April 2011

[merscham]

I don't know how April is for you guys, but we always seem to experience a massive slowdown when the spring hits. Weekends can still be busy, but the weekdays drop dead. Hopefully this year Harry Potter, Tron and Narnia can help a little and the Kings Speech comes in the middle of the month. The end of April is extremely weak, so batten down your hatches and find some good independent films to recommend to your customers. Remember, there is still a business in this business, sometimes it's just very tough.

[moviesgamesetc]

Yes, April is very difficult: pretty days, spring break, proms, gardening, more daylight in the evenings, state testing for schools, kids sports, all these things add up to less revenue.
I choose to have my official anniversary celebration in April instead of Feb. when it should be, so I can run every kind of crazy special I can think of. These perceived values to customers don't really cost me any money nor does it take away from the already pitiful receipts but it does increase interest and hopefully some revenue.

[merscham]

Nice idea - I might have to borrow that one from you. Guys, girls, listen to moviesgamesetc -run specials this coming April and keep your customers flowing in. March has been a pretty good month and reminded me after 12 years (the last 2 have been crappy) in this business that people still come and rent if you have good titles. But April can come and tell you that this is a dead business and it's over. That's not going to happen this year. Run specials, run a trivia prize giveaway, donate rentals to a school auction, do what it takes to run a profitable month. Work hard and good luck.

[mcmarc]

Actually, for my stores, it's a pretty good slate of indy films coming out. 

Last year killed me.  It was one of the driest seasons ever.  ONE day of rain for all of April... just sunny and in the 70s.  So far the rain has been consistent plus spring break is on the first full week of the month instead of March.

I am playing it safe yet being aggressive.  I'm ordering light and have held off on my more expensive advertising.  My sales percentages however have JUMPED 10 to 15 percent since the start of the year.  The local Suncoast shut down, plus I am now hunting down bulk deals for cheap dvds and am bringing in more products to suit where each of my stores are in town.  I have to admit that I haven't felt this optimistic in awhile.

Plus, if we're hurting, imagine what it doing to Blockbuster.  Ouch!

[genx-mike]

How's it going gang? The industry numbers look absolutely terrible but they don't always reflect the indie store numbers. Hope all is well. I'm busy selling off $100.00 movies to collectors now out of my home. Miss the store though.

[mcmarc]

Both my stores are doing fine.  I'm down a tad, but mainly due to be slashing my late fees in half.

This Thursday we'll find out Blockbuster's fate.

[moviecritic202]

That'd be awesome if the judge said no to Dish's offer and they went to either Cobalt or Icahn!

[direct007]

As previously mentioned...Request to be a member of "Independent Video Store Owners" on Facebook, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=108940599150828  The 60 members so far are actively discussing the current events at hand.