EzyDVD facts for kids

EzyDVD is an Australian company that sells movies and TV shows on discs. They offer DVDs, Blu-rays, and Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. In the mid-2000s, EzyDVD had more than 70 stores across Australia. Today, it is only an online store where people can buy their favorite films and shows.

EzyDVD's Journey

How EzyDVD Started

EzyDVD was created in March 1999 by Jim Zavos. He owned a video rental store in Adelaide, South Australia. Jim started EzyDVD as a website. It cost him about $3000 to set up. By its second year, the website was already making $3.5 million in sales.

In 2000, EzyDVD opened its first physical store. This store was located in Rundle Mall. A year later, in 2001, they opened their first franchised store in Sydney. A franchised store is one that someone else owns but uses the EzyDVD name and business plan.

Growing Across Australia

Over the next few years, EzyDVD grew very quickly. They soon had over 70 stores. These included stores owned by the company and franchised stores. Their main office and online shipping warehouse were in Adelaide.

In 2003, a company called Brazin Limited bought half of EzyDVD. Brazin Limited also owned the Sanity music stores. Later, Jim Zavos became the only owner of EzyDVD again. By 2007, the company was making $150 million each year. About 15% of these sales came from their online store.

Plans for More Stores

In 2007, Jim Zavos shared plans to open many more physical stores. The idea was to change existing independent video rental stores into EzyDVD franchises. These new stores would offer both movie rentals and sales. They would also have the EzyDVD look and feel.

Later in 2007, EzyDVD also bought a part of ReelTime Media Ltd. This company was listed on the ASX. ReelTime Media focused on video on demand, which lets people watch movies online whenever they want.

Facing Challenges

In March 2008, EzyDVD's sales started to slow down. The company then appointed Barry Taylor as its new CEO. Jim Zavos stayed involved, helping with business development. However, in July 2008, Barry Taylor resigned. Stefan Moro became the new CEO. He began closing stores that were not making enough money.

That same month, EzyDVD announced a new movie download service. It was called EzyDownload. They planned to launch it in September 2008. This service would use the technology from ReelTime Media. But by December 2008, EzyDVD faced serious financial problems. They had large losses and debts of over $18 million. The company had to seek help to manage its finances.

Becoming an Online Store Only

In January 2009, EzyDVD was bought by the Franchise Entertainment Group (FEG). This group also owned Video Ezy and Blockbuster Australia. FEG took over the EzyDVD brand name, its online business, and the remaining stores. At that time, there were 11 company-owned stores and 25 franchised stores left.

FEG wanted to use EzyDVD to expand into major shopping malls. However, soon after, EzyDVD's main office and warehouse in Torrensville closed. In October 2010, another company, Élan Media Partners, took over running EzyDVD's website. FEG continued to manage the physical stores.

By October 2013, only three EzyDVD stores remained. These were in Launceston, Browns Plains, and Elizabeth. In the following years, these last stores also closed. EzyDVD then became an online-only retailer.

In July 2017, The Kingston Group bought EzyDVD. This included all the rights to operate the EzyDVD website. The Kingston Group is located on the Gold Coast.

What EzyDVD Offers Today

The EzyDVD Website

The EzyDVD website says it is Australia's biggest online DVD store. It also claims to be the top place for DVDs in Australia. The site has a huge collection of DVDs, Ultra HD Blu-rays, and Blu-ray Discs. They offer all kinds of movies and TV shows.

EzyDVD also says it has the largest list of upcoming releases. The website shows new release information. It has a special section just for Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. You can find individual pages for different movie types. The site also lets you get notifications about future releases. They often have special deals and exclusive offers. These include special Collector's Tin packaging. They also have "Beat the Bomb" sales, which are limited-time offers.

EzyGames: A Look Back

In 2007, EzyDVD launched another online store called EzyGames. This site focused on video games. It sold games for popular consoles like PlayStation, PSP, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS. It also sold games for Microsoft Windows computers. EzyGames also offered consoles and accessories for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo. Customers could use the same account for both the EzyDVD and EzyGames websites.

The EzyGames website closed in 2009. After that, video games were sold directly on the EzyDVD site. However, as of February 2021, EzyDVD no longer sells video games.