Mogambo and 3 Godfathers at Target this week? (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

I found "3 Godfathers" at another Target further away so I'm a happy camper.

 

[Eric Peterson]

It seems like they under ordered this special item.

My Target had both titles, but I picked up the last "Mogambo" and that left them with one "Three Godfathers"

My previous experiences with Target are that they don't order large quantities of title, but when this is an exclusive title, you can't afford to understock.

I'm constantly amazed at how B&Ms constantly underestimate the demand for classic titles. I can't tell you how many stories I have about going in on release day and they say "They're all gone!"

 

[Michael Elliott]

I take it the original version of Mogambo isn't included as an extra?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Why would you think that it would be?






Crawdaddy

 

[Michael Elliott]

1. No word on extras.
2. Warner has included original versions as extras before.
3. Just hoping.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Exactly.

How dumb can a company be that it arranges exclussive rights to distribute a product...promotes that fact...and then underestimates demand leaving helpless consumers wanting and without anywhere else to go to get said product?

Target has been making some real bonehead decisions the last couple of months.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Warner already mentioned on the last chat that boxsets of Wayne/Ford and Gable will most likely be released in 2006. When that happens, I expect some extras not currently included on these two relatively inexpensive releases. I will definitely purchase those boxsets and will give these two dvds away to my brothers who could careless about bonus material.

My main goal was to get "3 Godfathers" so I can watch it either late Christmas Eve or early Christmas morning like I've traditionly done since growing up in the NYC Metro area during the early 1960s.





Crawdaddy

 

[Terry H]

Typical of Target. I drove 20 miles and they were out of everything I wanted. There was only room on the shelf for a half-dozen of each Ford title and they were sold out. Morons. Warner is crazy to give an exclusive to a pissant store like Target.

 

[Robert Crawford]

IMO, Target is the best of the major store retailers. Like all businesses, they're far from perfect, but overall I think they're fine.

 

[Jon Martin]

The problem with Target is that they aren't a DVD store. They sell DVDs, just like they sell toothpaste. But they don't know the specifics of the industry just like they don't know the differences in the type of Aim or Colgate. To complain about the way they carry DVDs is like a dentist complaining about the dental care aisle.

When I go to the DVD section, they quite often have DVDs on the shelves early, don't have many of the new titles, have empty spots on shelves, etc.

I was surprised to learn of these two exclusive titles, as most Target customers have probably never even heard of them. There may be a big demand from DVD collectors, but for average Target customers, I don't think they will be that big a draw.

 

[Terry H]

Which is why it is stupid for Warner to give them an exclusive. They don't know what the hell they're doing. I also wanted to buy ER season 4 from them today. They advertised the best price in town ($30) plus an exclusive bonus disc. There was space on the shelf for two, possibly three sets. They were sold out. I'm left wondering why they bothered with the advertising and bonus disc promo. I gave up on Target, price matched elsewhere and blew off the bonus disc. Bottom line, they are so inept that they were sold out two hours into a week long sale. Sorry, but that is just pitiful. Maybe they should stick to toothpaste.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Terry: You took the words...



....right out of my mouth.

Why would a store contract for exclusive rights to ANY product...even if its not one they are specifically known to for? Only one reason: to get customers in their store to see what other products they might have and hopefully convince them that they should shop there. But by not having the advertised items in stock...because of mis-management (not ordering enough because of under-estimated demand) you are succeeding in only one thing: to piss off the very people that you spent money especially to attract into your store.

Like Robert says, Target does a lot of things right. I'd much rather shop in a Target than a Wal-Mart, for example...if only because you can be reasonably assured that the Target stores are going to be well-organized, neat, and clean...unlike most any Wal-Mart store that has been open more than 18-hours.

And, to be fair, Target has had an exemplary record for the past couple of years in supplying excellent prices on DVD--especially TV box sets. There have been VERY FEW complaints in the Weekly RoundUp about Target policies, prices, or stocking issues.

And there is the twist to the story. Over the past two months or so, Target has been short on stock (See King Kong SEs & CEs, Polar Express, War of the Worlds (2005) SE, and now these two exclusive titles & Terry's example of ER: Season 4) AND mis-advertising items (like the non-existent Happy Elf Bonus Disc). If I didn't know better it seems as if someone flipped a switch and Target's attention to its DVD business has undergone some kind of change.

On a week when they are advertising a rather important bonus disc to a major TV box set AND two EXCLUSIVE film titles, you would think Target is attempting to focus attention on its DVD sales. But its actions seem to indicate otherwise.

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

Got Godfathers, but it was just on the shelf, didnt have shelf tag. Could not find Mogambo and did not see a space for it and all the employees could suggest is to call back tomorrow when a new shipment comes in. Guess I'll just stick to Godfathers and hope that Mogambo might appear in a Ford boxset hopefully.

 

[dave bula]

I was at the local Target store this morning, and right when the guy was stocking the shelves. He had exactly ONE copy each of 3 Godfathers and Mogambo. That's it!! What's the point of paying the fee for an exclusive, if they're not even going to adequately stock their stores? Poor business practice indeed.

I can't even begin to imagine why an earlier poster in this thread feels that Target is the best of the major retailer stores. I've had nothing but trouble with them for a couple of years now. They never seem to have anything available in widescreen if there's also a fool screen version available. They frequently don't have the things they advertise. (Six failures out of eight attempts - I kept track.) Target did NOT pass on the lower prices on any of the many WB items that have had price reductions in the last few weeks, the way that Costco, Shopko, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and others have done. Etc, Etc. I could go on, but what's the point? IMO, Target is the very WORST of the major retailer stores, at least for DVDs.

