Redbox Forever!
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he owner of an Alabama moving company is hired to extract the DVD-dispensing machines that are taking up space and sapping the resources and patience of store owners across the country. The machines, owned by now-defunct Redbox, weigh as much as 890 pounds, can be environmental hazards and sometimes require an electrician to disconnect.
And that might be the easy part.
The next steps are figuring out what to do with the big red machines and all the DVDs that in the era of streaming have been rendered largely obsolete.
Redbox’s parent filed for bankruptcy in the summer, saying it lacked the cash to buy the rights to many new releases, and the kiosk operator subsequently went out of business. It left 24,000 movie vending machines still in the field. Some of the nation’s biggest retailers were stuck holding the logistical bag.
Pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens, discounters Walmart and Dollar General, and grocers Albertsons and Kroger are among those getting bankruptcy-court approval to dispose of abandoned Redbox kiosks, which on average hold more than 600 films.
They’re not just taking up store space. Retailers say the machines interfere with remodeling plans and expose them to potential safety hazards and liabilities. Some kiosks are hardwired into stores’ electrical systems. Outdoor machines are bolted into the concrete foundations and contain a coolant that is supposed to be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.
Walgreens told the court that it has spent $184,000 a month at roughly 3,800 stores to power nearly 5,400 machines belonging to a failed business. One supermarket operator said it is worried about people trying to break into the kiosks to steal films.
