US video retailer Redbox plots to challenge Netflix

Redbox, which became the fastest-growing US video retailer with DVD kiosks and a $1-a-day rental price stores couldn’t match, is developing an online strategy to stay competitive with larger rival Netflix Inc. The company, the biggest division of Coinstar Inc., may use a Web service to expand its library beyond the 200 or so titles crammed into each of its 24,000 or so DVD dispensers, President Mitch Lowe said in an interview from Redbox’s headquarters in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.

The approach Redbox outlines in October will be designed to narrow the gap with Netflix, which offers more than 100,000 titles by mail and 20,000 older films online. It may also help the company take more business from Blockbuster Inc., which is closing stores and recently skipped a debt payment.