Redbox President Steps Down As DVD Kiosk Business Struggles (Yes, Redbox Still Exists)

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Let’s get one thing out of the way before we start: yes, Redbox still exists. But because many folks would rather get instance access to a digital version of their desired flick, rather than leave the house to visit a DVD kiosk to rent a movie and then have to return it later, business is not doing so well, prompting the company’s president to fly the coop after less than two years on the job.

In a sign that Blockbuster’s ghost may get some company haunting family movie night, president Mark Horak is stepping down, according to Redbox’s parent company Outerwall (formerly known as Coinstar). He’ll be replaced for the time being by Outerwall’s head honcho, CEO Erik Prusch, reports MarketWatch.

Redbox has been trying to boost its struggling sales with new movie titles, the addition of video games and by hiking prices last fall, but it doesn’t seem to be enough: Outerwall said Redbox’s third-quarter results were “the worst theatrical box office in Redbox kiosks in four years,” and the numbers for the current quarter show that its efforts to bring in more revenue aren’t working out so well.

Redbox already gave up on our neighbors in the wintry north, closing down all DVD rental kiosks in Canada earlier this year.
Netflix has put Redbox on Blockbuster’s road to destruction [MarketWatch]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist