DVD rental machines to be placed in 80% of Giant's markets
Each Redbox kiosk to offer over 500 titles
By Andrea Walker
Sun reporter
Originally published January 26, 2006

Coming to a grocery aisle near you: DVD rental machines.



Redbox Automated Retail LLC has entered into an agreement with Dutch food company Royal Ahold NV to put its automated DVD rental machines in Giant Food grocery stores.

Redbox will begin installing the kiosks in Giant stores in March and hopes to have them in 80 percent of the supermarket chain's stores by the end of the year.

Giant, the largest supermarket chain in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, is a subsidiary of Ahold. Redbox chose to put the kiosks in Giant after a successful 12-month trial period in some of its Baltimore stores.

The kiosks hold more than 500 DVDs, with as many as 60 movie titles. The machines are refilled with new titles on Tuesdays. Customers use the self-service machine by selecting a movie title on a touch screen and then swiping a credit card or debit card.

DVDs can be kept as long as a consumer likes at a charge of $1 per night, plus tax. The movie can then be returned to any Redbox machine in the country. There are no late fees but patrons will be charged $25, plus tax, if a DVD isn't returned after 25 days.

Redbox, a majority-owned subsidiary of McDonald's Ventures LLC, has been in business since 2002. The boxes are located at McDonald's restaurants, in supermarkets elsewhere in the country and in some office buildings. In September, 112 McDonald's in the Baltimore area installed the kiosks.

Redbox had its best rental month in December, renting more than 1.1 million DVDs through kiosks in more than 800 locations.

In November, the company for the first time tried its hand at selling DVDs through its kiosks. In a month, it sold out 25,000 copies of Millions of Cardinals Memories: Busch Stadium 1966-2005, a DVD that chronicled the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team's 40 seasons in Busch Stadium. The DVD sold only in the St. Louis market.

The company also said yesterday that it would install its boxes at Ahold's Stop & Shop supermarkets in New England, New York and New Jersey.

off topic but technically blockbuster video should change its name to blockbuster DVD. it's false advertising when they don't even carry videos anymore.

XxAxX said:

What does the "v" in DVD stand for?

I mean they weren't Blockbuster Tapes before

meltwithu said:

Great I work in Giant. This is just what we need. More shit for the customers to fuck up. We already sell those one dollar bootleg dvd's.

lovemachine said:

D igital
V ideo
D isc

that 1 $ fee per day will be hard to beat .. ..

XxAxX said:

I see that huge campaign Blockbuster had last year promoting their 'no more late fees' policy failed.