|
Steve Rehner showed how to operate the DVD kiosk inside Clucker's last month. (Photo by Kelly McKinney/kmckinney@jessaminejournal.com / February 13, 2013) |
For years, Wilmore residents had to drive miles to rent a DVD.
Not anymore.
A DVD kiosk has opened inside Clucker’s gas station on North Lexington Avenue.
The DVD kiosk, operated by Steve Rehner and his sons Jonathan and Daniel, stocks about 250 movies and runs much like a Redbox.
“We think it will be a big help for everybody,” Rehner said. “It’s been three years since there was a video store in town.”
The kiosk, which opened Jan. 11, has been dubbed the WeeGo DVD kiosk, because it’s something for him and his sons to do together, Rehner said.
“It’s a good experience to do with your sons,” he said. “It’s the kind of business we can run on the side.”
Jonathan and Daniel used the money they earned buying and selling textbooks while in college for the kiosk, Rehner said.
Rehner, who lived in Wilmore during his college years, returned to the area about eight years ago with his family, including his wife, two sons, and two daughters.
He graduated from Asbury University in 1979 in its first business administration class, then earned a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in 1986.
Afterward, he moved around performing missionary work, including spending several years in Costa Rica, he said.
Since his return to Wilmore, Rehner has been active with his alma mater, Asbury University, coaching golf for a while and teaching as an adjunct.
Both his sons attended West Jessamine High School. One of his daughters teaches at Jessamine Career and Technology Center, and the other is a junior at Asbury.
“We like Wilmore a lot,” Rehner said. “We enjoy the town. It isn’t too far from Lexington, so I can go into the big city when I want to.”
In addition to keeping up with the new kiosk, Daniel Rehner works for the United States Geological Survey in Louisville and Jonathan studies civil engineering at the University of Kentucky.
The kiosk has been fairly well received so far, Jonathan Rehner said.
“For the first month, it’s been pretty good,” he said. “We’re hoping to keep getting the word out and get more business.”
His father agreed.
“We have some nice signs out front and around the gas tanks,” he said. “Overall, business has been steady. When you are starting a business of any kind I suppose you wish it was busier all the time. But given that we have been open for only a month I would say that business has been satisfactory.”
Mike Samaan, who owns Clucker’s, said he was happy to allow the kiosk to be in the store.
“Steve came to me with the idea, and I said I’m on board,” he said. “I wanted to give a service to the community.”
Samaan said he is not charging any commission from the profits.
Rehner said that, apart from being the only rental option in Wilmore, the kiosk has a few features that make it stand out from other rental kiosks.
New releases will be available in the kiosk sooner than they are in Redbox, Rehner said. Also, loyalty memberships are available, which give members 10 rentals —including both DVDs and Blu-Rays— per month for a $10 monthly fee, he said.
Also, the people who operate it are nearby, Jonathan Rehner said.
“We’re local, so if they need anything, we’re right there,” he said.
DVDs in the kiosk rent for $1.35 per day and Blu-Ray discs rent for $1.65 per day. It is available anytime Clucker’s is open, which is 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
