today. Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery and Blockbuster were once dominant companies in video rental, but have now all filed for bankruptcy. With the rise in popularity for Netflix and the ever-growing chain of Redbox machines, these companies took a backseat to a new trend.

Corporations are not the only movie rental businesses suffering. With competition from Netflix and Redbox, small video rental chains and businesses are finding it difficult to stay relevant. In Creston, there are currently three Redbox devices and local stores such as Movie Gallery and Movie Nite have gone out of business since 2010.

After the smoke cleared, only one video rental store in Creston is still in business. As the numbers of Redbox machines and Netflix customers reach town, Video Escape is facing an uphill battle.

Convenience

Convenience is a major factor for the change in renting. Ordering desired movies online that are delivered right to your door meets the definition of convenience for many film fanatics, but Hartman said there are different kinds of convenience.

“It just depends on what type of convenience you are looking for,” he said.

Netflix users can opt for unlimited DVDs through the mail each month, but are required to order and watch one at a time and must endure the wait of the shipping period to and from the company. Netflix also offers customers the option of instant streaming, but selection is limited and often criticized.

“The video store is always going to have more advantages to it,” Hartman said. “Netflix just had to raise their prices. They’re doing videos in the mail where you can only have so many out, and you have to wait, and with a video store you can just stop in, grab your video and bring it back. So in one aspect it’s even more convenient.”

Video rental businesses offer a one-stop shop for customers with a wider selection than can be found at a Redbox. Each Redbox machine can store as many as 700 DVDs at once, only 25 percent of the current DVDs Video Escape holds, Hartman said.

“Selection is a big thing that everyone compliments on at the store,” Hartman reported.

With limited storage room, Redbox tends to feature recent releases, whereas movie retailers can offer films dating back much farther.

According to Hartman, with certain studios, films will be released at video stores, such as Video Escape, a month before Redbox can offer them.

Experience

For Will Reasoner, the new trend is good and less of a fiscal burden.

“I feel like there is a lot more options you can take advantage of now,” Reasoner said. “I can rent a lot more now because they’re cheaper. In the past, if you went to a video store you would have to pay three or four bucks for one. Now it’s a dollar at Redbox and with Netflix you can watch a lot of them all on one day.”

However, Reasoner said he has encountered difficulties with the new options.

“With Netflix they have just about every movie you want, but not many of them are for streaming online, especially for new movies,” he said. “So I go to Redbox, but they don’t have the biggest selection and tend to be out a lot.”

Customer service

While privacy when renting videos may be a positive for some customers, the drop in customer service is a price some are unwilling to pay.

“I think there are still a lot of people that prefer to do things face to face rather than mailing back and forth,” Hartman said. “It is a huge factor.”

Netflix has opened a few stores for customers who desire a physical location when renting, but the majority of the business is conducted online and through mail, eliminating face-to-face customer relations.

If a Redbox machine does break down, customers are forced to find another device to rent from or return videos to until the device is fixed.

As for Video Escape and other film rental stores, transactions are all completed in person.

“It’s about keeping the customer happy,” Hartman said. “Whereas with the bigger companies, they are concerned with making money, not how the customer feels.”

Hartman said customer relations is important to him and an important part of his business. True to his word, Hartman has implemented “wish list movies,” a chance for local customers to request movies not currently in stock.

“I try to tend more to what customers want rather than push what tests well like with Netflix and Redbox,” he said. “What tests well in one place isn’t necessarily going to in another.”

Hy-Vee Food Stores are embracing the trend. The grocery stores once offered a video rental department for customers that have been replaced with Redbox machines.

“It was an expensive department to run and maintain,” said Creston Hy-Vee Store Director Chuck Irelan. “We didn’t really have enough sales or impact out of it to constitute the space.”

According to Irelan, the Redbox change was customer-based.

“For the customers we have, it is a huge convenience for them, that one-stop shop.”

Optimistic

Video Escape has exchanged hands many times in the past decade. It was Hartman’s love for film that got him into the business and the reason he is still a part of it today. Hartman said he is optimistic, even despite the failure of other video stores.

“Companies like Blockbuster tend to be in the cities where people are busier and there is more to do,” Hartman said, “which makes it a little safer in a smaller town like Creston.

“I don’t see it as huge competition right now. I am relying on the people in town, it’s mainly up to them whether or not they want to keep a video store in town.”