With the closing of Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, and many smaller independent stores, not many video rental shops still exist. In many markets, the only competition for Blockbuster is Family Video. The two stores share some similarities, but are quite different. The right rental store for your family might depend on exactly what each store offers.
Price of Movies
Both Blockbuster and Family Video have similar prices in terms of movies. In Dayton, Blockbuster charges $2.99 for new releases, including releases yet to make it to the vault. The vault is the area reserved for older films. Movies in the vault area rent for $.99. Blockbuster offers some specials. For example, during Halloween, my local store rented horror movies for $.49-.99 on different days of the week.
Family Video rents new releases for $2.49. The company drops the prices, as the movie sits in the store. The Nearly New section is for movies that are still relatively new and the films rent for $1. The older releases rent $.50 or two movies for one dollar. The store also has some free rentals for children and free educational rentals.