What's with Best Buy and new releases of older 'catalog' films on BD?

[Russell_L]

I know this has been mentioned before, but now it's getting ridiculous. It seems that BB is not getting new BD releases of older 'catalog' films until way after the release date (if ever). I'm still waiting for 'Quo Vadis' and 'The Robe' to show up at ANY of the 3 BBs that I frequent. As for the new releases this week, none of those BBs had 'South Pacific', 'An American in Paris', or 'Gigi'. Of course, they had a gazillion copies of 'Slumdog' and 'Twilight'. To be fair, they did have copies of all the old Bond releases, as well as the new 'Matrix' digibook, but all those are high-profile films. But anything older and non-high-profile? Forget it.

[neo_reloaded]

They stock what they think will sell. It's unfortunate, but it's the nature of retail. Best Buy has all those titles on their website, as it's not hard to keep an appropriate supply of them in central warehouses, but based on whatever profitability algorithm they employ they've deemed it non-economical to stock them in every b&m store.

To avoid future frustration, take a gander at the Best Buy website before you head out. Go to the title you want, and see if there is an option to "Check Store Availability." If it lets you put in a zip code and see the status at actual stores, it is at least a title that they stock in some stores. If the item's page just says "Not Available" and doesn't even let you check a zip code, it's an item they don't stock in ANY stores so it's simply not worth looking for. I do this the Monday night before Tuesday release days, and it has never steered me wrong.

[t0nythebeat]

Never had a problem with catalog titles there. In fact they always have the catalog titles that I want.

[limontwsprite]

I work for the company, and if you want to see whether or not a certain title will most likely be carried in store you can check the SKU number. Go to their website and if the item has an eight digit sku its an online only item (it will start with a 1). If it has seven digits (newer items start with a 9) it should be/may be carried by the store.

However if the item was just listed on the website it may still have an eight digit sku up until a few weeks before release date until it is assigned a new sku.

As for the titles you mentioned like South Pacific and and Quo Vadis, not sure why those are not in stores. But Gigi and An American in Paris have the eight digit skus. I do know that on some certain titles they will only be carried in higher volume stores, like next weeks release of Wedding Singer for example.

And like someone just mentioned, if it has a 7 digit sku, you can always check the in store availability. It will tell you if it is in stock as long as the store has more than 3 copies.

[limontwsprite]

Sometimes the company underestimates the demand for the catalog titles... like Boondock Saints, Dark City, and Friday the 13th, and only ships even high volume stores a few copies. They usually sell out the first day (or first hour), but generally are replenished by the end of the week (unless it was the distributor that underestimated)

You can usually call the store that morning and they will put it on hold for you until the end of the day.

[Another_Dude]

How many copies of Twilight will your local BB sell vs. 'Quo Vadis'?

10:1?
100:1?

[limontwsprite]

Twilight was a bit riduclous. On average they sent high volume stores 300+, and then sent another 100 more a few days later. Now most BBY stores are sitting on hundreds of copies 2 weeks after release. Some smaller stores did sell out though, as they only received 75 or so to begin with, but were quickly replenished.

I don't know of any stores that got Quo Vadis.

[Russell_L]

All right--I checked the BB website for the 5 titles I mentioned in my original post. I found them all on the website, but they were UNAVAILABLE in 6 BB stores in my local area. I know it's a matter of economics, but they should realize that there's a demand--however small--for older, non-high-profile films on BD, too.

[Spencer 1812]

Went to my local BB to get "Jeff Beck - Live at Ronnie Scott's" 3/31/09 Street Date. Same thing.

[Russell_L]

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I checked again just now for the 5 titles I originally mentioned, plus another 'old' title--'Winged Migration'--that was released on April 7th. All are still listed as unavailable. (And needless to say, I haven't seen any of these titles when I visit my local BB stores.) I've since gotten a few of the discs at other stores or via the internet (at even better prices, I might add), but I'm still hoping that these titles will still show up eventually, if only to show would-be Blu customers that there's a greater variety of titles out there than just the latest wiz-bang ones....

(And I'd love BB to stock the latest Criterion titles, too--they did have some of the initial titles, but even that seems to have dried up now. Too esoteric, I guess. )

[howarmat]

this might be a really dumb question, but since they are available from BB.com and Amazon amongst other places, why not order from them?

Also, what about walmart and such, they have a good selection often times.

[Clark Kent]

From my experience with Best Buy, they seem to be stocking more copies of fewer releases than they comparatively do with dvd. Deep catalog titles are not being carried at all in store except for a few token titles.

[Russell_L]

Originally Posted by howarmat

this might be a really dumb question, but since they are available from BB.com and Amazon amongst other places, why not order from them?

Also, what about walmart and such, they have a good selection often times.

Yeah, I know. I've ordered from Amazon a fair amount, but I'm still an old-fashioned type who likes to shop at brick-and-mortar stores and get instant gratification. (And I also like to cherry-pick to find the best-looking copy, especially if it's in a slipcase or in otherwise 'vulnerable' packaging.) I usually reserve Amazon orders for non-essential titles or if the price is just too good to pass up. As for WalMart, there isn't one that's within convenient driving distance for me. (By contrast, there are at least 5 Best Buy stores that I can get to very easily.)