Wal*mart Dropping/Shrinking UHD Support?

[Gold Ranger]

My local Wal*Mart got rid of pretty much all the UHDs.

They have only the endcap side left.
They got rid of the ones on the shelves and the entire side on the Tri-Display.
Even new releases are no longer available.
I went to go an get Bram's Dracula and that and the other new releases are gone from the End Cap side.
WTF?
Anyone else have their Wal*Marts do this?

[Kschreck]

I'm surprised they carried UHD in the first place... they barely support Blu-Rays at most Wal-Marts where I live.

[Gold Ranger]

Oh, and that old UHD section is now nothing but DVDs!

[Dirk504]

The Wal-mart closest to my house has a good number of UHD movies, but the one by my son's school never carried them. They only have DVDs and Blu Rays.

[AKORIS]

now there's no reason to ever step foot in Wal Mart!

[Gold Ranger]

If this wasn't bad enough...
They don't seem to get in many BDs anymore either.
The following new release Shows are DVD on in my store:
Lethal Weapon
Flash
Supergirl
Arrow
Daredevil
Ash vs Evil Dead
Star Wars Rebels
Legends of Tomorrow

A lot of movie are DVD only now too...

Add to this that they got rid of the BD Dump Bin...
My Wal*Mart used to be great, ever since the reset a few months ago, the Media Section took a huge hit!

[bruceames]

Speaking of which, I just noticed my Best Buy drastically reduced shelf space for all discs and relegated them to the far right corner (they used to be in the center aisles). Basically only two racks now, although the UHD section (which is about 4 feet wide and taking up maybe 10 percent of rack space) is about the same. Looks like they are focusing more on kitchen appliances and washer/dryers now.

They do have several end caps and of course one of them is by the entrance with the latest releases.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by bruceames

Speaking of which, I just noticed my Best Buy drastically reduced shelf space for all discs and relegated them to the far right corner (they used to be in the center aisles). Basically only two racks now, although the UHD section (which is about 4 feet wide and taking up maybe 10 percent of rack space) is about the same. Looks like they are focusing more on kitchen appliances and washer/dryers now.

They do have several end caps and of course one of them is by the entrance with the latest releases.

Most Best Buys toss the movies and music to the Right Hand corner every year around this time to make way for Black Friday Merch.

[Vilya]

I live in Bilgewater, Illinois on the back side of nowhere and my local Super Wally World carries about 18 UHD titles. Nothing has changed here; it rarely does.

[flyry]

Originally Posted by bruceames

Speaking of which, I just noticed my Best Buy drastically reduced shelf space for all discs and relegated them to the far right corner (they used to be in the center aisles). Basically only two racks now, although the UHD section (which is about 4 feet wide and taking up maybe 10 percent of rack space) is about the same. Looks like they are focusing more on kitchen appliances and washer/dryers now.

They do have several end caps and of course one of them is by the entrance with the latest releases.

Someone I follow on instagram said the same thing. Blu-rays are all the way in the back now.

In the words of Shang Tsung, it has begun!

We'll probably be regulated to Amazon only in the future.

[StingingVelvet]

There's really no reason for stores like Walmart, Target and even Best Buy to carry large amounts of catalog movie stock. It's so 2004 it hurts, it makes no real market sense. The vast majority of catalog sales will be online or at specialty shops. Best Buy still heavily carries and markets new releases. This has little to do with discs and everything to do with online stores taking over the market for most items. Look at statistics on how many American malls have closed the last decade, it's insane.

On top of that we gotta accept we're becoming more and more a niche market guys. Can't have these sky is falling posts every time it becomes a little more obvious that disc collectors are a small percentage compared to mainstream watchers. Niche does not equal dead, as I often tell another poster on here.

[Gold Ranger]

I don't have internet at home, so I cant shop online.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by flyry

Someone I follow on instagram said the same thing. Blu-rays are all the way in the back now.

In the words of Shang Tsung, it has begun!

