DVDEmpire.com is a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

retail sales website. It is a privately owned company based near

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. 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'' and ''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 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. 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 Studios. The website was first operated near

Mars, Pennsylvania Mars is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in southern Butler County, Pennsylvania, Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,458 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh ...

in early 1998. After outgrowing that location, operations were moved to its current facility in

Warrendale, Pennsylvania Warrendale is a northern suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the northwestern corner of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the home to the corporate headquarters of rue21, Joy Mining Machinery, ...

in August 2000.

Competition

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 A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time-frame for the achievement of the goals. It also describes the nature of the business, background information on t ...

of customer service and order fulfillment, DVDEmpire.com weathered the price wars and the 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. In October 2015, Adult Empire announced a new partnership with TLA Entertainment.

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 ''Camp Cuddly Pines Powertool Massacre'' is a 2005 pornographic slasher comedy film released by Wicked Pictures. The film, originally released on September 14, 2005, is the first adult film to be released on the HD DVD format.''Adult Video News'': ...

'' on HD DVD. In March 2007, Adult DVD Empire became the first adult retailer to offer

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

titles, 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

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to offer complete hard-core scenes and launched a fully responsive website in August 2015. In September 2014, Adult DVD Empire released the first movie under its new production label, Adult Empire Films (later restyled as AE Films). The label received multiple nominations at both the AVN and XBIZ award ceremonies in 2016.

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. (Note: The original letter is no longer available on DVDEmpire.com) Two weeks later on 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. The company now employs 60 full- and part-time employees, with its websites handling up to 2.5 million unique visitors each month. Its warehouse ships over 500,000 domestic and international packages each year. DVDEmpire.com has expanded its adult sites' offerings, now presenting subscription and a la carte DVD Rentals, streaming and downloadable

Video on Demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

sex toy A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibrating ...

s and the subscription-based streaming program AdultEmpire Unlimited.

Awards and recognition

AdultDVDEmpire.com has won ''

Adult Video News ''Adult Video News'' (also called ''AVN'' or ''AVN Magazine'') is an American trade magazine that covers the adult video industry. ''The New York Times'' notes that ''AVN'' is to pornographic films what '' Billboard'' is to records. ''AVN'' spon ...

'' Best Retail Website Award in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 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. 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".Mark Kernes, Jared Rutter, et al
"50 Under 40: The Most Influential People In Porn"
AVN July 2007: 66-96 DVDEmpire.com was one of only four featured online retailers, along with

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966 and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record c ...

, Sportsheets International, Inc., and WantedList.

References

External links

DVD Empire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvdempire.Com Online retailers of the United States Companies based in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Internet properties established in 1997 American companies established in 1997 1997 establishments in Pennsylvania