Oddly enough, the back of the 3 Godfathers DVD shows some sepia and some B&W shots, and at the bottom, it clearly states B&W/106 Mins. Some of the smaller photos used on the front cover are also in B&W. However, the front cover, which appears to be using some 1948 artwork, also proclaims Color by Technicolor. Never fear, the film on the DVD is indeed in color, despite what it says on the back and the inexplicable use of sepia and B&W photos in the packaging.

 

[Robert Crawford]

We are all welcome to expressed our different opinions based on our varying experiences with any retailer.






Crawdaddy

 

[Jeff Krispow]

MOGAMBO / 3 GODFATHERS Availability in the San Fernando Valley / Los Angeles / Area


I went out trying to find these discs today, and experienced the same problem as the rest of you. I went to three Target's today, and all of them had at least two empty spots for the discs -- one in their main "New Releases" section, and another for their "New Release" endcaps -- complete with large sales tags for the discs, but no actual stock (well, with one exception for me ).

I finally found copies of MOGAMBO in the second Target I went to, but no copies of 3 GODFATHERS. Thankfully, in the third Target, I spoke with a very helpful clerk who went waaaay out of his way to help me check the stock of these discs at all the Target stores in my area. Lots of people had been asking about these discs today...

So, for those of you in the San Fernando Valley / Los Angeles area, here is the current availabilty of these two discs as of the afternoon of Tuesday, December 20:

3 GODFATHERS
Pasadena Target
777 E Colorado Blvd , Pasadena, CA 91101-2104 US
12 copies in stock

MOGAMBO
Granada Hills Target
17055 San Fernando Mission Blvd , Granada Hills, CA 91344-4156 US
(Corner of Balboa and San Fernando Mission, just off the 118 Freeway)
~10 copies in stock (from what I counted personally)


As you can see from my listing above, only a couple of Target stores in the San Fernanado / Los Angeles area received a large stock of discs, and still has them in stock. Pretty pathetic, eh? And this is Los Angeles we're talking about, of all places -- likely the largest group of DVD owners who'd want these discs in their collection!!! I agree that Target is a bit of a strange choice for "Exclusives" such as these -- I would think that Best Buy or (*shudder*) Wal-Mart would have been better choices -- but such is life. Thankfully, I have lots Targets in my area -- I have, what 5 or 6 Targets with about a 5-mile radius of me (heck, I've got 1 Target 3 blocks way from me, and another about a mile North on the same street!)

None of the other Targets in the San Fernando Valley area (and a few Targets listed in Los Angeles) had ANY in stock -- a few random stores listed a few copies in stock (~3), but a quick call to these stores by the my Target clerk showed that they were apparently already sold out. The majority of the stores in my area did NOT yet receive their stock.

Just as an FYI, ANYONE at Target with a register can check on the availability of an item at ALL Target stores in your area -- they just don't advertise this fact, and many of the check-out people are simply too lazy to do this (or too stupid to even know they can).

All they need to do is to scan or type the item code into their register, press a button, and it brings up a full listing showing the available stocks at ALL Target stores in the area -- listed by distance from the store you are in.

If a store doesn't have the item in stock, it doesn't show up on the list -- generally. In some instances, the register will bring up several stores all showing a stock of "1" -- in most cases, especially for newly-released items, this apparently is a "placeholder" in the system meaning that the item isn't in stock, but WILL be shortly. Great way of doing it, eh? Just to be sure, the clerk also called several of these stores to check on their stock, and confirmed that they had not yet received any discs.

The good new is that after my overly-helpful clerk made all these calls to check on the stock at the various other Targets, he kept saying after each call that quite a few people had been asking about the discs. After doing some checking into the stocking issue, he said that the shipping of the discs was apparently late (not Target's fault), and that most of the discs are currently (and unfortunately) held up in receiving. Most of the Target stores WILL have the discs available -- if the discs weren't on their shelves today, most locations should have them available within the next couple of days.

Additionally, this is not a limited time offer -- Target will be keeping the discs in stock, and will be restocking them whenever they sell out. Also, I was told that the $9.99 "sale" price is their permanent pricing for these discs, so you don't have to worry about the price going up if you can't find the discs this week.

Thankfully, I was able to get a copy of MOGAMBO today at the Granada Hills Target right up the street from my home; I really REALLY wanted 3 GODFATHERS, but I wasn't willing to drive all the way to Pasadena for the privilege.

In any event, I hope this list and all the information proves helpful for you folks in my area . But remember, even though only a couple of Target stores had the disc(s) in stock today, most of the Target locations WILL get their stock within the next couple of days. So if you can be patient for a couple more days, you should be able to easily obtain the discs.

Happy Hunting to Everyone!

 

[Richard M S]

Due to the transit strike I am unable to make it to my Brooklyn Target store, so tell me, how does 3 Godfathers look on screen, was there any color restoration?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Jeff,
Thanks for the above information which should be very helpful to those that really want to buy these dvds.






Crawdaddy

 

[Bradley-E]

I tried bying them online at Target.com but they would not let me. So I guess it is 'in store' only. Drats! I was hoping to avoid actually going to the store.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Turner Classic Movies airs the remaster and it looks stunning. Pretty much all of Warner's Technicolor DVD's look great.