NEW YORK – Grocers are boosting their in-store multimedia offer through DVD rental kiosks and online downloads, reports Chain Store Age.

Kroger stores including Ralphs, Food 4 Less and Fry’s now offer in-store DVD rental kiosks through a partnership with TNR Entertainment. The kiosks are in stores in Arizona, California and Nevada, the news source reports.

"The Western United States is a huge market for us, and this phase is only the beginning of a major presence for TNR," Jeff Karbowiak, COO of TNR, told the news source. "Our relationship with Kroger has enabled us to enter these markets quickly with a substantial deployment of kiosks."

SuperValu Inc. also announced its plans to install Redbox DVD rental kiosks through a partnership with Redbox Automated Retail. The DVD kiosks will be available at SuperValu's Acme, Albertsons, Bigg's, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher's, Jewel-Osco, Scott's Food & Pharmacy, Shaw's, Shop 'n Save and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy stores, in addition to stores SuperValu serves through its supply chain services business, the newspaper reports.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is conducting tests on a new online video service that allows users to download movies and television episodes from its Web site to watch on their computers or portable media players. This would be the first major retailer to offer such a service with the backing of Hollywood's big studios, according to the news source.

Initially, the download service has more than 3,000 movie titles and TV shows from Comedy Central, Fox and Nickelodeon, among others. New movie releases will be ready for video download the same day the DVD comes out.