Getting Tough to Rent Blu-rays

[McHugh]

I live in Calgary, and found out today that Rogers is closing all their locations except for three. Earlier this year, Blockbuster closed all their local stores so for me to rent a blu-ray I now have to make a 40 minute round trip. Does anyone know of any independent video stores that rent blu-rays in northwest or northeast Calgary? I quess Netflix and all the downloading of movies is killing the rental of dvds and blu-rays. Unfortunately I don't want to have to buy every blu-ray that I am interesting in viewing as it is way too expensive.

[Anthony P]

I don't use them (since I prefer to buy) but did you look at Zip.ca?

[-RONIN-]

Sorry, I can't offer any input. I'm in the same situation as you, here in BC almost all the Rogers and BB's have closed and now all that's left are the local mom & pop shops. They don't always have what I'm looking for so it is really hard sometimes. I hate blind buying so it's hard not to dl from the net.

[Old Bones]

Ya this really sucks , so many stores closing , the nearest one for me will now be 10 KM away. I won't use crap like Netflix

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

I don't use them (since I prefer to buy) but did you look at Zip.ca?

My friend just cancelled Zip.ca, because their selection keeps dwindling for new releases coming out on BD, and they are really slow to ship stuff out. The wait lists are huge for most titles. Most of the time, it's not even on BD when it does show up, even though the BD copy has been requested.

[-RONIN-]

I'm not a fan of streaming and haven't heard very good things about this Zip.ca for reason BohemianGraham had mentioned. I try and support my local shops if they have what I want but lately my only option has been the internet then buying it if I like it.

[InMyTree]

In the same boat here in Ottawa. Used to be a Blockbusters and a Rogers within a 2 minute drive of my place, now both are gone.

I'm definitely more open to blind purchases going forward provided the movie is of some interest and in the $10 range.

[-RONIN-]

Originally Posted by InMyTree

I'm definitely more open to blind purchases going forward provided the movie is of some interest and in the $10 range.

This is a real problem for me. As Canadians we pay a premium for BD's and don't have the retail competition like they do in the US so we rarely see new movies in the $10 range. If retailers would start selling new BD's in the $10-$15 range then they would fly off the shelves.

Pisses me off when I search Amazon.com and alike only to see fairly new BD's on sale for awesome prices. Sure I could order a bunch and pay for shipping but that's not how I'd like it to be.

[arcadeforest]

Originally Posted by -RONIN-

This is a real problem for me. As Canadians we pay a premium for BD's and don't have the retail competition like they do in the US so we rarely see new movies in the $10 range. If retailers would start selling new BD's in the $10-$15 range then they would fly off the shelves.

Pisses me off when I search Amazon.com and alike only to see fairly new BD's on sale for awesome prices. Sure I could order a bunch and pay for shipping but that's not how I'd like it to be.

You do get plenty of great looking steelbooks though .

[-RONIN-]

True, but I'm not a big steelbook guy so I'd happily trade those for great prices.

[Atari Charles]

The days of renting BETAMAX/VHS/DVD/BLU-RAY is gone the ways of the dinosaur. Big chain stores like Futureshop, Best Buy, Wallmart, etc. can offer much lower prices that the movie rental stores if you are goig to buy the movie. Back in the day when VHS tapes and even DVDs were expensive, people would rent movies. Nowadays if a person wants a physical copy to keep, they will buy from one of the big chain stores. If a person just wants to watch the movie once or twice and that's it, they will either order it from their cable company, watch it on netflicks, or download it. Also who wants to drive someone to rent and then return a movie when one can order and watch a movie from their own livingroom.

I am not sorry to see Blockbuster or Rogers Movie Rental Stores to go. Why would I rent a blu-ray for $5, when I can either buy the movie for $10 when it is an older release, or I can watch it on netflicks, or I can ... As for DVDs, they are very inexpensive nowadays, except for the new releases, but still why rent physical media. No point anymore.

The Video rental stores are going the way of the Video Game Arcade. They just can't make the money anymore, because people have much more choice nowadays then we did from the olden days when we would rent Hellraiser or Friday the 13th on VHS at the local rental store.

[tilallr1]

Originally Posted by Atari Charles

The days of renting BETAMAX/VHS/DVD/BLU-RAY is gone the ways of the dinosaur. Big chain stores like Futureshop, Best Buy, Wallmart, etc. can offer much lower prices that the movie rental stores if you are goig to buy the movie. Back in the day when VHS tapes and even DVDs were expensive, people would rent movies. Nowadays if a person wants a physical copy to keep, they will buy from one of the big chain stores. If a person just wants to watch the movie once or twice and that's it, they will either order it from their cable company, watch it on netflicks, or download it. Also who wants to drive someone to rent and then return a movie when one can order and watch a movie from their own livingroom.

I am not sorry to see Blockbuster or Rogers Movie Rental Stores to go. Why would I rent a blu-ray for $5, when I can either buy the movie for $10 when it is an older release, or I can watch it on netflicks, or I can ... As for DVDs, they are very inexpensive nowadays, except for the new releases, but still why rent physical media. No point anymore.

The Video rental stores are going the way of the Video Game Arcade. They just can't make the money anymore, because people have much more choice nowadays then we did from the olden days when we would rent Hellraiser or Friday the 13th on VHS at the local rental store.

I hate to say it, but I agree with everything your saying. Rental is going the way of the dodo bird. Soon you will only have 2 options, (1) Rent online/cable - (2) Purchase online/instore.

Since purchasing instore is the only way you'll ever get true HD, I think we are all up a creek. But I have excepted that years ago.

Now I blind buy everything. I only pay top dollar on new releases I can't wait to see or steelbooks. This is still much cheaper than watching in theaters, once you factor in food and company. Anything I am somewhat interested in, I wait till its down to $10. Almost everything eventually reaches $10. $10 isn't far off from what I was paying for rental before, plus you can resell it if you disliked it and probably recoup the difference in rental vs purchasing. So its about the same.

[Hayabusa85]

Glad I stopped renting the day I got home and found what I rented was literally covered in shit. Sucks for people that do still rent though.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Hayabusa85

Glad I stopped renting the day I got home and found what I rented was literally covered in shit. Sucks for people that do still rent though.

WTF?

[Old Bones]

If options like Netflix don't go 1080p they to will fail

[McHugh]

The blu-rays I rent are always new releases that I did not see in a theatre. For example, two days ago I rented Cowboys and Aliens. With tax it cost me $6.29. To buy it would have cost me almost $30. Having now seen it, I'm glad I rented it. I have never rented a blu-ray that was in poor condition, the worst being finger prints. In fact if you rent the day a movie is released you get a disk that has not been used.

I'm not that knowledgeable about NetFlix but it is my understanding that the quality is not that good when compared to blu-ray. In addition, don't you view it on a PC monitor? The whole point of having a home theatre set up and 60 inch 1080P television is so that I can watch movies in the highest possible quality and sound.

Hopefully the three remaining Rogers in Calgary stay open because even though I buy blu-rays there are a lot of movies that I most likely will only watch once and have a retail price still in excess of $25.

[HD Canuck]

Originally Posted by McHugh

I live in Calgary, and found out today that Rogers is closing all their locations except for three. Earlier this year, Blockbuster closed all their local stores so for me to rent a blu-ray I now have to make a 40 minute round trip. Does anyone know of any independent video stores that rent blu-rays in northwest or northeast Calgary? I quess Netflix and all the downloading of movies is killing the rental of dvds and blu-rays. Unfortunately I don't want to have to buy every blu-ray that I am interesting in viewing as it is way too expensive.

Which locations around town are closing? The closest Rogers to me is the one on Centre St. just up from 16th Ave (Trans Can Hwy).

This really sucks. I lived in Kelowna for the past 12 years and I believe my sister who lives there only has one Rogers left to rent from, thanks to Blockbuster and Movie Gallery closing.

Might be worth it to open an independent rental joint, to fill the gap the big chains left. I think there's still a demand for bricks and mortar rental locations.

[McHugh]

The one on Centre St. is closing January 14. They are selling off their remaining inventory at some pretty good prices. I picked up The Pianist and The Red Baron for a total price of $14.99. Of the three stores remaining open, there is one in Millrise with the closest one to you in Falconridge, a half block north of McKnight. Can't remember the location of the last store but it is not in the northwest. I would have thought that they would have kept 4 stores open, one in each quadrant.

[HD Canuck]

Originally Posted by McHugh

The one on Centre St. is closing January 14. They are selling off their remaining inventory at some pretty good prices. I picked up The Pianist and The Red Baron for a total price of $14.99. Of the three stores remaining open, there is one in Millrise with the closest one to you in Falconridge, a half block north of McKnight. Can't remember the location of the last store but it is not in the northwest. I would have thought that they would have kept 4 stores open, one in each quadrant.

Rats for the the store closest to me closing, but thanks for the heads-up about the sale.

[JoeDeM]

Originally Posted by Old Bones

If options like Netflix don't go 1080p they to will fail

It's not about quality, it's about convenience, people who download want it quick and cheap, and just good enough.