Redbox

Redbox, other kiosks now used more than rental stores Redbox locations

Well that didn't take very long. In the third quarter of 2010, more people rented DVDs from kiosks such as Redbox than from retail stores such as Blockbuster, according to a new report.

In fact, with 31 percent of the U.S. market share, the use of kiosks is approaching the use of mail services such as Netflix, which according to research firm NPD Group had 41 percent of the market. Retail stores, which are having a tough time competing against the newer services, were responsible for about 27 percent of U.S. rentals.

Maybe I was blind, but I really didn't notice these Redbox kiosks in Seattle until about a year ago. They're already more popular than rental shops? Was Seattle late to this trend?

Redbox, on its website (PDF), says it started market-testing its kiosks in 2004 at McDonald's restaurants in the Denver area. (Redbox started as a division of McDonald's in 2002 and produced 12 kiosks then. Coinstar invested in Redbox in 2007, then purchased a controlling stake in 2009.)

After good customer response, the test expanded in 2005 to Baltimore, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Salt Lake City and St. Louis. Today, the company says, there are more than 24,900 Redboxes across the contiguous 48 states in grocery stores (such as Safeway), McDonald's locations, Walmarts, Walgreens stores and 7-Elevens.

But I don't know when, for sure, we got our first Redbox in the Seattle area. I contacted Redbox to find out, but hadn't heard back by publication time.

But man -- Redbox and others (Blockbuster started up its Blockbuster Express service in 2008) sure elbowed their way into the market quickly. Quickly and with authority.

News From: www.seattlepi.com