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 over 70 stores across Australia. Now, they only sell their products online.

History of EzyDVD

EzyDVD was started in March 1999 by Jim Zavos. He owned a video rental store in Adelaide, South Australia. The business began as a website, which cost Jim about $3000 to set up.

Early Growth and Success

The website quickly became popular. By its second year, it was making $3.5 million in sales! In 2000, EzyDVD opened its first physical store in Rundle Mall. A year later, in 2001, they opened their first franchised store in Sydney.

Over the next few years, EzyDVD grew very fast. They soon had more than 70 stores all over Australia. These included both company-owned stores and franchised ones. Their main office and online warehouse were in Adelaide.

Changes in Ownership

In 2003, a company called Brazin Limited bought half of EzyDVD. Brazin also owned the music store chain Sanity. Later, after 2006, Jim Zavos became the only owner of EzyDVD again. By 2007, the company was earning $150 million a year. About 15% of these sales came from their online store.

In 2007, Jim Zavos planned to open even more stores. He wanted to turn existing independent video rental stores into EzyDVD franchises. These new stores would offer both movie rentals and sales. EzyDVD also bought a share in an online movie company called ReelTime Media Ltd. This company offered "video on demand," which meant you could watch movies online.

Challenges and New Leadership

In 2008, EzyDVD faced some challenges as sales started to slow down. They appointed a new CEO, Barry Taylor, in March 2008. Jim Zavos stayed involved, helping with business ideas. However, Barry Taylor resigned in July 2008. Stefan Moro became the new CEO and began closing stores that were not making enough money.

That same month, EzyDVD announced a new movie download service called EzyDownload. They planned to launch it in September 2008, using technology from ReelTime. But by December 2008, EzyDVD ran into big financial trouble. The company went into "voluntary receivership," which means they needed help managing their debts.

New Owners and Online Focus

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, its online business, and the remaining 11 company stores. They also managed the 25 franchised stores.

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

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

In July 2017, The Kingston Group bought EzyDVD and all the rights to its 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 store for DVDs. It claims to be the top place for DVDs in Australia. The site has a huge collection of movies and TV shows in all genres. You can find DVDs, Ultra HD Blu-rays, and Blu-ray Discs. They also claim to have the largest list of upcoming movie releases.

The website has information on new releases and a special section for Ultra HD Blu-ray movies. You can also find pages for different movie categories. The site lets you sign up for alerts about future releases. They often have special deals, like exclusive "Collector's Tin" packaging. They also run "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. They also sold games for Microsoft Windows computers. You could even buy PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles and accessories there. Customers could use the same account for both the EzyDVD and EzyGames websites.

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