is it even worth buyin from distributors still?

[tiptoen]

How am I behind the curve getting movies on street date ? The secondary titles I get from VPD and the larger titles I get at Walmart on Tuesday morning. By the time we open at 11 A.M. all the movies  are on the shelf ready to rent. To my customer it's all the same. To me I save several hundred dollars each week. I think I'm ahead of the curve.

[genx-mike]

Oh I know you think that. But if you competed in my market, you would be well behind the curve.

[ssvideoman]

how could they be behind the curve. unless you are renting titles before street date you both have titles avaliable to customers at opening on tuesday.
really like to know how they are behind curve?
 

[twinvid]

If all you look at is the dollars and cents then you truly don't understand the full competitive curve that Mike is talking about. The only thing that puts your business ahead of netflix, Redbox, BB, MG, the library, and the other indies is customer service a big part of which is the knowledge of the movies in your store beyond the synopsis on the back cover (which makes every movie sound like the next coming of Ben Hur). Getting my movies on Thurs/Friday gives myself and my staff the chance to watch them and know how to make intelligent recommendations and comments. That is a big part of what separates my store from the competition and has helped me to obtain continuous double digit revenue gains month after month.

50% of what comes out every week is DTV or very limited theatrical release If you're not watching them how can you sell them?

Bob

[palovita]

50% of what comes out every week is DTV or very limited theatrical release If you're not watching them how can you sell them?

Bob

on that note you have a point bob but if you don't got the cash to by from them its better to just go to a discount store

[twinvid]

Why can't you use both? With the volumes you are talking about it doesn't seem like you are getting that many copies. You order some through the distributor and supplement on street date addtional copies from a discounter.You're saving what $5 bucks a copy/ The product knowledge you gat by previewed your product and being able to talk it up to your customers can easily get more turns on a copy. example I am at over 75 turns on the Illustionist and over 30 turns per copy on the Hottie n the Nottie. These have more than paid the price difference that you are saving, and things like that breed customer loyalty in heaps.

Bob

[palovita]

yea that does happen to me a lot customers ask me how is this movie and I tell them I haven't got around to watch it

my cousin came in today he a big movie watcher and started coming to my store instead of BB for his movies and he heard me tell a customer today I didn't watch I don't have the time to be honest

he was like dude you need to be a movie freak know what u talking about
saying I should have a TV playing the movies just so I at least can say its good or bad

[mcmarc]

example I am at over 30 turns per copy on the Hottie n the Nottie.

This disturbs me.

But the point is that video stores traditionally have been the vehicle to where smaller films have found their audience.  My biggest films as far as turns this year are LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, RELIGULOUS, and HAPPY GO LUCKY.  Heard of these before video?  Ordering from a distributor will help separate you from your competition.

[twinvid]

Marc

I hope you are not knocking the Hottie which was a pretty funny movie with some good sight gags inspite of having Paris Hilton. I also agree with the others that you mentioned along with several other good indies.

My point being that going thru a distributor gets you these films and gives you the chance to view them ahead of time so that you can bring them to your customers attention.

That is the customer service that they can't get from the machines or the big stores.

Bob

[moviecritic202]

I used to be able to tell customers anything they wanted to know about the new releases, but with working 7 days 60 some hours a week, by the time I get home on weekend nights, I sit down and I'm out.

I'm hoping to hire someone soon and maybe then I'll be able to get the movies watched.  I always have a movie playing here, but it's normally something I've already seen so I know the content and it's too hard to actually watch something while working.  Also, my taste is so much differant than my customers that if I tell them I liked it some will avoid it and if I hated it they'll rent it.

[genx-mike]

I've crushed a dozen stores who have moved into my area over the years and the most recent batch are exactly those kind of stores that head to Wal-Mart on Tuesday to get their movies. They charge half of what I do and they stay in business 6-18 months.

If your business plan involves only using Wal-Mart, you might as well shut her down now and save yourself the money.

[moviecritic202]

anyone have a knife.  te tension is getting pretty think in this thread!

[tiptoen]

Hmmm. I've been in business for 23 years, been doing the Wal-Mart thing for the last 5. No plans on shutting down any time soon.

[sungifts]

I agree you should have watched the movies before street date - and for that reason we order 2 each from the distributor and get them on Friday  - Me and my manager each take a copy home to watch over the weekend - then early Tuesday morning, we head to Walmart to fill the shelves - at a savings of sometimes over $5 per copy, it adds up!

I use a distributor so we can watch movies before street date, get free posters, and keep up with what's coming out each month that Walmart might not carry. (We buy B titles exclusively from dist)

I use Walmart because they are cheap and over time the savings adds up.

Our setup has worked for the past 5 years. 

[Hardcopy]

Warner, Disney and Fox all have their screeners online. Though Disney's is down right now.