SG brings Roxi Movies machine to campus
Roxi Movies installed a movie kiosk in the basement of the Russell House Friday next to the Golden Spur Gameroom and CarolinaCard Office.
The Roxi Movies kiosk, which rents out DVDs for $1 and Blu-Rays for $2, is similar to the more common Redboxes that have replaced movie stores throughout the country. But while a Redbox only holds about 600 DVDs, the Roxi Movies kiosk can hold more than 3,000, said Chase Mizzell, chairman of Student Government’s Student Services Committee.
“In our opinion it’s a little bit better than a Redbox,” said Mizzell, whose committee worked to bring the kiosk to campus. “If we’d like, within the next month it would also have games.”
Roxi Movies installed the kiosk and will replenish it each week, costing the university no money. Also, 10 percent of any revenue more than $1,000 will be returned to the university.
After doing surveys and asking friends, the Student Services Committee decided at the end of last school year to begin contacting corporations about a movie kiosk. Mizzell said Redbox isn’t interested in campus kiosks unless the university has more than 40,000 students, and that the company had a two-year wait time anyway.
“Roxi Movies has about 450 machines or so in the Southeast, so they’re fairly small in comparison to Redbox, but they’re much more willing to work,” Mizzell, a second-year business student, said. “Currently, [the kiosk] will run on debit cards, and we’re working so that it can run on CarolinaCards as soon as possible.”
Currently, the closest movie kiosks are at the CVS on Assembly Street and the CVS in Five Points. Mizzell said the kiosk would make renting easier for underclassmen and students without cars. Depending on the success of the program, more kiosks may be placed in residence halls, allowing for after-hours access once the Russell House closes at midnight.
First-year chemistry student Mariah Howard said she and her friends were just talking about the need for a Redbox Saturday when they were “shocked” to find the new kiosk on campus.
But her friend Angela Cooper, a first-year journalism student, said she was disappointed in the selection.
“They didn’t have ‘The Hangover,’” said Cooper, referring to a comedy popular among students. “Every place has ‘The Hangover.’”