posted on January 16, 2001 10:06:42 PM newFavorite things:
when they say 2 days or 5 days, they *mean* two & five days, unlike Blockbuster. (Example: If you rent a two day movie on Monday evening, it is due Wednesday evening (not Tuesday at noon).
older films are only 1.00 for 5 days.
this bugs me:
they keep things on the "new" shelves a bit too long.
don't have many "pre-viewed" DVDs for sale as yet.
things I'd change:
I'd have them carry more foreign films & small independent films than they do.
posted on January 16, 2001 10:08:07 PM new
Don't have much in the way of video stores in my area anymore, except for blockbuster and hollywood.
One of the things I really don't like is having the box with the info seperate from the box with the video. You walk up to the shelf and see 20 display boxes and then can't find any boxes with the movie.
The other problem with this method is the movies get seperated from the display boxes and they never bother the re-order them back together.
posted on January 16, 2001 10:12:40 PM new
mrsBECKYsantaclaus,
Just a couple of things from me.
Opening and closing times, also the longer they are open per day. I could fit it into my schedule easier.
Liberal return policy. Don't want to view and run right back to return the tape.
Treat a good customer to a freebie rental once in a while. No cards to punch or any way of tracking. Good Bartenders do this, it promotes good will.
Friendly Staff. Smiles and a happy atmosphere.
Color scheme. Different colors for the different areas. Children's area=pastels, Adult=black and yellow stripes, Hot items=red, so on and so on.
Parking. Easy access. Good lighting. Snow cleared.
Try and find a small but special area, (in addition to all the rest of the movies) like old time movies and promote that.
Have a computer data base with all the movies listed and cross referenced. Customers then can browse to find movies they might not have thought of. Best of all, have this data base available on line so your customers can pick a movie at home and reserve it online.
posted on January 17, 2001 05:01:16 AM new
I rent a lot of Movies and the Manager and clerks know what I like. They always tell me when something I might be interested in is coming out. They also steer me away from the overhyped dogs. Good customer service will get my business everytime.
posted on January 17, 2001 05:02:05 AM new
Okay, here's my answers:
What are your favorite things about your local video store?
**We have several in our area so are lucky. I like that aspect. The parking is adequate and prices at 2 of them are reasonable (the third is too high!) and one of them rents adult videos---I put that because someone tried to petition to put this certain store out of business because of this. I believe in freedom of choice!
What really bugs you about it?
**The employees. They hire teens who are too busy chatting away and not paying attention when they are checking you out. I always return my movies the next day. Last time I did, one of the employees didn't scan that it was returned so when I went to rent the other day, they told me I owed them money. NOT! After I argued, they credited me (and realized it WAS there mistake). I also HATE 5 day rentals. It makes seeing some of the newer movies harder to get.
What would you change, if only you could?
**I would supply more volume of movies if they insist on keeping 5 day rentals.
posted on January 17, 2001 01:53:15 PM new
I am a former video store owner, and I can tell you it was becoming a nightmare. The best times were from 84-92 for me. I shut down in October of 1999, and still have thousands of videos to sell. Yahoo was perfect, but with the rates I will just have a garage sale. In 1999 new releases cost me $80.00 each, and it was hard to get late fines, and sometimes the tapes so one summer day in 1999 I got so mad I locked the door. I have no regrets either. I have a stash of posters, etc. Maybe they will be worth something.
posted on January 17, 2001 02:05:35 PM newWhat are your favorite things about your local video store? Well I live in a very small town so I'm lucky we even HAVE a video store. But for being a very small store, they always have new releases and a pretty good selection of movies.
Also, on Sunday and Monday nights they have "rent 1, get one free". So I can rent 2 new releases on those nights for a total of $2.50!
What really bugs you about it? Well, last Friday night I reserved 2 movies for Sunday night. Sunday night no one called to let me know the videos had come in (or not). So I called at around 6:30pm and asked and they said neither movie was in yet and that they would call me to let me know when they were in. Well, I thought they closed at 10pm so I went down (1 mile from me) at about 9:45pm and they were CLOSED already! No one called, nothing. So I was a little more than ticked. At least a phone call to let me know they weren't in would have been nice.
What would you change, if only you could? I wish they would move to a bigger place - it's WAY too crowded in there and you literally bump elbows with other people looking for movies.
posted on January 17, 2001 03:26:01 PM new
Online ordering and free delivery.
A local video store offers "Dinner and a Movie." They partner with a local sub shop and if you call one or the other, you can order both and have it all delivered.
posted on January 23, 2001 07:09:34 AM new
What we love about our video store: The selection is great and the prices are fair. If you happen to be late getting your video back they pro-rate the fee by the number of days it is late, rather than charging full price. There is a drive up drop box for returning videos.
What we don't like: So many of the videos are not rewound...grrrr.
We've now switched to DVD and no longer have the rewind problem. Selection is getting better for DVD each time we go to the video store.
posted on January 29, 2001 04:29:04 PM new
You will be glad to know that DVD will continue to grow. If you haven't been in your local video store lately go - you will be shocked at how many new DVD's are out.
