Redbox expands into Albertson's, others

All 400 supermarkets in chain will carry DVD rental machines by Q1

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 11/21/2006

NOV. 21 | Redbox DVD rental machines are pushing into five new grocery chains: Albertson’s LLC, Chevy Chase, Hannaford Supermarkets, Martin’s and Strack N Van Til.

The entire 400-outlet Albertson’s chain will house Redbox machines by first-quarter 2007. Currently, Redbox is installed in 100 Dallas-area Albertson’s.

By January, all 130 Northeast U.S. Hannaford outlets will have Redbox kiosks. The 20 to 25 Strack N Van Til chain, located in Indiana and Illinois, will get machines by the end of this year.

Already housing Redbox machines are Maryland’s single-store retailer Chevy Chase and the 18-store Indiana-based Martin’s.

“Redbox’s unmatched production timeline and consumer awareness continue to fuel demand for Redbox at leading grocery stores nationwide,” said Gregg Kaplan, Redbox CEO. “We are more than an added consumer convenience. Redbox is a tool to drive traffic, a point of difference and an active contributor to our customers’ profit streams.”

Co-owned by McDonald’s, Redbox has been steadily landing new locations for its kiosks through 2006. Last month, Redbox started testing its machines in 38 Walgreen’s drug stores in the Chicago and Houston markets.

At this point, Redbox is slotted in 1,700 grocery, drug and McDonald’s outlets. Excluding these latest expansion plans, there are more than 900 Redbox grocery locations spanning such chains as Stop & Shop and Giant.

Over the past 12 months, Redbox has doubled in size. Within five years, Redbox hopes to be situated in more than 20,000 locations worldwide.

Each Redbox kiosk offers more than 70 new release movie DVDs, which rent for $1 per night.