DVD rental machines gain in supermarkets; c-stores next?

Thousands of automated DVD kiosks have been installed in supermarkets across the country, according to suppliers of the machines. Could convenience stores be next?

Giant Eagle, Inc., a supermarket and convenience store operator in the Pittsburgh market, started testing redbox automated DVD kiosks in five GetGo convenience stores in December.

Each fully automated kiosk holds more than 500 DVDs, representing 50 to 60 of the newest movie releases, with new titles available every Tuesday. Consumers use a touch screen to select movies, and swipe a valid credit or debit card to pay. Customers can keep the DVD for as long as they like for $1 per night plus tax. After 25 nights, rental charges cease and the DVD is the customer’s to keep. For added convenience, customers can visit the vendor’s Web site, redbox.com, to choose a title online and pick it up at the redbox location of their choice.

“The GetGo test expands the presence of redboxin the convenience store category, introducing more consumers to the $1 per night price point,” Greg Waring, vice president, marketing, redbox, said in a statement announcing the test.

For the initial pilot period, GetGo stores in the Pittsburgh area communities of Shadyside, Lawrenceville, Sarver, Brentwood and Wilkinsburg featured the redbox DVD kiosks.

Giant Eagle Inc. is a food retailer and distributor with approximately $6.2 billion in annual sales. It has 146 corporate and 71 independently owned and operated supermarkets in addition to more than 115 fuel and convenience stores throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, north central West Virginia and Maryland.

McDonald’s is the parent company of RedboxAutomated Retail, LLC. Redbox is based in Illinois. Other companies that offer automated DVD rental machines are The New Release, based in Houston, and DVDPlay, headquartered in San Diego.

TNR Entertainment Corp., owner and operator of The New Release brand, said it has more than 3,000 machines installed. It announced in May that it had installed 50 kiosks in California, from Sacramento to San Diego, following the company’s initial entry into the state earlier in the year. That brings to 161 the total number of TNR kiosks in the state, all of which are located in selected Ralph’s supermarkets, Food 4 Less and FoodsCo stores, according to TNR. The machines allow shoppers to rent the latest DVD titles for $1 per day.

TNR’s kiosks house up to 1,000 units each, representing more than 200 titles, including top new releases. The fully-automated kiosks operate on a wireless communications network.

DVDPlay has some 1,200 kiosks operating in grocery stores, according to the company. Dee Cravens, vice president of marketing, said, “We’ve seen tremendous growth over the past year and are exploring lots of new locations.” The DVDPlay kiosk rents movies for $1.49 the first night and .99 cents each extra night.