Box office to mailbox

Lodi Post Office carrier Christine Alcon holds up a couple different Netflix envelopes before she delivers them to their destination near Elm Street on Thursday. (Angelina Gervasi/News-Sentinel)

Box office to mailbox

Enjoying movies — All from the confort of your home

By Sara Cardine
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Monday, January 9, 2006 6:44 AM PST

Comments (1 comment(s))

You didn't see Lodi movie buff Jason Vocque at the video store this holiday season. "You couldn't pay me to go to a video store right now," he said.

The cold weather, the crowds, the traffic — all have driven movie fans like Vocque further away from the stores and into the arms of on-line DVD rental services like Netflix.

Especially when its rainy and foggy, Sherri Cascaden, a self-proclaimed DVD fanatic, will stay indoors and watch back-to-back episodes of classic TV shows like "Three's Company" and "Who's the Boss."

Her household goes through as many as three DVDs in a single week — a habit she said would have been too costly at the video store.

"At four bucks a pop, it was too expensive," Cascaden said.

Through a subscription to Netflix, or a comparable program run by video giant Blockbuster, customers can order DVDs online, keep them for as long as they want and mail them back free to the company for a monthly fee.

Members swear by the service, claiming they are allowed to watch more movies and TV shows, and more of what they want to watch than they ever could before. Lodi postal workers claim to see hundreds of the telltale red envelopes going in and out of the city every day.

"That's the beauty of Netflix — we're democratizing the film distribution business," said Steve Swasey, a company spokesman, of the company's popularity.

Customers of on-line rental companies have access to thousands of titles, including concerts and TV series that have come out on DVD. Patrons boast harder to find titles, including cult classics, foreign language films and obscure television shows from decades past.

Through a queue, or a priority list of titles, they can receive and watch up to three or more titles at any one time.

New titles will not arrive in the mail until the old ones have been sent back to the company, but there are no late fees for customers, something many see as a win-win situation.

Bunches of Netflix envelopes pass by quickly early Friday as Lodi Post Office carrier Veronica Avina feeds stacks of her incoming mail through a machine that will separate it according to the bar-code. (Angelina Gervasi/News-Sentinel)

But while services like Netflix may be all the rage for some, other local residents prefer to stick to the tried and true method of video rentals — the store.

Acampo resident Terry Hickman said the experience of hunting down good movies is what keeps her coming into the Hollywood Video store on Lodi Avenue.

"I just like being able to look and see what's out there," Hickman said. "Instead of looking at a catalogue, I like to read the back covers."

Hickman doesn't always get to watch the six DVDs she brings home each month. On Wednesday, in fact, she returned three movies to Hollywood Video, though she'd only had the chance to watch one.

How it works

Both Netflix and Blockbuster offer monthly DVD subscription packages for comparable prices. The variation in price depends on the number of movies you agree to check out at once. For $17.99 per month, for example, you can have up to three DVDs out at any one time.

First, log in to the Web site, http://www.netflix.com, and fill out the relevant information, including address and payment method. Once registration is complete, you can begin selecting movies, searching by genre, title, actor or key word.

Movies can be selected to go into a queue, which ranks the order in which you'd like to receive them. Their order in the queue can be changed at any time.

If your plan is for three DVDs, the company will send you the first three items on your list, as available. They will arrive in your regular mail in one to two days in a red envelope that you keep for free return postage.

As you view the DVDs, you mail them back to a local mailing center in the same envelope. When the hub, one of 37 warehouses nationwide, has received the DVD, the company will automatically send you the next item on your list, depending on availability. Subscriptions can be canceled at any time.

Source: http://www.netflix.com

Lodi's Top 10

Top 10 DVD titles rented through Netflix by Lodi subscribers:
1. Carolina, 2003
2. Bend It Like Beckham, 2004
3. Crash, 2005
4. Surviving Christmas, 2004
5. Bad News Bears, 2005
6. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 2005
7. Kingdom of Heaven, 2005
8. The Wedding Date, 2005
9. Fever Pitch, 2005
10. Fantastic Four, 2005
Source: http://www.netflix.com

At Hollywood Video, Tokay High School student Gabriel Ortiz was stocking up on movies before winter break, including Tom Cruise's new blockbuster film "War of the Worlds."

Ortiz, who lives nearby, said he'd rather go to the store and pick up a DVD in person than go through the process of subscribing to a service like Netflix or Blockbuster Online and waiting for the title to come through the mail.

When someone starts a queue on a rental Web site, the request is sent to the company electronically. A title is mailed out, in a special envelope, and can reach the customer in one to two days.

As the movies are viewed in Lodi, they are sent back in the same envelope for free to a mail center in West Sacramento. From there, they are shipped quickly to a hub, or a warehouse where millions of titles are kept. For Netflix, the closest hub to Lodi is in Sunnyvale, Swasey said.

For viewers like Hickman, the process may sound too removed from the experience of walking up and down video store aisles, or reading descriptions from movies off the back jacket of a DVD.

But fans like Vocque, who use the word "Netflix" as both a noun and a verb, say they wouldn't have it any other way.

"If you're somebody who loves movies, but doesn't have enough time, Netflix is perfect," Vocque said. "If you love movies and have tons of time, great, more Netflix."

Contact reporter Sara Cardine at sarac@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Jason Vocque wrote on Jan 10, 2006 1:32 PM:

" Thank you Sara for the great article. If you ever need a resourse for anything entertainment let me know. "

Report Abuse

Comments on this story are now closed.

Archives

Story Tools

Indexes