davis_square | Hollywood Express closing Davis location

They're not really competing. Netflix is a national service and it mostly caters to people who are too busy to go to the video store, or just don't want to. Notice that Hollywood Express isn't leaving because the company's failing: it's leaving because rents are getting jacked up. The latter is unfortunate, and I'm sure Netflix hasn't made their lives easier, but I think comparing Netflix to HE is kind of pointless.

The Porter Square BB, on the other hand, is closing likely because the company itself is about a hairsbreadth away from death. Last quarter they issued a notice that even if their credit was redone in their favor, there was a possibility the company would fail anyway.

Honestly, I was ten minutes' walk from the Davis Hollywood Express, I had an account, and I was in there maybe three times in the two years I've lived here. I rented videos from them probably twice. HE didn't lose me as a customer, and I'll still go to them whenever I have the occasional need for a movie right then. But that's rare with me.

Hi,

My name is Ben, & I manage the Davis Square Hollywood Express. I just want to say how much I love this store, and all our loyal customers. I've worked at all of the locations, including the now defunct Twin City Plaza store, and I have to say I've had the best time here in Davis. I am so attached to all our regular customers & I'm really hoping that I'll see you at the Porter Square location. We'll have an even more extensive selection of movies for rental & sale at Porter & You can also still visit us in Central Square.

I know that some people don't like this company & think that we're greedy because of late fees, but I really need to put this out there:

*The reality is, late fees are not a ploy to gouge our customers. We have fees because without them we would never have anything on our shelves. Most people are great about bringing movies back on time, but without a reason to bring them back, alot of people would just keep them indefinitely. *I can honestly say that we want as many people to get a chance to see our movies as possible, and we want to make money renting to people, not charging penalties. *Late fees are a tiny portion of our income. In the past they were a bigger part, but that was the case at all video stores. Luckily, a lot of employees stuck up for the customers & got the fees lowered.

*IF WE COULD GET RID OF FEES WE WOULD, BUT WE'D BE OUT OF BUSINESS. IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD THEM, I SYMPATHIZE COMPLETELY (I'M POOR), BUT TO HAVE A GREAT SELECTION, WHAT I THINK IS A GREAT STAFF, & AN ALL AROUND AWESOME INDEPENDENT STORE, SOME THINGS ARE A NECESSARY EVIL. THE COST OF RENTING A MOVIE FROM THE BIG COMPANIES HAS DWINDLED, BUT ALMOST ALL THE COSTS OF RUNNING & STOCKING A SMALL BUSINESS LIKE THIS HAVE EITHER STAYED THE SAME OR GONE UP (WE CAN THANK THE CORPORATIONS / MAJOR STUDIOS THAT GIVE MANY PRICE BREAKS TO THE BIGGER RENTAL COMPANIES, & ZERO BREAKS TO US). I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT SOME PEOPLE DON'T CARE IF THEY SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES, & JUST WANT BETTER DEALS, BUT PLEASE DON'T THINK WE'RE COUNTING OUR MILLION$ & LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK BECAUSE OUR PRICES ARE HIGHER.

*Believe me, I know that late fees are a pain in the ass. I was a customer long before I was an employee, but I realized long ago that most people don't need a movie rental for more than 5 days, & if you do need a movie for 3 weeks for some reason, I can understand using Netflix or just purchasing a movie. I just hope that people feel like I do about small businesses, and think that our kind of store & selection makes the neighborhood a more interesting place to be.

*When it comes right down to it, these business issues are not anyone's problem but our own, but we hope that their will always people out there that appreciate stores like this and don't mind paying extra money to have what I think is a real movie lovers store around.

*We are well aware that ultimately, we might be fighting a losing battle, but we are going to continue to try to be the best video store around (even if we're the last).

*I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE THAT HAS STUCK WITH US, YOU ARE AWESOME!!! WE VALUE YOU MORE THAN YOU KNOW, AND HOPE THAT EVEN PEOPLE THAT MIGHT HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH US IN THE PAST GIVE US ANOTHER CHANCE. I KNOW WE'LL LOSE A LOT OF CUSTOMERS WITH THIS BRANCH CLOSING, BUT I WANT TO THANK THOSE CUSTOMERS SUPPORTING US AS LONG AS THEY COULD.

THANKS,

-BEN @ HOLLYWOOD EXPRESS

Netflix and Redbox have killed the rental store, basically. At least they are taking the vile Blockbuster out too and not just mom 'n pop. But still a regretful day for young quentin tarantino's around the world.

As implied above, the two are not incompatible.

