DVDEmpire.com: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Revision as of 18:11, 23 January 2015 edit 204.14.177.2 (talk) →‎Awards and recognition ← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 01:40, 7 February 2024 edit undo Urban Versis 32 (talk \| contribs) Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers 5,117 edits Changing short description from "DVD retail sales websitew" to "DVD retail sales website" Tag: Shortdesc helper
(44 intermediate revisions by 23 users not shown)
Line 1: {{Short description\|DVD retail sales website}} [[File:~~Empiregraphic~~Dvd-empire-logo.~~png~~svg\|right\|246px\|DVDEmpire.com Logo]] '''DVDEmpire.com''' is a [[DVD]] retail sales website. It is a privately owned ~~[[electronic commerce]]~~ company based near [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]. The retailer began operating in the mid-1990s. The website offers mainstream and adult video via a group of websites which include ''AdultDVDEmpire.com'', ''AdultEmpire Unlimited'', ''AdultEmpire.com'', ''GayDVDEmpire.com'', ''AdultEmpireCash.com'', ''PornStarEmpire.com~~, UsedDVDEmpire.com~~'' and ~~BlueDoor~~''UsedDVDEmpire.com''. ==History== DVDEmpire.com was created by Jeff Rix and John-Michael D’Arcangelo, two computer programmers. At the time they were both working on eCommerce projects for an industrial safety distributor. D’Arcangelo approached Rix, telling him about the new DVD format, pitching the idea of selling online. On August 18, 1997, DVDEmpire.com website was launched. It was [[incorporation (business)\|incorporated]] in Pennsylvania on September 17, 1997, as '''Right Ascension, Inc.''' With $6,000 in start-up funds, the company became a full-time occupation for the two partners. The site's design aimed for ease of navigation, and allowed customers to edit every aspect of their orders prior to shipment, and were the first to offer pre-ordering of DVDs.<ref>{{cite web \|last= Caggiano \|first= Christopher \|title= Net Flix \|work= Inc.com \|publisher= Mansuteo Ventures \|date= March 2001 \|url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/20010315/22254.html \|accessdate= 2007-07-19 }}</ref> In late 1997, DVDEmpire.com launched AdultDVDEmpire.com and began selling adult DVDs. This move coincided with the first adult DVD release, [[Bobby Sox]] by [[Vivid Entertainment\|Vivid Studios]]. The website was first operated near [[Mars, Pennsylvania]] in early 1998. After outgrowing that location, operations were moved to its current facility in [[Warrendale, Pennsylvania]] in August 2000. Line 14 ⟶ 15: Rather than compete with other websites' spending on marketing, the owners of DVDEmpire.com instead chose to focus on building a closer relationship with existing customers. Efforts concentrated on customer service, website simplicity, and effective order fulfillment. In 2000, as most other DVD retailers on the Internet were slashing prices (to the point where products were being sold at a loss), DVDEmpire.com remained one of the higher priced DVD retailers. By continuing to follow the original [[business plan]] of customer service and order fulfillment, DVDEmpire.com weathered the price wars and the [[Dot-com bubble\|dotcom collapses]] in 2000, and emerged with a still-viable company. In late 2000, their two largest competitors ([[Reel.com]] and DVDExpress.com) sold their assets and closed their doors.<ref>{{cite web \|last= Henricks \|first= Mark \|title=The Art of (Price) War \|work= Entrepreneur magazine \|date= April 2002 \|url= http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/49974 \|accessdate= 2007-07-19 }}</ref> In October 2015, Adult Empire announced a new partnership with TLA Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://business.avn.com/articles/technology/TLA-Entertainment-and-AdultEmpire-Team-Up-for-Joint-Venture-611518.html \|title=AVN - TLA Entertainment and AdultEmpire Team up for Joint Venture \|accessdate=2016-01-13 \|url-status=live \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316033910/http://business.avn.com/articles/technology/TLA-Entertainment-and-AdultEmpire-Team-Up-for-Joint-Venture-611518.html \|archivedate=2016-03-16 }}</ref> ===Expansion=== In December 2006, Adult DVD Empire became the first adult retailer to start selling high-definition titles, with the release of Wicked Pictures' ''[[Camp Cuddly Pines Powertool Massacre]]'' on HD DVD. In March 2007, Adult DVD Empire became the first adult retailer to offer [[Blu-ray]] titles,{{citation needed\|date=August 2014}} starting with Vivid's ''[[Debbie Does Dallas ... Again]]''. In June 2007, Adult DVD Empire became the first online retailer to offer adult content for the [[iPhone]], partnering with [[Digital Playground]] to offer complete hard-core scenes.<ref>{{cite web \|title= Digital Playground First To Offer XXX Movies To iPhone Users \|work= Digitalaudiovideo.com \|publisher= Rock Star Media Works, Inc. \|date= Jun 26, 2007 \|url= http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/index.php?module=news_view&newsID=987 \|accessdate= Jul 19, 2007 \|archiveurl= ~~http~~https://web.archive.org/web/20120206104532/http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/index.php?module=news_view&newsID=987 \|archivedate=2012-02-06 ~~Feb~~\|url-status=dead 6,}}</ref> and launched a fully responsive website in August 2015.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://business.avn.com/company-news/Online-E-Tailer-Adult-Empire-Debuts-Fully-Responsive-Site-603788.html \|title=AVN - Online E-Tailer Adult Empire Debuts Fully Responsive Site \|accessdate=2016-06-23 \|url-status=live \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919164757/http://business.avn.com/company-news/Online-E-Tailer-Adult-Empire-Debuts-Fully-Responsive-Site-603788.html \|archivedate=2015-09-19 ~~2012~~}}</ref> In September 2014, Adult DVD Empire released the first movie under its new production label, Adult Empire Films (later restyled as AE Films).