You're driving west on State Route 3, and all you can think of as traffic backs up--again--is getting home so you can unwind and watch a movie.
Richard Nehrboss understands what you're feeling. And he's hoping to capitalize on it.
The Lake Anna resident is building DVDs on the Run, a drive-through version of the Blockbusters of the world, on the right-hand side of Route 3 past Spotsylvania Mall.
When the small, white building next to the Wawa on Chewning Lane opens this month, customers will be able to pull up, make their selection from one of four touch screens, swipe their credit card and drive off with the DVDs of their choice.
"We picked the site because people are pressed for time," Nehrboss said. "You're on your way home. You don't want to make a left turn to get to us and then make another left turn to get back on the road."
Drivers heading out of Fredericksburg on busy Route 3 already pass by a Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery on the right side of the road before they reach DVDs on the Run. What makes Nehrboss' business different, he said, is that it will offer more services with less effort for a cheaper price.
The touch screens, for example, will let users search for a DVD, then hit links to other movies by the same director or that feature one of its actors. And, much like Amazon.com, it will recommend other movies that other viewers who rented that particular DVD also have taken home.
In addition, customers will be able to go to dvdsontherun.com to see movie trailers and place orders in advance. Nehrboss initially wanted to make the trailers available by touch-screen, but decided that might slow down users who pull into one of the store's four drive-through bays.
Nehrboss and his wife, Ruth Nehrboss, got the idea for DVDs on the Run while vacationing in the Pacific Northwest. They stopped at a number of the area's tiny gourmet coffee shops that sell from drive-through windows, and were intrigued by the concept.
They also wondered if there wasn't a way to automate the process to boost the profit margin, but decided it would be too complicated. They'd have to find a way to store milk for lattes, for instance, and be prepared for health department inspections.
Still, the Nehrbosses found the idea of mechanizing an established industry intriguing. Movie rentals, they decided, might be a perfect fit. They got backing from investors and built a mock-up in a Stafford County warehouse.
It featured a mechanical arm that Richard Nehrboss, who has an engineering background, designed to do all the grunt work. Tiny radio-frequency identification chips helped it locate, deliver and later restock DVDs stored in the drive-through's attic. The only heavy-lifting for the manager would be to stock the unit when new movies come out on DVD.
Nehrboss even found a software program the manager could use on a PC to check inventory and handle problems without having to go to the drive-through. He or she would even be able to issue gift certificates remotely, he said.
Nehrboss hasn't finalized prices for DVD rentals but estimated that they'll be about $3.29 for one day, $3.59 for three days and $3.99 for five days. Monthly rentals also will be available.
Blockbuster, by comparison, currently rents newly released movies for $4.65 for two days, but gives customers up to seven days after that to return them. Movies that have been out for a while rent for $4.10 a week.
Nehrboss said he hopes to use sales figures from the Route 3 location to either franchise the concept or market it to a company like Movie Gallery.
"We should have a roughly 10- to 12-year window of opportunity," he said, before people use broadband capability to order videos on demand from their TV sets.
"At that point, we could become a real estate company," Nehrboss said. "We'll be in areas where land appreciates."
To reach CATHY JETT: 540/374-5407 cjett@freelancestar.com