Automated DVD rental comes to city

By KENNETH HART
The Independent

ASHLAND January 27, 2007 11:51 pm

— It used to be that when you wanted to rent a movie, you went to a video store.
However, Netflix and other companies that combine online and mail-order service lured away many consumers who wanted greater selection and no late fees.
Now, thanks to a Houston-based company, viewers have yet another option.
TNR Entertainment Corp. has installed an automated DVD rental kiosk in the Kroger store in the Midtown Mall. So far, it’s the only machine of its type in town.
The machine, roughly the size of a soda machine, holds about 1,000 disks and 200 to 250 titles. It allows customers to browse through titles using touch-screen technology. It doesn’t accept cash, which means a consumer must pay $1-a-day rental fee by swiping a credit or debit card through the machine’s reader. You can rent up to three DVDs at a time on a single card.
According to TNR’s Web site, the machine accumulates charges per day and per DVD, plus tax, every midnight that the movie is out. Your card is charged when you return the movie. There are no late fees, and the company provides a toll-free number for customer service.
DVDs must be returned to the machine from which they were rented. If you don’t return one for two weeks, the machine assumes you intend to keep it and charges your card a “no return fee” of $35 plus tax.
TNR, which operates the machines under the brand name The New Release, currently has more than 1,100 video rental kiosks in grocery stores in 13 states. In addition to Kroger, chains serviced by the company include A&P, Food Lion, Publix and Roundy’s/Pick N Save.
Video-rental machines are a relatively new phenomenon in the United States, but have been in use in other countries for years and are particularly popular in Japan, where numerous products are available from machines.
TNR was founded in 2002 by Houstonian John Osborne, who was inspired by video-rental machines he saw in Europe. The company, which is headed by former Disney and MGM studio executive Richard Cohen, is rapidly gaining ground on the country’s leading automated DVD rental company, Redbox, which is co-owned by McDonald’s and has about 1,700 machines in operation.
Kroger Manager Tim Powell said he was happy to get one of TNR’s kiosks in his store.
Kroger used to have a video-rental counter, but got out of the business several years ago because “there wasn’t any money in it,” Powell said. Still, there were customers who wanted the service, and the machine offers a way to provide it without the associated hassles, he said.
According to Powell, TNR is responsible for all aspects of the machine’s operation, including restocking and updating it. The company does that every Tuesday, the national release date for new DVD titles.
Kroger receives a rental fee from TNR for allowing the company to put the machines in its stores, Powell said.
TNR has also installed machines in several Kroger stores in the Huntington and Charleston areas.
Powell said the kiosk had drawn positive feedback from customers. A number of them, he said, had praised its ease of use.
“It’s pretty user-friendly,” he said.
KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.