If you called Movietime Video, you would hear nothing but a fax tone blaring on the other end. The movie store closed last week under pressure from newer and better rental options that are driving the old business model into the ground.
Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video will be quick to follow, and after their doors close for good, there will no longer be any brick-and-mortar video stores left in Columbus.
The change in the movie-renting business has been evolutionary. First, it was a case of the big chain companies like Blockbuster rolling into towns around the country and squashing the little mom-and-pop stores. But there”s a completely new game, not in town, but across the nation. The new age of global accessibility has meant that consumers can have content delivered to them without ever leaving home.
A company called Redbox, which has local locations including Walgreens and Kroger, has installed new movie “vending machines” where customers can swipe their credit card and get a DVD for $1 a night. The videos rented there can be returned to any other Redbox. Another company called Netflix, which has an extensive collection of old and independent titles, delivers movies in the mail for a small monthly fee. Netflix also offers streaming online. Hulu.com is another streaming service that is currently free, but it is rumored to switch over to the monthly subscription model this year.
“I do most of my renting through Blockbuster Express kiosks and Redbox kiosks,” said Van Roberts, movie guru and professor of communication at Mississippi University for Women. “And primarily I get my older titles through Netflix.”
Roberts also teaches a film class and requires his students to have both Netflix and Blockbuster accounts. He said the new home-delivery options and ability to pick up a movie from one kiosk and return it to any other kiosk in the country are responsible for changing the direction of the industry.
“I”m assuming that”s what”s putting all these hardtop stores out of business: the easy availability of getting these titles you really want at a considerably cheaper price than you”d find in the store,” Roberts said. “Capitalism forces competition, and competition forces price cutting, and nobody wants to buy anything these days.”
Movie Gallery, which also owns Hollywood Video, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time on Feb. 3, 2010. Once the second largest rental chain in the nation, the company is now closing all of its stores.
“I”ve seen over the past eight years that people are viewing movies differently,” said Joan Kreitel, manager at Hollywood Video in Columbus. “As the economy hits, it”s easier to go on some kind of monthly plan.”
Movie Gallery first went bankrupt in 2007, and Kreitel thought the financial situation would ultimately turn around.
“The first time, I thought, ”OK, they closed out some unprofitable stores; we”re going to be OK,”” she said.
The corporation restructured and opened again in 2008, but the second attempt was short-lived. However, the Columbus store seemed to break the mold. Kreitel said her branch is still making money despite the company”s other problems.
“Columbus has been wonderful to Movie Gallery and Hollywood,” Kreitel said. “This store was ranked 22 in the nation, out of 1,100. However, one city can”t hold up the whole company.”
The store has been doing so well, that other closing stores have been sending their leftover merchandise to the Columbus Hollywood Video to be sold.
Kreitel, who previously worked as a truck driver and a convenience store manager, said she”ll try and find another administrative job.
“I want to take a break, but financially that”s not realistic,” she said. “I”ll be someone”s manager, somewhere.”
The Columbus Hollywood Video”s collection once included about 20,000 games and movies plus an additional 5,000 previously viewed titles for sale. Now, everything is for sale. The store will stay open another four to five weeks trying to offload old inventory.
The managers at Columbus Movie Gallery declined to comment for this story and directed all questions to the company”s corporate headquarters. The store closes for good on Tuesday.
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