The Washington Times Storefronts Column

BY DONNA DE MARCO, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News 

Jul. 19--KIOSKS OFFER SNIPPETS AT VIDEO WAREHOUSE: Video Warehouse is making it easier for customers to
remember and rent old movies.

The Chantilly-based video-store chain has installed Fast Take kiosks that allow customers to preview movies they want to rent.
Six of Video Warehouses' 22 stores have the kiosks during a four-month trial period.

The kiosk is basically a Web site without the time it takes to download, said Ray Schwartzman, vice president of sales and
marketing for Objectsoft, the Hackensack, N.J.-based company that developed Fast Take.

``It will replace the video log books,'' he said.

The kiosks can offer 30-second trailers of hundreds of movies by activating the touch-tone screen. Fast Take lets customers
search a retailer's listings by title, actor, director, rating or genre and even suggests some films they may like.

``I think it will have an impact on the older movies,'' said Shane Ahmad, general manager for Video Warehouse. Older movies are
any of those made after 1970 and are not current new releases, which are already playing on the television screens throughout the
store, Mr. Ahmad said.

It's too early to tell the impact of the kiosks since they were installed in mid-June, but Mr. Ahmad said many customers go to Fast
Take to check it out.

Currently Objectsoft is seeking advertisers like movie studios and other entertainment-related companies to pay for the kiosks.
But if the company doesn't have much luck securing advertisers, retailers like Video Warehouse could pay as much as $400 per
month for the machine.