PDA

View Full Version : Netflix & Blockbuster Online - Did they kill the small video stores?



BarfBag
May 14th, 2007, 03:03 PM
Let me start out by saying that I love Netflix. I've been a member for a little under six months.

One of my fondest childhood memories is going to the video store with my Dad. It was a small, locally owned store. It's now out of business, as with all small video stores in my area. After a bit of thinking, I realized something. Netflix and Blockbuster Online have a monopoly on the rental market. Netflix even patented it's envelope design after Blockbuster started using something similar, and sued them. I believe Blockbuster won. I chose Netflix over Blockbuster because it's considered an independent customer, while Blockbuster is associated with the MPAA. I don't want this to turn into an evil MPAA debate. Does anybody else share this opinion?

mustang
May 14th, 2007, 03:21 PM
The hollywood video and blockbuster franchises killed local video rental stores---not online video renting services which came later on. I do have fond memories of going to those independent rental stores (and trying to get a peak in the mysterious adult section!) but they are all but gone now.

MOS95B
May 14th, 2007, 03:23 PM
We have probably 6 movie rentals places within walking distance of our house. And who knows how many if we hop in the car for 5 or 10 minutes.

So, not in my area, no....

ticopelp
May 14th, 2007, 03:33 PM
The small local places in my town seem to be doing fine as well -- although, admittedly, I no longer go there since I got Netflix. The local places simply don't carry enough of the kind of movies I want to see.

prizrak
May 14th, 2007, 03:38 PM
No, Netflix and BB don't have porn.

Spr0k3t
May 14th, 2007, 03:59 PM
In my area we have this extremely awesome movie rental shop which has over 3000 hentaii/manga/anime titles to choose from. The adult section is about the size of a medium sized convenience store. The kids section is twice that. If there was ever a movie, video, ova, made for TV release... they either have it or they can get it within a week. Total videos they boast as of the beginning of the year was 350,000 and counting. The best part about that place... it's privately owned.

I won't do online rentals... but, I'll download videos/movies and whatnot if I can't find it elsewhere...

H.E. Pennypacker
May 14th, 2007, 05:30 PM
People have to move on. There's always fear of the old ways become old ways...just let them pass. You have to accept a new world of corporate everything. Not long from now, lemonade stands will be taken over by corporations that want a piece of the pie.

diskotek
May 14th, 2007, 05:43 PM
i prefer local stores; because you can chat with the people about movies in the store (workers or customer). yeah but they don't have large movie archive but it's pretty nice when you got bored and kill time in videostore & discover few things. i never bought/rent movie from net.

also there is same things about books as well as music cd/lp's. i prefer real stores on all. especially about book & lp's.

GiantRobot
May 14th, 2007, 06:01 PM
I know I had fond memories of going to a locally owned video rental store with my (grand)parents. After Blockbuster and Rogers video moved in it went out of business.

However, recently another video rental has opened in my town that carries movies you would never find at any of the major chains. Need-less-to-say I have been doing what little renting I do from there.

But on the topic of this thread; in my experience online renting hasn't killed small rental stores. It was the initial arrival of the big chains.

DoctorMO
May 14th, 2007, 06:03 PM
the UK the film industry killed the small video shop. all we have is Blockbusters which don't have anything interesting to watch. It was quite funny to watch because the film industry thought it could strangle more money out of these small shops and it just ended up killing them off.

I don't think viewing habbits helped either, most people are tending to buy DVDs in the uk rather than rent anything. so many people have HUGE dvd collections so much so that when I moved to the US I looked like a bit of a DVD collector with my small collection.

Sunflower1970
May 14th, 2007, 06:07 PM
We still have quite a few local video stores. They usually carry stuff that Blockbuster or Netflix will never carry. Lots of foreign films, old TV shows, etc. Our local libraries are pretty chock full of videos and DVD's too. Almost as good as a video store...and they're free.

We do get DVD's from Netflix, mainly for TV series if we can't find them at the library. They're a lot cheaper doing the Netflix way than going to one of the local video stores.