The Clarion Ledger, our hometown paper, recently ran an article extolling the wonders of Netflix, an online video rental service. The article mentions my family's video store, Video Library, noting, "[At] least one Jackson company, Video Library, has entered the movies-through-the-mail business."
It's a shame that's all the Clarion Ledger had to say about Video Library ... because, as a local company, VideoLibraryToGo.com offers Jackson-area residents real advantages over Netflix.
Want your movies the same day you order them? With Video Library's FastPass service, you can order online and pick your movies up at the store in under an hour.
Want next-day delivery? With the VideoLibraryToGo.com "Movies by Mail" option, most Jackson residents can order movies online and receive them the very next day.
Want to rent just one movie, without getting bogged down in a subscription plan? Nextflix won't offer you that option, but VideoLibraryToGo.com will.
We even stock Pickpocket -- the movie the Clarion Ledger article claims isn't carried by any local video store.
Sigh.
You know, Video Library has been in business in Jackson for twenty-five years. In an industry dominated by big chains, Video Library has survived by offering better service and more movies than the competition can offer. And the company continues to innovate -- moving to a more streamlined store, offering customers the option to browse movies from in-store terminals or online, and shipping more than 500 movies a day through our online rental service.
That's a real success story, by any standard.
So why, then, is our hometown newspaper shilling for a faceless corporate giant instead of helping Jackson-area residents connect with a local company offering better service?
(Hey ... do you think someone at Gannett, the company that owns the Clarion Ledger, offered the folks at Netflix an opportunity to buy an "advertorial" in local papers to help offset Netflix's plummeting stock price?)
