Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Blockbuster, DishNetwork, Wawa Gas Stations, Samsung, Partner For Fast Rentals


Blockbuster ( BLOAQ ), in its latest attempt to get noticed in the $1 rental kiosk market, has partnered with huge northeast convenience store and gas station chain WAWA in order to establish its kiosks in high traffic areas.

Wawa's of the east coast are known especially for having great hoagies, cheap gas, and of course, no-fee atm's available. There are times when they are so busy, which sometimes seems like always, that you will wait in a line to get to any of the previous mentioned conveniences.

Blockbuster may have found a huge untapped vein to setup its kiosks at. Regularly, you would find a competitive RedBox machine, or DVDxpress at a Walgreens, or a Super Market, but never at a High Traffic 24/7 convenience store. And Blockbuster may know what it is doing, in fact, near every checkout lane at Wawa right now, you can find a "Try Blockbuster Express for Free" coupon, setup in an attempt to get people hooked on a product they already know.

This information caused a 7% up spike in Blockbusters stock yesterday, and will most likely raise it more, as more of the machines go into operation. I have personally seen these machines already operation in the Cherry Hill, NJ and Philadelphia Area Wawa's.

It would move the already ULTIMATE Convenience store into the next level of really having everything you need 24/7.

Wawa, with a surprisingly similar number to how many blockbusters will remain open, has over 550 stores available in the east coast region. 210+ of which have gas stations available.

Lastly, Samsung has made available the on demand service on all new wifi/internet ready TV's they sell, available through blockbusters built in app.

UPDATE: Check out this link for a list of available stores. http://www.blockbusterexpress.com/wawa