May - Wingspan

34Wingspana&eMay 2, 2011wingspan.lccc.wy.eduManager: Business not fazed by instant gratification trendBy HannahWheelerCo-EditorFads have crisscrossedthe UnitedStates since itsinception, includingpowdered wigs, legswarmers and TomCruise. However, thenewest fad is not fashionor first crushes, itis movies—instantly.In the past fewyears, all Cheyennemovie rental businesseshave shutdown—all, that is,except one.In 2003, ShowtimeVideo began businessin Cheyenne, openinga store on Dell Range.Ginger Marroquin,manager of ShowtimeVideo, said shethought other videorental businesses didnot close because ofcompetition fromNetflix or Redbox.Instead she attributedtheir closure simply tonot charging late fees,the backbone of thevideo rental business.Marroquin saidwhen Blockbusterand Hollywood Videostopped charging latefees, they were hurtingand not helping theirbusiness.“You only have somuch time to makeback the money youspent on the video,”Marroquin said. “Youcan’t have peoplekeeping movies outfor 10 or 20 days.”Also, as of May2010, 23 percent ofAmerican adults saidthey had watched avideo online the daybefore, according tothe Pew Internet &American Life ProjectSurveys. Comparedto the 38 percent whosaid they had used asocial networking site,the number may besurprisingly low.Marroquin, whohas 13 years in theShowtime Video managersays customerscontinueto beloyalbusiness,saidshe didnot see adrop in customerswhenNetflix went instantin 2008. She saidShowtime customerswould have Netflixbut would still cometo the store. “Mostof our customers arevery loyal,” Marroquinsaid.Netflix is asubscription videorental business inwhich customerspay a monthly fee tobe able to watch anunlimited number ofvideos each month.When Netflix firststarted its business,it mailed DVDs toits customers, but in2008, Netflix beganto offer movies to bewatched online andon TVs through variousdevices.Many of the customersenjoy wanderingthe aisles to searchfor a movie insteadof roaming with amouse, Marroquinsaid. She said customersenjoy the feelof holding a moviein their hands andnot being rushed tochoose a movie, suchas at a Redbox kiosk.Redbox is a companythat rents videosthroughelectronickiosksthat are filledwith DVDs. Eachmovie rental costs $1from the time of rentaluntil 9 p.m. the nextday. A customer mustpay for movie rentalswith a debit or creditcard and would returnthe video to anyRedbox kiosk.While some mightassume Showtime wasadversely affected byNetflix offering moviesinstantly, Marroquinsaid that was not so.“Redbox affected usmore than Netflix,”Marroquin said.Redbox, withkiosks at many placesaround Cheyenne,was competitionfor Showtime Video.Marroquin said thestore still had an edge.“Redbox only carries10 copies of a newrelease, and Netflixdoesn’t get newreleases for a fewweeks,” she said.Marroquin saidRedbox might havehurt Showtime Videomore if it were locatedin a larger citywhere it would takemore time and gas toget from a customer’shouse to a ShowtimeVideo location.Redbox would bemore of a hassle formovie rental businessesin cities likeDenver.Going hand-inhandwith Redbox,however, gas pricesare a large part of theequation. Marroquinsaid the store slowsdown when gasprices become toohigh because customerssimply stay athome and re-watchan old movie or goto a Redbox closerto their houses. Also,when customers feelthe pinch of a sloweconomy, ShowtimeVideo feels it, too,Marroquin said.For ShowtimeVideo, customerservice is key,Marroquin said.Many of the employeeshave workedthere for long periodsof time, Marroquinsaid, so the customerscome to knowand like the employees.“We have avery low turnover,”Marroquin said. “Sothe customerscan get to know us.We’ve been here longenough that we get alot of return customers.”Also in ShowtimeVideo’s arsenal ismovie reserves.Marroquin said herstore keeps a listof customers whowould like to reservea movie before itsrelease or even ifno copies are left inthe store. ShowtimeVideo would then callthe customer afterthe specified arrivedback at the store.The Netflix websitestates the companyhas more than20 million subscribers,and Marroquinis one of them. “Iactually have Netflix,”Marroquin said. Shesaid shelives fartherout of town, and,for her location,Netflix is great.However, evenNetflix came upshort somewhere.Marroquin said,while Netflix doeshave thousands offilms, many of thoseare B-rated movies,titles almost no onehas heard of. Shesaid Netflix has a lotof older movies thatShowtime doesn’thave, but the storeis not a small peaas it carries roughly10,000 movie andTV titles in theCheyenne storealone.But the economyand high gasprices are not theonly challengersShowtime Videofaces. Marroquinsaid good weatheroften pulls peopleaway from the TVand to the outdoors.“When the weatheris nice, we aredead,” Marroquinsaid. She said thisis true especially inWyoming where alarge portion of theyear is inclementweather unsuitablefor outdoor activities.