Too Much of a Niche Market? (1 Viewer)

[DaleC]

I was wondering what everyone thought about this idea:

My girlfriend and I have been loosely talking about an idea that we had. I think it would be a good idea to open up a video store that rents only TV shows. This includes both series, and mini-series, and possibly TV movies. A lot of people I've spoken to have said that this might be too much of a niche market though, and the store may not do well.

The thing is, there are a lot of people who want to see certain shows, but either don't have or don't want to shell out the bucks in order to see them (me being one of them). The shows would be old and new...everything from "Survivor" and "Six Feet Under" to "I Love Lucy," and everything in between.

What do you think? Would you use a store like this (especially if you live in the Toronto area)? Does anyone know of any other stores out there like this?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Dane Marvin]

I would use this store, but then again, I'm sure most of the people who visit this forum regularly would. The question is are there enough people like us in one general area to be able to keep a store like this in business?

I find that Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are extremely poor as far as carrying TV box sets. They generally only have the big ones like the most popular HBO shows and, say, The X-Files.

One thing that would be a stumbling block is the ever-growing Netflix. Seems you can get most TV show DVDs there and at a great value to boot.

My advice would be not to limit yourself. You can advertise yourself as THE place to rent TV-On-DVD, but throw in some other stuff, too, like Criterions, hard-to-find movies, and cult classics.

 

[Marty M]

I think it would be good to have a video store with a wide selection of TV shows on DVD, but I don't think you would get enough business to carry only TV shows.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I agree with the others. You could have a store where the focus is the TV on DVD...and it could have a rather expansive section for plenty of releases, but while it might be your focus, it would probably be a good idea to have movies as well.

It might work in that sense, you might have a greater emphasis than other rental chains but it shouldn't be the only one IMO.

 

[Seth--L]

Why not just be a rental store that carries an unusually large number of TV shows on DVD? That way you can compete with everyone else, but when people want to rent a TV show on DVD, you'll have an edge.

 

[Burn Rourk]

I agree with the advice so far. There are also a number of rare cult classic films that aren't available in mainstream rental stores. I would also sell DVDs rather than only rent them. You could carry some of the super-HTF stuff for sale. If you have trouble unloading your merch on your particular locale, you could always open a cult classics TV/DVD website and sell online as well.

 

[GeoffCHA]

A cult video store that has a hearty selection of TV dvds would probably work better than just the tv idea. One thing though, and sorry if I'm out of date here, I grew up in Toronto but haven't lived there for a number of years. Isn't Suspect Video down in The Annex still open? When I was in high school that was 'the' undisputed place for cult dvds and tv shows (such that there were in the mid 90s). Assuming that place is still kicking, it'd definitely be some competition for you.

 

[Dane Marvin]

I'm laughing reading my old post because I mentioned Netflix in my post and then that new Intellitext advertising linked the word DVDs to the Netflix site.