LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Kwik Trip Inc., a convenience store and gas station chain with more than 400 locations across Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, has awarded NCR Corp. a contract to place NCR's DVD rental kiosks in its retail outlets, said Dow Jones. NCR will begin placing its kiosks, which are licensed under the Blockbuster Express brand, in Kwik Trip convenience stores beginning next month.
NCR Entertainment president Alex Camara said in an interview with the news agency that NCR currently has just under 5,000 self-serve rental kiosks and "so far, everything's going OK" [image-nocss] as the company aims to reach 10,000 by the end of 2010. He said NCR should hit 7,000 by the end of June.
He also confirmed the company plans to begin selling DVDs at its kiosks this summer, said the report, although it has not yet signed any agreements with movie studios. "We've got the technology down, we've got the capabilities to do this," Camara said. Studios are "very interested."
Camara told Dow Jones that Duluth, Ga.-based NCR likely would not discount the DVDs like some brick-and-mortar retailers do, since the kiosks cannot offset losses with many other offerings. He also noted that some supermarkets that the company operates in may already sell DVDs and could prohibit NCR from selling them as well. NCR has outlets in Publix Super Markets, NOCO Express, Rutter's Farm Stores, Sheetz, Tedeschi Food Shops and other stores.
He also confirmed that NCR is in talks with studios to rent new-release DVDs for $2 per day, said the report, double its current rate and double the rate of competitor Redbox, a unit of Bellevue, Wash.-based Coinstar Inc. The company now offers a catalogue of older movies from studios and purchases new-release movies from third-party retailers to skirt a block that studios have on some outlets renting DVDs within the first 28 days of release. Camara did not provide any timeline for when NCR would begin to offer $2 new releases.
Kwik Trip is headquartered in La Cross, Wis.
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