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Business & Tech

Focus on Customers, Community Keeps Family Video Thriving

In a changing market, the company has remained relevant, seen growth.

Ten years ago, if you wanted to watch a new movie at home you had two options: purchase from a retailer or rent from a video store.  Today, the video rental business landscape has changed, with services such as Netflix and Redbox pulling consumers away from local video stores.

This change in the business has caused three former players in video rentals—Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery—to close stores, liquidate inventory or file for bankruptcy. Yet the chain of Family Video stores has not only survived, but has thrived.

“We noticed a change in the way things were going a long time ago,” said Blaise Denious, Family Video District Manager.  “It’s not just about coming in and renting movies. Our goal is to make every visit a great experience for the customer.”

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Denious manages six stores in the Akron metro-area, including both of the Cuyahoga Falls stores, located on and . From the first hello to the last goodbye, he said their goal is to provide a ‘wow’ experience.

“The minute [a customer] comes in the store, [we say] hello. And not just one hello; we get the whole group to do that. If a customer hasn’t been in here before we give them a tour, show them around because we’re proud of what we do. That’s all part of the ‘wow’ experience that we try to create.”

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A family owned business since it began in 1978, Denious said their continued focus on family and the community is the true crux of their survival.

“A while back we made a commitment to get involved in the community more, get involved in some grass roots events and try to help and give back. I would have to say that is the biggest thing we’ve done to stay successful.”

The local Family Video stores hosts a number of community initiatives and services  including:

  • Summer carnivals and safety days.
  • Fundraisers for local churches and organizations.
  • Holiday food drives: Customers receive a free rental for every non-perishable food item they donate; each store then donates turkeys and hams to local families in need during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
  • Report Card A program: Students (elementary school to college) get one free movie or game rental for every A they get on their final report card. 
  • : a local initiative among Denious’ stores to donate videos to military men and women serving overseas; customers can purchase a movie from the store for $2 to donate.
  • Free rentals on children’s, educational, and sports and fitness videos
  • Teachers receive free rentals on any movie that is needed for educational purposes.

Competitive vs. Convenient

Family Video, along with the rest of  the movie rental industry, continue to face new challenges with the popularity of convenience services such as Redbox, video on demand, and Netflix.

Netflix, a monthly subscription service that lets you order movies online and have them shipped to your home with no late fees, began in 1999. Today, it has over 20 million subscribers and offers streaming directly to TVs, computers, Blu-ray players, video game consoles, and handheld devices.

Redbox kiosks first appeared outside local supermarkets, drugstores and restaurants in 2004. The DVD vending service, which lets you rent a movie for $1 a night plus tax, has rented over one billion movies and can now be found at more than 27,000 locations nationwide.

Video on demand services offered by cable and satellite providers allows customers to instantly access movies through their receivers and have the charge applied to their television service bill.

“There is a convenience factor there,” said Denious of these widely popular services, “but some of that convenience can turn into an inconvenience. A couple parts to that are the limited selections and when a movie doesn’t play, what can you do?”

The limited movie selection is thanks to a 2010 agreement forged by the major film studios with Redbox and Netflix that delays the release of new movies to the latter companies for 28 days. According to Denious, with the exception of on demand, Family Video has become one of the few places a customer can rent a movie on the day of its release.

Shannon Wilkens, 26, lives in the Chapel Hill area and often uses the Redbox located outside of the Walgreens on Howe Avenue.

“It’s really close to where I live and it’s pretty cheap,” she said.

When asked if the lack of new releases ever deterred her from using the kiosk, she said selection was sometimes disappointing but the location and price keep her coming back.

Despite the seemingly overwhelming popularity with the new-age rental services, Denious believes they have remained relevant and competitive.

While Family Video doesn’t offer DVDs for $1 a night or boast no late fees, "we’ve been so consistent with our pricing. In the [last] seven years we’ve raised our prices once, and it was by 20 cents. And we lowered our Blu-ray prices on five night releases by a dollar. No one came to us and said, ‘your prices are too high,’ but it was a good decision that has kept us competitive.”

Another service that keeps Family Video relevant is their video game and game console rentals.

"We rent out both the Wii and the Xbox 360 consoles, as well as games for all the systems. And for $20 you can get the console with all the equipment and a game for the whole weekend."

Redbox is now market testing video game rentals in certain parts of the country. The online company Game Fly provides services for video game rentals similar to that of Netflix.

Still Growing

Change and success in the wake of a changing market is nothing new for the Hoogland family, owners of Family Video.

In 1946, Clarence Hoogland opened Midstates Appliance & Supply Company in Chicago. As larger competitors like Wal-Mart began to zero in on the market in the late 60s, the store was forced to close. The company president at that time, Charlie Hoogland, noticed a large number of VHS videos left over in his inventory and came up with the idea to rent the movies to the public.

Today, Family Video operates 750 stores in 19 states, and has seen significant growth over the past year.

“When all this was happening with Blockbuster closing last summer (2010), we opened over 200 stores in a span of two months ,” said Denious. “That was a huge accomplishment.”

As video rentals profits continue to make gains (indiewire.com reported in a recent blog that 2010 rental sales were at 2.4 million units, up from the market's lowest point of 2.2 billion units in 2007), so does Family Video.

“We’re looking to hire another 400-500 managers this year in order for us to grow at the pace we want, which is pretty big,” Denious said. And hiring in this area is a major possibility.

“Every store has the ability to have a manager-in-training, so I would love to get just for my district at least three more for now.”

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