Redbox To Add 1,500 New DVD Rental Kiosks Across The U.S. In 2017
By Hoai-Tran Bui/May 11, 2017 1:00 pm EST
The DVD rental company — which allows you to rent brand new movie releases at $1.50 per day for DVDs (and $2 per day for Blu-ray titles) from kiosks located at your local supermarket or grocery store — is planning a massive expansion in 2017, adding a whopping 1,500 kiosks at strategic locations across the U.S. in 2017. This will add to their base of 40,000 kiosks the company already has active.
With a 41,500-kiosk footprint (the expansion will cost the company $40 million), there could be more Redbox’s in the U.S. than Starbucks and McDonald’s combined, according to CEO Galen Smith. And the company intends to be around for the long haul, he says.
Here’s an interesting bit from the Variety story, which details Redbox’s little-known but admittedly large advantages:
Smith continued, telling Variety:
He may well be right. Redbox gives customers access to new movie releases for much cheaper than on-demand services — the lowest of which would be $5 for new releases compared to Redbox’s $1.50 per day. Plus there’s the modern-day novelty of going to the kiosk and getting a physical rental — which I know is ironic to say since Blockbuster went out of business for that exact model. But who knows, with the ’90s nostalgia business booming, perhaps getting DVDs from Redbox is the next hot thing. And there’s something to be said that the company — which started its rental business in 2002 — is still going strong.
“There’s no other distribution channel like us. Redbox lets [studios] reach a consumer they wouldn’t be to get otherwise.”
That’s not to say that Redbox is shirking the streaming business altogether. Last year Redbox began testing Redbox Digital, a transactional video-on-demand service. But that’s still in the works and most likely won’t be launched until way in the future.
In the meanwhile, Redbox will be leaning into the strength of its kiosks, rolling out a marketing a campaign to “reintroduce” consumers to the brand and making video-game titles available.
