Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[qwertyuio]

I've been keeping pictures of the slow demise of my local BB's. Lots of nice pictures in this thread of the aisles just a few years ago compared to lately. The "New remodeled floor" stores have already eliminated movies completely but kept video games. the older/less busy stores still have their physical media aisles but almost all of them are down to a single aisle at this point.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=337233

[DualEdge]

What I really hate about this is paying for a My Best Buy membership where I could buy a movie on release day and then have up to 60 days to price match any price drops allowing me to purchase with total confidence that I'm likely getting the best deal as long as I stay on top of it. I've defended Best Buy even through some of the most controversial changes, such as killing the Gamer's Club Unlocked program and even moving to their credit card to still get points, but no more. I'm going to finish paying off my card and then I'm done.

[suckless]

Originally Posted by garyd97

This seems like a really bad idea. Their CEO is going to bankrupt them sooner, rather than later.

Well they can try to do a Bob Iger and bring back Hubert that’s if he wants to come back that is

[Nightman04]

I decided to get on Best Buy chat and express my disappointment with this decision. The person on the other end, genuinely, seemed to be on my side, and assured me she would hand my message off to the right people. I suggest you all do the same. Worth a shot.

[emailking]

I usually use Amazon but this still sucks uggh

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Nightman04

I decided to get on Best Buy chat and express my disappointment with this decision. The person on the other end, genuinely, seemed to be on my side, and assured me she would hand my message off to the right people. I suggest you all do the same. Worth a shot.

Chat lol no go for the throat... Real Best Buy contacts

mike.mohan@bestbuy.com; Corie.Barry@bestbuy.com; Whit.Alexander@bestbuy.com; Rob.Bass@Bestbuy.com; Robert.Bass@bestbuy.com; Jason.Bonfig@bestbuy.com; Matt.Furman@bestbuy.com; Matthew.Furman@bestbuy.com

Amanda
Specialist, Executive Resolution
Best Buy Customer Care
Email: Amanda.Shires@bestbuy.com
Hours: Sunday-Tuesday, 8am-4:30pm CT, Wednesday 1130-8pm CT, Saturday 1030-7pm CT
Best Buy Co., Inc.
7601 Penn Avenue South, Richfield, MN 55423, USA | BestBuy.com

Katie Shriver
Specialist, Executive Resolution
Best Buy Customer Care
Phone: 612-292-0134 | Email: Katie.Shriver@bestbuy.com

Best Buy Co., Inc.
7601 Penn Avenue South, Richfield, MN 55423, USA | BestBuy.com

[Nightman04]

Originally Posted by 1924

This is actually surprising. While the Best Buy near me shrank their physical media section they expanded it a bit recently and even started selling discs from boutique labels like Arrow and Shout Factory

Originally Posted by R3P0

Chat lol no go for the throat... Real Best Buy contacts

mike.mohan@bestbuy.com; Corie.Barry@bestbuy.com; Whit.Alexander@bestbuy.com; Rob.Bass@Bestbuy.com; Robert.Bass@bestbuy.com; Jason.Bonfig@bestbuy.com; Matt.Furman@bestbuy.com; Matthew.Furman@bestbuy.com

Amanda
Specialist, Executive Resolution
Best Buy Customer Care
Email: Amanda.Shires@bestbuy.com
Hours: Sunday-Tuesday, 8am-4:30pm CT, Wednesday 1130-8pm CT, Saturday 1030-7pm CT
Best Buy Co., Inc.
7601 Penn Avenue South, Richfield, MN 55423, USA | BestBuy.com

Katie Shriver
Specialist, Executive Resolution
Best Buy Customer Care
Phone: 612-292-0134 | Email: Katie.Shriver@bestbuy.com

Best Buy Co., Inc.
7601 Penn Avenue South, Richfield, MN 55423, USA | BestBuy.com

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I will definitely be emailing them.

[turb0time]

Pandering to Wall Street. Which, ultimately will also be a self fulfilling prophecy as it will position themselves for extinction. Literal destruction of retail companies by hedge funds. Would not be surprised if the CEO has ties... RIP Best Buy

[Bobafett345]

Originally Posted by erixon20

Guys, guys, guys...at least we still have Circuit City...Oh Wait.....

Too soon.

Originally Posted by El Rey

lol at everyone saying this will be the death of Best Buy
if they ever do fold, its not going to be due to longer carrying physical media - hilarious

I'm sure kodak and blockbuster said the same thing when the digital visigoths came over the proverbial seventh hill and they simply scoffed and pretended nothing was happening.

Originally Posted by Chedwiggen

How can physical media sell this bad compared to everything else? Stores can't have one or two aisles of movies but can have seven clogged aisles of toys??

They aren’t, but we are meant to think they are. Bad executive decisions ride single file, to hide their numbers.

It's just a push to make everything digital. If physical media were truly dead, places like barnes and noble would have been gone years ago.