<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.adultempirefilms.com/ \|title=Adult Empire Films \|accessdate=2015-01-08 \|url-status=live \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014013407/http://www.adultempirefilms.com/ \|archivedate=2016-10-14 }}</ref> The label received multiple nominations at both the AVN and XBIZ award ceremonies in 2016.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://blogs.adultempire.com/2015/11/20/adult-empire-ae-films-capture-11-avn-noms/ \|title=Adult Empire, AE Films Capture 11 AVN Noms - Official Blog of Adult Empire \|accessdate=2016-06-23 \|url-status=dead \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829030828/http://blogs.adultempire.com/2015/11/20/adult-empire-ae-films-capture-11-avn-noms/ \|archivedate=2016-08-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web \|url=http://blogs.adultempire.com/2015/11/18/adult-empire-scores-11-xbiz-nominations/ \|title=Adult Empire Scores 11 XBIZ Nominations - Official Blog of Adult Empire \|accessdate=2016-06-23 \|url-status=dead \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829034247/http://blogs.adultempire.com/2015/11/18/adult-empire-scores-11-xbiz-nominations/ \|archivedate=2016-08-29 }}</ref> ~~In September 2014, Adult DVD Empire released the first movie under its new production label, Adult Empire Films. <ref>http://www.adultempirefilms.com/</ref>~~ ===Closing of games division=== In February 2007, DVDEmpire.com announced that it would be closing its video game division. This announcement came in the form of an open letter to the industry, posted on their website, which included such statements as "Video Game Industry Does Not Care" and "80% of Games Suck". The letter cited preferential treatment for larger sellers, lack of price protection, and overall inferior game quality as the main contributors to the division's demise.<ref>{{cite web \|title= Opinion: Why DVD Empire Quit Selling Video Games \|work= Gamasutra.com \|publisher= UMB Tech \|date= 2007-02-01 \|url= http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12616 \|accessdate= 2007-02-12 }}</ref> (Note: The original letter is no longer available on DVDEmpire.com) Two weeks later, on ~~Monday,~~ February 12, 2007, DVDEmpire.com officially closed their games section and, according to another memo posted on their site, donated the remaining games to the Mars Home for Youth.<ref>[~~http~~https://web.archive.org/web/20070927183739/http://www.dvdempire.com/index.asp?tab_id=3 DVDEmpire.com Games Section (Closed)] DVDEmpire.com Retrieved 2007-02-12~~{{Dead link\|date=September 2014}}~~</ref> The company now employs 60 full- and part-time employees, with its websites handling up to 2.5 million unique visitors each month.{{citation needed\|date=August 2014}} Its warehouse ships over 500,000 domestic and international packages each year.{{citation needed\|date=August 2014}} DVDEmpire.com has expanded its adult sites' offerings, now presenting subscription and a la carte DVD Rentals, streaming and downloadable [[Video on Demand]], [[sex toy]]s and the subscription-based streaming program AdultEmpire Unlimited. ==Awards and recognition== AdultDVDEmpire.com has won ''[[AVN (magazine)\|Adult Video News]]’''{{'}} [[AVN Awards\|Best Retail Website Award]] in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 ~~and~~, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020 as well as the XBIZ award for Adult Site of the Year (VOD) in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.<ref>[~~http~~https://web.archive.org/web/20070715074951/http://www.avnawards.com/pastwinners.php AVN Awards Past Winners] avnawards.com Retrieved 2007-07-19</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=http://xbizawards.xbiz.com/winners.php \|title=XBIZ Awards - Winners \|accessdate=2016-04-21 \|url-status=live \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304122507/http://xbizawards.xbiz.com/winners.php \|archivedate=2012-03-04 }}</ref> In addition to these awards, Jeff Rix and John-Michael D'Arcangelo were featured in the July 2007 issue of AVN, in an article entitled "50 Under 40: The Most Influential People In Porn".<ref>Mark Kernes, Jared Rutter, et al. [http://www.avnmedianetwork.com/magazine/avn/ "50 Under 40: The Most Influential People In Porn"] {{webarchive \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509013244/http://www.avnmedianetwork.com/magazine/avn/ \|date=May 9, 2007 }} AVN July 2007: 66-96</ref> DVDEmpire.com was one of only 4four featured online retailers, along with [[Good Vibrations (business)\|Good Vibrations]], [[Sportsheets International, Inc.]], and [[WantedList]]. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links==▼ [http://www.DVDEmpire.com/ DVD Empire]▼ ==Further reading== [http://www.dvdwave-inc.com/vb_dvdwave120699.pdf "Online Retailers See Jolly Holidays in Software Sales"], Video Business Online, 6 December 1999 ([[PDF]] file)▼ [http://web.archive.org/web/20110514183831/http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Press_Releases&Action=View_Press_Release&Content_ID=205778 Adult DVD AVN Press Release], 16 November 2004 ▲[http://www.dvdwave-inc.com/vb_dvdwave120699.pdf "Online Retailers See Jolly Holidays in Software Sales"], Video Business Online, 6 December 1999 ([[PDF]] file) ▲==External links== ▲* [http://www.DVDEmpire.com/ DVD Empire] {{DEFAULTSORT:Dvdempire.Com}} [[Category:Online ~~retail companies~~retailers of the United States]] [[Category:Companies based in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Internet properties established in 1997]] [[Category:American companies established in 1997]] [[Category:1997 establishments in Pennsylvania]]