Some video stores are being eaten alive by the combined forces of DVD and Netflix. The Watchdog Video store in Tahoe City, Nevada just closed. However, other stores are enjoying an increase.
Steve Hanson, owner of Video Stop in Tahoe City and Video Maniacs in Incline Village, said "There's a slim margin of survivability in the video rental business," Hanson said. "Business is volatile, but stable."
Hanson said the impact of stores like Blockbuster and online rental businesses like Netflix affect local video stores - both positively and negatively.
"Businesses like Netflix give people easy access to DVDs, but they also create more publicity about movies in general," he said. "So basically, it offsets itself, and doesn't actually change my business."
The rising popularity of DVDs has affected business, Hanson said. "Starting in January, it was the first time where I was making more money on my new release DVDs than on my new release VHS tapes." Now, he says DVD rentals are up 35 percent more over VHS.
True, DVD rentals now have 75% of the market. If your corner store can't afford to convert their inventory to DVD, say goodbye.
It's step up or go home. My wife was with Blockbuster for 12 years (ending as a District Manager) and has seen the inventory go from 100% VHS to 80% DVD to 20% VHS or even less. Some Blockbusters hardly carry VHS at all. These are mostly placed in areas, like close to colleges where most customers dont even remember VHS...haha
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