Moose Javians shopping at Wal-Mart or Safeway may have noticed the Redbox video rental machine conveniently placed near the retailer’s entrance.
“We’re all about quality, convenience and value,” Ron Cihocki, country manager for Canada for Redbox, told the Times-Herald. “One of the aspects of quality is to make sure you’re partnering with those who are known in the market for being first-class retailers.”
Redbox is a rental service that offers DVD, Blu-ray and video game rentals through machines placed in the business space of other major retailers. DVDs cost $1.50 per day, Blu-ray discs $2, and games $2.50.
The company traces it’s roots back to the McDonald’s fast food chain.
“That’s where we were born,” said Cihocki. “They were looking for a way to grow traffic and revenue, and experimenting with this was one opportunity for them. It panned out very well, and the concept was eventually taken on by a couple of entrepreneurs, who eventually sold the business ... certainly, the business has grown substantially.”
Redbox operates more than 35,000 machines in the United States — Cihocki said there is a machine within five minutes of 65 per cent of the American population — and approximately 350 machines in Canada.
A customer can place a hold on any movie or game inside their local Redbox machine by accessing the company website, Redbox.ca, and locating their nearest kiosk. They can then go to the location and, for a relative pittance, rent the movie or game.
The customer can then return that movie or game to any other Redbox location in Canada, Cihocki said.
