Expanding Netflix opens Vegas center

Wednesday, June 16, 2004 | 10:46 a.m.

Netflix Inc., an Internet-based movie rental service, has opened a Las Vegas shipping center in an effort to keep up with a rapidly increasing membership base.

Citing stiff competition from the likes of Blockbuster, Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix would not disclose the square footage of the local center -- located at 3811 Renate Drive near Valley View Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road -- or the number of employees at work there.

On average, the company's 25 shipping centers are 8,000 square feet and have between eight and 15 employees, said Lynn Brinton, a Netflix spokeswoman.

Through the service, customers join for a monthly fee -- typically $21.99 based on volume -- and receive movies from a list of about 20 titles established by the customer ahead of time. There are no deadlines or late fees, and customers return the movies at their leisure in a postage-paid envelope provided by Netflix. Additional movies from the list arrive within three days.

Brinton said Netflix founder Reed Hastings was motivated to start the company after running up a $40 late fee at a video store for the 1995 film "Apollo 13."

Las Vegas was chosen for a shipping location based on population and customer activity, Brinton said.

"Entertainment is a very important part of the Las Vegas mainstream," she said.

The company has said it needs strategically placed shipping centers to keep up with its effort to have movies to customers, in most cases, in one day. The company, which was founded in 1999, needed four years to attract its first million subscribers. It took just 14 months to attract the second million subscribers, Brinton said.