DVDPlay names Piper president, COO

Former Safeway executive to help kiosk company’s growth

By Danny King -- Video Business, 6/3/2008

JUNE 3 | DVDPlay named former Safeway executive Charles T. Piper as its president and chief operating officer as it expands its presence in U.S. supermarkets.

Piper has two decades of experience in the grocery industry, including 11 years with Albertsons before joining Safeway in 2000. He most recently worked for prepaid card provider Blackhawk Network.

Piper joins the No. 3 U.S. movie-rental kiosk operator as it tries to match the growth of larger competitors Redbox and TNR and take advantage of shrinking movie-rental chain store demand.

Closely held DVDPlay plans to more than double its U.S. kiosks to 3,200 this year, with about 90% of its machines in Safeway and Supervalu-unit Albertson’s stores.

Total U.S. kiosk sales are projected to triple to $800 million in 2010, while store rental revenue, estimated at $5.4 billion last year, will fall to $3.1 billion by 2010, according to Convergence Consulting Group.

“His wealth of knowledge will play a vital role in extending our growth in the movie rental kiosk marketplace,” DVDPlay CEO Chuck Berger said in a statement today. “I’m confident that his contributions will help us continue to successfully reach our customers by conveniently delivering the newest titles at low prices.”

Last week, DVDPlay said it would start offering Blu-ray discs in its machines this month, becoming the first kiosk company to do so. The discs will rent for $1.49, the same price as standard discs at DVDPlay and 49¢ more than Redbox’s rental pricing on standard discs.

Redbox, majority-owned by Coinstar, said last month that it will file for an initial public offering. The company, which plans to have about 11,000 kiosks by the end of next year, last month brought on former JetBlue Airways chief financial officer John Harvey as its financial chief.