Video Store Strategies
© Copyright Ray Hanania 1999-2005 All Rights Reserved

This Book is no longer published

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Resources for Video Store operators (updated info)
Read testimonials from satisfied buyers?

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Read some background articles online?

Video Store Strategies is a manual intended to help you better understand the basics of the video retail sales business. How it works from a firsthand experience. The author owned and managed two video stores in suburban Chicago for 10 years. He learned the basics by first investing as a partner with the owner of an existing chain of stores, and later branching off to manage his own stores. He shares his 10 years of experience in the pages of Video Store Strategies.

Ray Hanania has participated in the video retail industry's conventions and conferences as a speaker and guest lecturer. And, as an author and writer in Chicago, he used his writing skills to author dozens of articles on the video business for the industry's leading magazines and publications.

Offered in a spiral-bound manual format (and in PDF email delivered format for those who are really in a hurry), Video Store Strategies helps you understand the concepts, offers advice on the basics of setting up your first store, and helps you understand the challenges you will face as a store owner with suggestions on how to overcome them and be successful. Although the book does not guarantee you success in starting a new store or improving the store you have, as a video store owner, you should know all of the techniques and the methodology and even the concepts of retail video sales in order to become successful.

We know this book will help you. It has suggestions that address the changing marketplace and the increase role of DVD movies on the Video Rental business. Updates are posted on the chat board for discussions.

Finally, keep in mind that the Video Rental Business is not solely about the product you are renting, but about the business of renting a product. In other words, it doesn't matter whether you rent VHS Movies or DVD Movies. While costs and prices are different, the principles of basic rental business as explained in Video Store Strategies, is exactly the same.

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Only $38.95 by mail
Includes shipping and handling
You get advice on:

• Opening your own store
• How to buy and rent the A-Titles versus the B-Titles
• How to maximize your store profits
• Basic formulas you need to measure your store's rental power
• Basics of Public Relations
• Tips on Maximizing your stores effectiveness
• A history of the Video business
• Understanding the REAL Challenge of DVD versus VHS movie titles ...

100 pages of up-to-date information on the Video Retailing Industry, with tips, suggestions, guidance and lots more!

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Share your Experiences
with other store owners:

We also urge you to share your stories of your business on our web guest book so that others might know new methods and challenges to help them.

Join our online email discussion
list. To join, Send your email to:
                                video-strategies-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Post messages to the list to:  video-strategies@yahoogroups.com

Read testimonials from satisfied buyers?

Background articles and features
that have been previously published:
(These are samplings of past articles to give you
a flavor of writing style and content, only.)

• Read My Commentary on "Fighting Back"
   

• Speech to Independent Video Store Owners Conference
  June 9, 1999, Las Vegas --"Fighting Back"
   

• Rental Days War: From One Night to 30 Days? Should
  Independent Video Store Owners Worry?
  May 4, 1999, Read This Article?
   

• When All Else Fails, Blame the Video Store
  Commentary on the Columbine High school Massacre
  May 3, 1999, Read This Article
   

• How I Turned A Struggling Video Store
  Into a Blockbuster SuperStore Success
  Read this article.
   

• Extending the Power of Video: Delay Release to Cable TV
  Read this article.
   

• How To Increase Movie Purchases on a Small Budget
  Read this article.
   

• Blaming the Video store retailer. How to fight back
  Read this article

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Other resources:
Go to the Online Store?

Testimonials & Comments February 2003 Firstly, this is a great group (video-strategies@yahoogroups.com) and since I'm new to the video business, it's been priceless.  I started by purchasing Ray's guide to opening a store and it was extremely helpful. I wanted to know where I can get a 'full blown' database of movie titles (in a database format) with images...so customers can search by actor, director, title, movie type, etc. Thank you in advance.... Mike in Southern California lehrack@earthlink.net Sept. 2002 Dear Mr. Hanania: I am writing to you to tell you that you're partially responsible, although you didn't realize it, for a new video store in Bend, Oregon. We found your website last winter and have used it in developing our business plan and our store.  We opened in May of this year and have signed up over 1100 customers since then.  The store has grown at at least a 25% growth rate and business is increasing each week. So I wanted to thank you for being a successful businessman and one who is willing to share his ideas and philosophies.  We appreciate your insightfulness and business acumen.  In fact, I've recently joined your Yahoo Video Strategies group and hope that it becomes very active. Again, thank you. Teresa Stinson Kevin McDonald Flix Video malnwas@webpdx.com Nov. 21, 2002 Dear Ray We purchased your book, "Video Store Strategies", and it proved very helpful for my fiancé and I. We opened a DVD-only rental store in Richmond, VT and reading your book was one of the first steps on our road to opening a successful store. We have a friend in New York who was interested in opening a store similar to ours, and we sent him your book, and he is learning your "strategies" as well. Thanks for writing the book, it has been a great tool for us. If you are ever in Vermont (perhaps on a comedy tour), feel free to give us a call or stop in. We'd love to chat and show you our store. Thanks A Million, Kelly Arnold & Joe O'Brien Film Buzz, Inc. Richmond, VT 05477 filmbuzz@madriver.net

NEW RESOURCES
FOR VIDEO STORE OPERATORS

I will try to add updated resource information here when possible to supplement the information in the Video Store Strategies booklet. Hopefully, this will help all store owners or would-be store owners.

