Competition is healthy at area video rental stores, and students can take advantage of the low prices that come with it, according to a manager at Hollywood Video, 2519 N. High St.Kim Reedy said prices are lower at Hollywood than they’ve been since the store opened in April 1997.”This is good for the customers and good for us,” she said.Customers expect a clean, friendly environment with a large selection and low prices, she said. The competition makes rental stores stick to high standards.All rentals at Hollywood are $1.50. Rentals can be for either one or five days, she said. The $1.50 price for new releases is for a limited time.Meeting the prices of their neighbor across the street is Blockbuster Video, 2550 N. High St. For a limited time, new release movies are $1.49 for two nights and general movies are the same price for five nights.Company policy doesn’t allow managers at Blockbuster to comment about the competition. A spokesperson for the company could not be reached.Reedy said the competition is friendly and the two stores will call each other if one is out of a video a customer needs.North Campus Video, 2465 N. High St., is also in the mix of video stores competing for customers.”We think the competition is healthy, and the other stores haven’t hurt us at all,” said a manager at North Campus.She said prices haven’t changed in 10 years, and the new release and general videos are all either $1.50 or $2.50 for a one-day rental.However, it helps them to compete by offering adult videos for $5, which the larger chains do not have.”Lots of people in here don’t want regular videos, they want porn,” said Steve Medina, employee at North Campus.Couch Potato Video Carryout, 18 E. 13th Ave., doesn’t have to compete with the other stores, manager Sandy Wilson said.”The other stores are too far away,” she said.Yet prices are nearly the same.General movies are $1 for a day, new releases are $2, and adult videos are $3, she said.The basic difference is the sale of beer, cigarettes and snacks that other video stores don’t sell, she said.”That’s why it’s our name,” Wilson said. “We provide everything, so you don’t have to get off the couch.”