The May rollout also calls for Ft. Worth-based RadioShack to set up shop in 39 Blockbuster's in Las Vegas, 32 in Norfolk, VA and 26 in Tulsa. A second round of cities will be rolled out in first quarter 2002. The two-phased rollout involves more than 500 stores, with up to 300 coming on line this year. But the contract ultimately could put RadioShack into 5,000 US Blockbusters, including a now-developing program for Blockbuster's 1,000 franchise operations, James Notarnicola, Blockbuster's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, tells GlobeSt.com.
Dallas-based Blockbuster also is working on a plan to put some of its retail offerings into RadioShack stores, starting with gift cards. "But the centerpiece is the store-within-a-store in Blockbuster," Notarnicola emphasizes.
At this time, neither retailer is planning to shut down stores as a result of the teaming. "We don't see this alliance affecting real estate decisions one way or another," says Notarnicola.
Now that the contract's signed officials from both companies are working on a prototype. The RadioShack kiosk will average 600 sf and will boast such products as DVDs, VCRs, wireless devices and "gadgets and gizmos," explains Notarnicola. Equal to designing the prototype kiosk is figuring out the right product mix for Blockbuster customers.
Notarnicola says RadioShack had bested several other corporations to snag the lucrative contract, which includes a tenant licensing fee, as well as nipping a possible plan for Blockbuster-branded consumer electronics. "We had been intending to move into consumer electronics for awhile now," he says.
"The results will be an extensively expanded home entertainment selection for our customers and entirely new revenue streams for Blockbuster with limited capital expenditures," says John Antioco, Blockbuster's chairman and CEO. The video retail chain has 48 million active customers, with a traffic volume of three million per day.
In turn, RadioShack gains a new distribution channel while "using a capital-efficient way to expand our square footage," says Leonard Roberts, RadioShack's chairman and CEO.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
