I mentioned on Dustbury a while back that the local video stores have also started carrying CBD products and have used most of their signage since to promote that fact rather than the new releases. I guess the high speed Internet has spread out from Springfield enough that streaming media is starting to cut into video rental even out in the country. And I can’t hold myself blameless as I have not been visiting the video store much recently as the boys are watching all my Adam Sandler movies and when we get together to watch something recently, we’ve watched cheesy movies that I have watched before.
So Family Video is now offering a new benefit.
They probably get a cut from every membership in what looks to be a concierge-like service.
I get it. It pays to diversify your revenue streams especially when your mainline business starts struggling. But wouldn’t you think it better to find something almost adjacent to your core or former product offering so people kind of think of your store when they think of the product? Because after I delete this email, I’m not going to think about Family Video and telehealth services again until I stumble across this blog post years from now.
So if you’re a video store, what can you do?
- Partner with other video stores nearby kind of like a library consortium. If you don’t have a title but your partner video store does, you can have it for your customer tomorrow at your normal or a special rate, and the other store offers you a reduced fee for the rental. It’s best to have a reputation for having everything and for having everything available when you’re a video store–especially obscure titles.
- Movie discussion groups for people cinema buffs. You can’t actually show the film without getting exhibitor rights or something (citation needed), but you can get some people together to talk about movies every week. Like a book club. I think you could show excerpts from the movie–perhaps from YouTube instead of the DVDs–, and you could probably stock your shelves the week ahead (via your partnerships) with extra copies of the movie to discuss. Or maybe add your own copies to have available even after the discussion.
- Movie trivia nights. Everyone likes a quiz. Perhaps add some event space to the venue to accommodate small events and perhaps screenings of local films or support for local film makers. A lot of gaming stores use a bunch of their floor space so people can come together and play games.
I mean, as a business, you could go afield of your core business, but your customers/members won’t necessarily think of you when they think of that other line of business. The more you can diversify your product offerings in adjacent to your original product offering, the better.
Of course, video store owners probably still have professional organizations and support networks that have already thought of this and can’t justify the additional almost-dead square footage in their lease or something.
But idle, ill-informed speculation is what blogging and the Internet are all about.