I heard bowl and board might go out as well. I also believe that we should start a campaign against corporate monsters coming into the square. Pretty soon we will have walmart, chuck e chees there. Buffalo exchange is a horrible idea. How many used clothing stores do we need in davis? We have to many. I think the high rent for hollywood was a copout exscuse. They could of opened where cd spins used to be and do well. The store was way to big for a dvd/vhs rental store anyways. Maybe a for rent sign in the window would of helped the diversity of the square. All i know if someone wants to start a petition or a website telling city hall we dont want this in our square i would sign it. Go to local business in the square and group together. I don't think it is fair a small poor little rich girl gets bigger then some corporate junk opens up and kills the biz. Let's work together tell the city to say no. That type of biz would damage all stores in Davis. Say no to buffalo! Let's start a petition, no more used stores downtown. Look what happenned to Allston, used stores everywhere.

i agree, i think the only problem i had was the parking there

I don't see anything wrong with 'used stores' -- in fact, it makes some sense for stores of this type to cluster together in a district. I just don't want to see a local business person driven out of the neighborhood by well-funded national competition.

Zoning laws cannot prevent this. A retail store is allowed to replace another retail store in the same space 'by right'. (Rules are somewhat different for restaurants.)

I have been trying to partner up with a friend for about 4 years now to find a space in Davis for a small spa/hair salon type place so I have a little insight on this.

The Hollywood Express rent was $7000 (a few hundred under I believe). So yes, there is no way that you can survive with rent like that in the video business.

The Bowl and Board space just turned up on loopnet.com and it is obscene what they are asking for it. $30 a sq foot, which means if you take the whole space (which they want you to do) your rent would be $37,500. My guess is that those landlords in particular are not getting that right now, but probably half.

My friend inquired about B & B and the Poor Little Rich Girl space and could not even think about paying rent like that.

I am sure that new building intends on charging insane rent too, plus I have heard that they do not want retal there anyways, but a restaurant.

We have given up on renting in Davis, and are now looking in Harvard Square because honestly, the rent is cheaper.

It totally sucks about Buffalo Exchange too, they opened right next to a friend of mine in New York and cut into her business big time. She told me it is a well known fact that they scope out businesses that do well, then open right next to them.

Pet

I have Netflix, but would still go to Hollywood Express to find more interesting movies that Netflix does not have.

This frankly sucks.

I mentioned a bad experience because it's true. If I had a bad experience with a local store, they would take care of me as a customer and we would be benefit. As it is, without boring you with throttling, I tried to communicate with Netflix about the problems I was having and NEVER heard anything from them. Not even a form letter response. And in one case (there were many problems) their forms didn't even have the option of telling them what the problem was nor a blank spot to put it in. I'd never have been treated so badly by a local company without them suffering as well. Netflix continues to dominate. The end result is a company with a cornered (or, fine, at least a huge chunk of a) market that doesn't care about its customers.

>SHRUG< I've never had a bad experience with them. YMMV, of course, but I'm not objecting to your experience, just the use of words like "monopoly" and "cornered". Home video rental now is VASTLY more competitive than it used to be, and I don't want people to lose sight of that lest the old abuses of the system return.

I think Hollywood Express made renting videos a fun experience and added a lot of value. There were books in the back to give you ideas on what movies you might want to rent and there were always tons of rotating themed shelves, some were employee picks, some maybe on Halloween were best scary movies, etc. etc. The folks behind the counter are so cool and helpful and genuine! They really know their movies... a lot of times we'd go in and have an idea of the movie we wanted, not know the exact title but maybe some vague details like 'the girl who was in this other movie was in it' and they helped us figure it out several times! I certainly prefer that kind of experience to a service like NetFlix.

I never had an issue with late fees at Hollywood Express. I guess the location is (will be 'was' :( ) so convenient that it is hard to be late :) But when we have been late, they have been very flexible, accepting coupons from the discount coupon book as late fee payment. Considering the discounts we got on the rentals themselves, with both the discount coupon book deal and the numerous two-fer deals, we could hardly complain about late fees.

I can't say how heartbreaking this is! We have been HE patrons for 10 years since we moved here. We did briefly consider Netflix. While Netflix is more convenient (esp. when you're trudging through the snow to return a rental) and can be cheaper in some instances, the selection at HE is better for harder to find movies. But most of all we figured we valued supporting Davis Square's local businesses and the human social interaction innate to getting to know our neighborhood.

Ben (ocd81), thanks for the shout-out to your customers, it is nice to hear. We will continue to support you guys in Porter Square!

Hollywood Express closing Davis location

no subject

Hollywood Express - Davis

no subject

Re: Rents our of control, meaning "too high"?

Re: Bad news for local business, mine in particular...

big building

Re: Bad news for local business, mine in particular...

Re: Bad news for local business, mine in particular...

I had both...

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject