Hollywood Video
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Hollywood Video is a video tape, video game and DVD rental shop chain in the United States; it is the largest direct competitor of Blockbuster Video. Created in 1988 by former CEO Mark Wattles, it has grown to be the world's second-largest rental chain with over 2000 stores nationwide.
Hollywood Video is the target of a hostile takeover attempt, announced at the end of December 2004, by competitor Blockbuster Video. Blockbuster is planning to offer $11.50 per share directly to shareholders.
In order to create a stronger position against the hostile takeover, Hollywood Video agreed to a buyout on Monday, January 10, 2005 by its smaller (Number 3) competitor, the Atlanta-based Movie Gallery. Movie Gallery offered $850 million, $13.25 per share, and will assume $350 million in debt. Stocks closed at $13.85 on January 10th after this news.
Features and policies
One of the primary features of Hollywood Video rentals is a universal returns system:
- All rentals (DVD, VHS, and Games; New Release and Film Library) are five days, every day (some Hollywood Video locations do offer ten day rental on Game Vault game titles).
- Returns are always due at midnight (the closing time of most stores).
In a time when most retailers are moving toward a DVD centered market, Hollywood Video stores usually feature an extensive Film Library of older DVD and VHS titles.
Hollywood Video, under pressure from competitor's movie passes, recently introduced a program called the "Movie Value Pass" which allows customers to rent unlimited amounts of movies. The pass allows customers to have up to three movies checked out for free at any one time. The major restrictions on the pass are that customers must wait an average of four to eight weeks for new releases to be added to the list of MVP available titles. Customers are also still limited to five day rentals and will pay late fees on their free rentals if they are not returned on time.
The decision to continue observing late fees has been a hotly-debated topic in the rental industry. Many competitors are switching to a no late fee system. Hollywood Video has not announced any plans at this time to discontinue the use of late fees in stores.
Game Crazy
To compete in a growing video game market, Hollywood Entertainment launched a store-within-a-store concept called Game Crazy which features the ability to buy, sell, and trade video games, systems, and accessories inside of Hollywood Video stores. Game Crazy is the industry's fastest growing retailer with over 700 locations, adding many more each year. Game Crazy offers gamers the ability to try any game before they choose to purchase or rent. Most Game Crazy stores do not sell computer games (except for exclusive, nationally high-demand titles) but offer a wide selection of older game systems and games, including NES, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Dreamcast, and Nintendo 64 systems.
External link
- Homepage (http://hollywoodvideo.com)