Computer Software Services:

Phoenix for Windows (800) 922-4556
Video Deluxe for Windows (800)457-7818

Video Wholesaler:

Rentrak Distributor:(800) 929-8000
Video Group: (800) 866-7024
MJ Entertainment (888) 650-0770

Adult Movies:

Exit Video Trading: 866-815-1605

Store fixtures:

JD Store Fixtures & Displays: (888) 355-8889
CWD Wood Displays: (800) 249-9663

Publications & Resources:

Video Store Magazine    www.Hive4media.com
201 East Sandpointe Ave, Suite 600
Santa Ana, CA 92707-5761

VIDEO SOFTWARE DEALER'S ASSOCIATION

www.vsda.org
[Note: We believe strongly that the VSDA needs to do more to support the independent
Retailer and it often focuses too much on the needs of the mass merchandisers, the
movie houses and the distributors. It's the little guy that started this business! They
seem to have forgotten.]

ANALYSIS ABOUT BLOCKBUSTER
This is a sample of the new material included in the UPDATED EDITION OF VIDEO STORE STRATEGIES ...

The Blockbuster Late Fee controversy:

It’s important to note major policy changes when they occur in the industry.

The first real change took place in the mid-1990s when the larger chains started to rent out their VHS videos for more than "one night." Some stores rented multiple nights, which meant they had to buy "deeper."

The most recent change involves Blockbuster’s decision to "eliminate late charges."

Late Charges, as discussed, represents a major source of income. Some customers hate late fees, some don’t care. You’ll see the pattern. Late fees are a revenue source, and reflect the face-rental value of a movie title.

The term "rent" by definition means you give someone something for a price for a "specific time period." When someone holds onto a product beyond the end of that time period, what does a store do?

In actuality, Blockbuster has not "eliminated" late fees. They have simply changed the definition of "renting."

It is somewhat deceptive, and in fact, Blockbuster has been sued by at least one state: New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey filed a lawsuit against Blockbuster in February 2005

claiming the company has been "misleading customers" by charging "other fees hidden in the fine print." Blockbuster rolled out a new "no late fee" policy in January 2005, spending $50 million to put the new plan into practice.

Imagine how significant that move was to spend $50 million to put the new plan into practice. Obviously, Blockbuster is banking on the fact that the new policy would actually generate more revenue through 1) consumer embrace of the policy thereby increasing their customer base and 2) adding a new system of dealing with tardiness.

Remember, "rent" means to loan a product for a price for a specified period of time.

Under the new Blockbuster policy, any video or game rental that is "eight days late" is automatically converted to a sale, automatically billed to the customer's credit card, typically a charge of around $15 to $25 for DVD titles. But what about VHS titles and game titles that still cost in the $60 to $90 retail price range?

"We believe that all of these practices by Blockbuster violate New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act. These practices are unconscionable," a New Jersey spokesman said after filing the lawsuit.

Listen, the word "late" is misleading.

Remember when "late" meant keeping a title two nights instead of one night? Then Four nights instead of three nights. Then six nights instead of five nights. The point is, some customers – in fact a significant number of customers – will ALWAYS be late with their returns no matter how long (or short) a time you give them. It’s gonna happen and it will ALWAYS REPRESENT the same percentage of your revenue cash flow.

Even though a Blockbuster customer, under the policy, will be charged FULL RETAIL PRICE minus the rental fee, PLUS AN UNDISCLOSED RESTOCKING FEE (since the item is removed from the computer system and has to be manually re-entered and re-labeled and numbered), the customer is given the option of bringing it back and getting their charge reversed.

Imagine that practice. I rent five titles a week. I will be charged the full price on five titles.

When I bring them back CHANCES ARE I WILL KEEP ONE OF THE TITLES.

It is a strategic PUSH on the customers from Blockbuster. DVD titles, which are out-renting the higher priced VHS titles, are cheaper and customers WILL BUY them if moved to buy them. Moved either by personal desire or circumstance and policy.

Blockbuster is going to make a killing.

But, I still think perception is reality, And the real impact will be determined by how the public perceives what Blockbuster is doing. Has Blockbuster misled consumers, as New Jersey claims in the massive news coverage? The issue is honesty and that means more than anything to customers. More than even costs.

I would rather pay more for a product from a person I trust than pay less to someone who proves to be, in my perception, dishonest.

END