[erixon20]

[QUOTE=Bobafett345;21542399]Too soon.


LOL- I almost wrote that at the end........lol

[El Rey]

Originally Posted by Bobafett345

I'm sure kodak and blockbuster said the same thing when the digital visigoths came over the proverbial seventh hill and they simply scoffed and pretended nothing was happening.


It's just a push to make everything digital. If physical media were truly dead, places like barnes and noble would have been gone years ago.

not a good analogy, Blockbuster was a movie, video game rental store - that was their sole function.
Kodak made (still make) film and cameras. In the case of Kodak they adapted with the digital era, went bankrupt, emerged from bankruptcy and refocused their business model.
Best Buy is a major retailer, the primary focus is the big ticket items - electronics and major appliances. Any items beyond those - movies, video games, phone cases, etc. are considered impulse buys and are not a major focus of their business model.
It's silly that this has to be explained. They are just following the trends and they aren't the only ones. While it appears Target is still going to sell movies online, the stores around me have either no space dedicated to movies or very little space.
All of this hysteria is silly as other stores retailers still exist

Barnes is still around because people still prefer actual physical books, e-readers, e-books never caught on long term, were a flash in the pan.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Saraph

I know people who have good experiences there are going to miss them. I'm not that person.

I hate BB with every fiber of my collector being and I hope they fold with this being the first step. I miss the days when returning or even getting an exchange wasn't a hassle or an epic saga of terrible choices. I miss GCU, My Best Buy perks for spending a certain amount every year, and people who actually cared to help you.

These days BB is short staffed by design, their CS is offshore and (by a BB employees own admission) isn't even technically connected to BB, they're just contracted out to take the calls and don't even utilize the same system.

I do hope this isn't a big blow to physical media in the states as some are suggesting but we as consumers deserve better than BB has been offering for years now.

100%. Best Buy has been dirt for a long time. They treat customers like crap. Returns are a miserable experience. They use "The Retail Equation" 3rd party return tracking system and ban you from returns even if they are legitimate returns for defective/malfunctioning items. They dropped their rewards program. They have one of the worst/shortest return policies in the business. They stopped caring long ago.

[MileHigh AI]

Originally Posted by El Rey

lol at everyone saying this will be the death of Best Buy
if they ever do fold, its not going to be due to longer carrying physical media - hilarious

physical media is increasingly niche - steelbooks a niche of that niche. some of you fail to realize that there is an existence of people beyond these boards. if John Smith is going to opt for a movie purchase, he is more likely to choose the convenience of buying a digital copy rather than physical.

[Show spoiler]To touch on that last comment, is John Smith choosing that digital copy because he wants to or he thinks he has to? There's been a decades long campaign to program the consumer to do just that. You mentioned some of us fail to realize there is an existence of people beyond these boards. You're also failing to give your regular consumer credit. A lot more than just "those on these boards" are still wanting the physical media available.
Sure the argument to that is "well where were these people at?".....They've been there but when you have stores and studios actively trying to lower physical media sales, eventually you say "physical media is dying" enough and shocker it starts to come true. You talk about things being hilarious. It's hilarious that stores will remove dedicated workers to stock media and then complain that "it's just sitting in the warehouse collecting dust, see physical media is dying". It's hilarious 10 new movies/TV shows will release, a store won't carry 8 of them but complain "see even new release Tuesday is slow now, physical media is dying". It's hilarious that stores will continue to raise the prices of physical media and then complain "see it's not really moving off the shelf, physical media is dying".
We need to make room for other stuff, shrink the media department......see physical media sales went down even more after we did that, we were right! Physical media is dying!

Yeah digital streaming has played it's part (which is hilarious within itself) but stores are just as much to blame.


Physical media gives us a reason to go into Best Buy weekly. It used to give us a reason to go in 2-3 times a week (CDs were a big part of that). Many people weren't just going in for physical media though. Since we're already at Best Buy, we'll take a look around the rest of the store. Maybe something else will catch our eye, maybe a larger purchase we had been contemplating gets one step closer since now we can talk to an associate about that home theater display or new laptop or the washer/dryer we'd been looking to replace. Physical media may have never been a cash cow for these stores but it drove people into the store like clockwork. Of course that's not the only problem facing Best Buy, piss poor customer service and an idiotic overhaul of their Rewards program are aiding in their downfall. The purging of physical media though isnt helping. Seeing as I'm still in the stores multiple times a week for my side gig of merchandising, I also get to see or I should say not see all the "regulars". Some of these people I haven't seen since 2015.

Occassionally I'll run into them at stores I'm merching for or my business and the conversation has literally been "hey its been awhile" "yeah I haven't stepped foot in a Best Buy in several years. You see what they did to the media department?" "Yeah it sucks" "Guess they care more about the once every few years high dollar sales, but they won't get it from me" "Damn, but I don't blame you".

