Goldstar Taps the Kidvid Market
Grocery stores have been peddling videos for years, mostly aimed at adults and teen-agers. Goldstar Video has fashioned for those stores a profitable business by targeting another age group--kids.
What Goldstar, based in Freehold, N.J., does is provide markets with an attractive display and the videos, which sell for under $10.
You’ll be seeing more of these Goldstar kidvid displays pop up in stores around the country. Look for quality titles such as Random House’s “Sesame Street” and “Dr. Seuss” series and “Mother Goose” tapes from J2 Communications. These are all older titles that are being remarketed in decorative display centers--the backbone of Goldstar sales--that are designed to attract kids in the toddler-to-10-year-old range.
“Grocery stores are basically an untapped market place for kidvid,” said company president Ron Goldsmith. “It’s an impulse purchase. Kids are attracted to the display and pick up a tape that’s reasonably priced and ask their parents to buy it.”
Goldstar, which grossed about $7.5 million supplying more than 7,000 outlets last year, boosts its profit by cutting out the middleman. The company deals directly with grocery stores, which otherwise get their video supplies from distributors.
Goldstar settled into kidvid after a disastrous venture into the teen market, selling old tapes in the Marvel comics series. “The teen-agers don’t spend much time or money in grocery stores, which we found out the hard way,” Goldsmith said. “But kids always come to stores with their parents and are looking for little items to buy.”
Right now, the grocery-store kidvid biz is a small niche market, not overrun by competitors.
What’s New on Video: “Sneakers” (MCA/Universal, no set price). In this fairly absorbing thriller that relies on engaging characters, an electronic snoop unit (Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix) gets caught up in the intrigue as warring factions chase after a crucial decoder. Best actress nominee Mary McDonnell (“Dances With Wolves”) scores in a supporting role as the reluctant mate of the unit leader (Redford).
“Light Sleeper” (LIVE, $93). Writer-director Paul Schrader is heavy on characterization and atmosphere, but irritatingly low on riveting plot turns. A drug runner Willem Dafoe) looking to bail out of the business has a torrid encounter with his ex-wife (Dana Delaney) and reshapes his relationship with his boss, vividly played by best actress nominee Susan Sarandon.
“Honeymoon in Vegas” (Columbia TriStar, no set price). A quirky, so-so romantic comedy, constantly teetering between inventive and silly, about an anxious fiance (Nicolas Cage) who loses his bride-to-be (Sara Jessica Parker) in a poker game to a Vegas gambler (James Caan).
“Cool World” (Paramount, no set price). Director Ralph Bakshi’s live-action/animation mix, featuring Kim Basinger and Brad Pitt, offers technical wizardry but is basically a confusing, uninteresting clone of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” When it played theaters, audiences wisely avoided it in droves.
Upcoming on Video: Just announced releases: “Trespass,” the action drama starring Ice Cube and Ice-T, is due May 5. Also: “Whispers in the Dark,” “Singles” and “Of Mice and Men” (Wednesday); “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Wind” and “Bebe’s Kids” (March 10); “Mr. Baseball” and “Candyman” (March 17); “Mr. Saturday Night,” “Pure Country” and “Captain Ron” (March 24); “Pinocchio” (March 26); “Under Siege” (March 31); “Consenting Adults” and “Husbands and Wives” (April 7); “Passenger 57,” “The Public Eye,” “Sarafina” and “The Mighty Ducks” (April 14), and “Night and the City” (April 21).