We'll probably be regulated to Amazon only in the future.

See my post above yours...

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

I don't have internet at home, so I cant shop online.

Talk about a niche market.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

There's really no reason for stores like Walmart, Target and even Best Buy to carry large amounts of catalog movie stock. It's so 2004 it hurts, it makes no real market sense. The vast majority of catalog sales will be online or at specialty shops. Best Buy still heavily carries and markets new releases. This has little to do with discs and everything to do with online stores taking over the market for most items. Look at statistics on how many American malls have closed the last decade, it's insane.

On top of that we gotta accept we're becoming more and more a niche market guys. Can't have these sky is falling posts every time it becomes a little more obvious that disc collectors are a small percentage compared to mainstream watchers. Niche does not equal dead, as I often tell another poster on here.

No, what I dont get is why shrink a new format, one that is doing better than BD did in the same time frame, and push more DVDs

[thecalm_7]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

No, what I dont get is why shrink a new format, one that is doing better than BD did in the same time frame, and push more DVDs

Come on now, Wal-Mart, home of clearance prices that are more expensive than the original MSRP? (My local WM marked up G.I.Joes to over 20$ a piece on clearance even though they were 9-10$ to begin with. Couldn't even talk the manager into matching online prices)

In al seriousness, WM goes through these phases, maybe trying to push out DVD inventory before Black Friday/Holidays. Lots of cheap stuff adds up quicker than a few more pricey purchases with similar price scaling. Or maybe your location just couldn't push the UHD? I have 5 WM within 25 minutes of me. ALL are vastly different. My closest only has the new release end cap and a 6' section of movies, mainly childrens films/shows with a few recent hits. The other 4 are have all different displays, but not much of anything that gets posted here. WM is a strange creature.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

Most Best Buys toss the movies and music to the Right Hand corner every year around this time to make way for Black Friday Merch.

I haven't noticed it before. And discs have always been a hot item during BF sales. Costco always expanded their selection for BF/Xmas. I think it's more likely a permanent change (guess I'll find out next year), especially considering they shrunk shelf space down by 2/3 at least.

[Vangeli]

Seems like they're moving a majority of the sales online then.

And that makes sense; physical stores tend to have lower priced UHDs compared to online, that sort of sanctum will surely be eliminated. And of course they're making room for the holiday rush.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

No, what I dont get is why shrink a new format, one that is doing better than BD did in the same time frame, and push more DVDs

You don't need more than half an endcap for the new releases, which is all it makes sense for them to sell. That's all my local one has had from the start, actually.

[newtonp01]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

No, what I dont get is why shrink a new format, one that is doing better than BD did in the same time frame, and push more DVDs

If the DVD's are selling and the UHD's are not, it's a good business decision, right?

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

There's really no reason for stores like Walmart, Target and even Best Buy to carry large amounts of catalog movie stock. It's so 2004 it hurts, it makes no real market sense. The vast majority of catalog sales will be online or at specialty shops. Best Buy still heavily carries and markets new releases. This has little to do with discs and everything to do with online stores taking over the market for most items. Look at statistics on how many American malls have closed the last decade, it's insane.

On top of that we gotta accept we're becoming more and more a niche market guys. Can't have these sky is falling posts every time it becomes a little more obvious that disc collectors are a small percentage compared to mainstream watchers. Niche does not equal dead, as I often tell another poster on here.

I don't disagree that big box stores don't need a huge selection of catalog. My main problem is that smaller stores are starting to do the same. Newbury Comics a fairly small chain of stores around MA mostly) once had shelves upon shelves of blu-rays, and the section literally shrinks every time I walk in one. The only physical stores near me that I can get catalog titles from now are B&N and Bullmoose: B&N is super expensive without coupons and Bullmoose is nearly an hour away. Big box stores can discontinue all the UHD's they want, but all I'm asking for is a smaller store around me where I can pick up catalog titles for reasonable prices, which doesn't seem to be the case.