I've heard similar or been involved in countless conversations with customers over the last ten years about it. Even when the topic isnt about physical media, it will be brought up by customers in their list of why they no longer go to Best Buy or why they plan to stop coming to Best Buy. Speaking to several other merchandisers I used to work with across the country, they have similar stories as well.

As I've said before on the forums in regards to my business I run, we have 7 laptops with headsets and other accessories,, 2 Desktop computers , 14 TVs, 20 security cameras, office printer, and a list of other bits and pieces to go along with all of them to make them function the way I need. Many such things needing to be replaced yearly from extended use daily 365 days a year or just accidents. Now I'm just one business and I'll make Best Buy my one stop shop for my personal and business needs. They do away with all physical media, I have no problem admitting I'm petty enough to make sure all my purchases go through every single other business and I close my line of credit with them when that day comes. Again I'm just one business and one person but my feelings on the matter are shared by a lot more people than you think.

[meremortal]

Losing Best Buy both in-store and online is a huge deal. I'd imagine Wal Mart is taking notice as well. It really caught me off guard even when the warehouse stores like Costco stopped selling physical media several years back. In-store quantity has greatly been dwindling down over the last decade to the point where it's generally not even worth going aside from new releases. But losing a major retailer is huge. I can't imagine the major studios are jumping with joy and we need them. Even one major studio backing out could be a domino effect where they all bow out. I don't think the industry could survive just from Amazon and studios selling direct. We need those optics.

I realize the writing has been on the wall for a while. There are just too many options now and the average perception for a while has been that physical media is dated and a waste of space and money. The most common reaction I get when I mention any physical media other than vinyl is probably laughter. It seems like everyone's moved on and would rather just stream. Plenty of people also never grew up collecting physical media. And in reality I don't blame them. One can still have access to tons of movies and tv shows for the entire family for under $20 per month.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by GenPion

Best Buy making this move is a bad business decision. I suspect it will eventually lead to them going out of business.

On a related note, I don't even understand why someone would want to purchase a high end television if one isn't going to use it to watch Blu-ray/4K discs predominately. With streaming services, the quality is so-so comparatively so it makes me wonder why a person who doesn't collect physical media would even bother. Won't this hurt TV sales at Best Buy too?

Streaming in 4k can look pretty decent on a 55" TV if it's a good stream. Not nearly as good as physical media but a good 4k stream will please the vast majority of casual viewers. Heck even 1080p streams please most casual viewers.

[El Rey]

Originally Posted by MileHigh AI

A lot more than just "those on these boards" are still wanting the physical media available.

data shows otherwise

https://www.degonline.org/portfolio_...inment-report/

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by El Rey

data shows otherwise

https://www.degonline.org/portfolio_...inment-report/

So you think every person that buys physical media is on these boards? Lol, not even close to being correct.

[Comicfan]

Originally Posted by Nightman04

I decided to get on Best Buy chat and express my disappointment with this decision. The person on the other end, genuinely, seemed to be on my side, and assured me she would hand my message off to the right people. I suggest you all do the same. Worth a shot.

For what it's worth,I may get on Best Buy chat and fire some emails off to the addresses R3P0 posted tomorrow. . Probably won't do anything but it can't hurt and will personally make me feel better.

If this all pans out,I wonder what Best Buy's last steelbook will be. We got a few annunced for December but will any come out before Q1 ends in March before some of the holiday movies hitting theaters next month and December? Such as the Marvels or Wonka?

Another example, it would be nice and sort of fitting if the final Best Buy steelbook was for the final DCEU film, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom even if Walmart also does a steelbook too like Blue Beetle which is getting one at both retailers(although it's a Blue Ray + DVD combo steelbook vs Best Buy's 4k + Blu Ray one).

ETA

Just realized that since Dune Part II was delayed until next year due to the SAG strike,again,if this info is accurate, we won't get a U.S. companion to the great Dune 1 steelbook unless it's a general release or exclusive to Amazon, Walmart or unlikely Target.

[C.C. 95]

Originally Posted by drb999

If true that sucks ass. Physical media is dying.

Lol.
More dvd, blu ray, and UHD discs coming out this year than any year in history.

Best Buy has been inconsequential in physical media for the last 10 years.

This means nothing.

[MileHigh AI]

Originally Posted by mar3o

So you think every person that buys physical media is on these boards? Lol, not even close to being correct.

considering El Rey ignored everything else that was said, yes El Rey probably does believe that. El Rey is exactly the type of person who the studios and companies love. El Rey won't actually question things and accepts what the corporate overlords say to like a good little lemming. If El Rey was anything more than that, El Rey wouldn't have cherrypicked the response to fit their narrative (which wasn't even a good response because as you pointed out it leads directly to the assumption that every person that buys physical media is on these boards, otherwise El Rey would have explained themselves better in their response if they didn't want that to be the takeaway.)