Video and liquor specialists trading under the same roof

Press, 9 November 1984, Page 24

Video and liquor specialists trading under the same roof

The concept of combining the sale of liquor with the hire of video tapes has been so successful that Christchurch will see one more such venture opening today. Robin Moore’s Drive-In Video Centre and Cellar Ghost Cellar Liquors will share the same site at 66 Riccarton Road under the name of Quills.

The. previous partnership between the two shops oh the corner of Bealey Avenue and Colombo Street has been tested during the past six months and found to be so successful that Quills is pleased to open another such tandem outlet in Riccarton.

The manager of the Bealey Avenue branch, Mr Robin Moore, believes that both goods are compatible, and it was his idea to approach Quills with a view to leasing their property in Colombo Street alongside Cellar Ghost, and later to extend it to Riccarton.

By making both home entertainment and drinking

requirements available from shops on the same site, Robin thinks the problem of drinking and driving could be greatly helped. Although the two outlets are separate shops, the site becomes a complete family entertainment centre, says Robin.

“We can supply all the family drinking and home movie needs,” he says.

“From the one stop, people can hire tapes and buy their drinks to take home and enjoy — without having to face the problem of having to drive home afterwards,” he says. Another featurb of the two branches is the drive-in facility. Drive-in liquor outlets are not new, but video centres are not usually so convenient, says Robin.

He learned this from hard experience, having set up a video-library business with a small shop in the centre of Christchurch about 12 months ago. “I soon realised it just

didn't suit the average New Zealander, who never wants to walk very far to do his shopping,” says Robin. Robin moved in June to the present site on the Colombo Street and Bealey Avenue corner alongside Cellar Ghost and has found the feature of drive-in shopping is a boon to all his customers.

Particularly in bad weather, customers can collect or offload cassettes without getting wet or having to walk far.

The large car park behind the shop provides ■ ample space, and there are no parking meters to have to remember to feed.

Handicapped people benefit too — they can either stay in their car or make use of the 'carefully designed access to the shop and roomy interior in which to manoeuvre their wheelchairs.

The Riccarton branch will be even more accessible, as it too is under cover, and has. room for more than 80

cars in the rear car park. “Riccarton Road is one of the busiest in New Zealand, and getting a park there is almost impossible at peak times, so off-street parking will be a major benefit,” says Robin. Although the video and liquor businesses at Riccarton are under the same roof, access to the two is by different, but adjacent doors, and both operate independently of one another. The video industry, although barely three years old in New Zealand, is growing fast and is fiercely competitive, says Robin. He believes his service in both the library and sales of video tapes and video equipment, must therefore be of the highest quality. Not only is the video centre a complete specialist in all video needs, it is the first multi-copy video library in Christchurch. All stock is V.H.S. format, which makes up 89 per cent of all video formats available in New Zealand.

The multi-copy system means that up to 25 copies of the one movie can be available for hire at any , time.

This eliminates the problem caused by popular films which, hired out by smaller operators with only single copies, may never even be seen by borrowers because they are constantly out on hire.

All ' cassettes in the library are encased in attractive dust covers with clearly illustrated slicks, which give details about the contents.

The covers protect the cassettes from damage in transit as well as making identification easier.

Another problem facing video libraries is the late return of video cassettes, and customers who fail to rewind tapes after use. Robin plans to crack down on such people who make life hard for both staff and other borrowers.