Walmart will kill HD-DVD?

Ric Easton · 12-12-2007, 09:58 PM

In a recent thread someone reported what he thought there were gonna be some great prices on HD-DVDs of all the Harry Potter movies... It was probably a mistake but he thought the movies were gonna be going for 14.99 each. I figured what the Hell, I'll take a look.

I looked. And looked some more. Finally I asked a couple of clerks that were standing around if they sold HD-DVDs and where were they. One of them pointed to a locked case at an endcap that stood about 3 feet tall. They were all Blu-rays. I pointed this out and they looked stumped. I told them that Blu-rays were blue on the top and HD-DVDs were red. Another clerk said they didn't have any.

Then a manager type said that they did have some and to follow him. As I followed, I asked about the Harry Potter movies and he said that it was only released in Blu-ray. I said "Really? I just bought an HD-DVD of Order of the Phoenix at Circuit City yesterday" He looked a little miffed that I corrected him and then he said, "Well, we didn't get any."

He then took me around the far side of a counter where most of their photo finishing stuff was. It looked like they were doing remodeling around it and I never would have gone over there. He pointed to a dark locked case under the counter. Sure enough, there were some HD-DVDs in there. They were all stacked on their sides and were kind of hard to see. I asked, how do I browse thru them? How much are they? The manager said if I pointed to what I wanted to see, he would remove it, scan it and then tell me the price.

I said, "Um, ok... goodbye"

Patrick Sun · 12-12-2007, 10:46 PM

YMMV. My nearby Wal-Mart had Harry Potter 1-4 (HD DVD and BD) for $14.77 each, and HP 5 for $21.77 (either format). They were in their respective glass display cases and well organized and the title/price was labelled properly.

Ric Easton · 12-12-2007, 11:01 PM

Wow! I guess I'll have to up the mileage and try a few more! My feeling after leaving the one earlier tonight was these guys are not even trying to sell the stuff!

PaulDA · 12-13-2007, 12:18 AM

While I don't normally shop at Wal*Mart, my wife wanted the Eagles' latest for Christmas so I had to go to one and I took a peek at their hi-def media section. Lots of titles of each type, conveniently located next to each other on an open rack (nothing locked behind any glass--haven't seen that anywhere, actually) BUT prices were NOT cheap. Looks like Wal*Mart hasn't gotten the memo about dollar parity yet.

Mike Frezon · 12-13-2007, 12:19 AM

Ric: Were you in the Brunswick Wal-Mart for this debacle?

In East Greenbush, they actually now have an entire endcap (

)which is divvied up between HD-DVD and BD titles. The Potter movies were there in full force Tuesday night. They have another section of HD media located behind glass near the DVD checkout area.

But as I reported in the RoundUp...I didn't find prices anywhere near as nice as what Patrick found.

**HTF Ads**

Paul Arnette · 12-13-2007, 10:00 AM

My family and I are "Target people". I'm almost as diametrically opposed to the typical Wal-Mart demographic as you can get. However, last week I found myself in one of their stores, and, no lie, I walked around their electronic section for ten minutes before I found their HDM section.

It was on an end-cap, but every release had these horrible anti-theft protection devices strapped to them. There were these hockey puck-sized circles with cabeling wrapped around each disc, which sometimes was wound so tight it cut into the packaging itself.

I have found the lack of standardization at Wal-Mart to be my biggest complaint with their stores, which is saying a lot because their cleanliness and typical clientele leave a lot to be desired too in my opinion. But I can never tell whether I will find HDM in any given Wal-Mart store I walk into to, and, if I do, what price they will be. With Target, not only do I know where to find it, I can almost recite what titles they'll have and how much they'll cost.

Anyway, I doubt Wal-Mart will "kill" HD DVD or any HDM format for that matter, but from what I've seen of them first-hand, they're not going to do them any favors either.

Clinton McClure · 12-13-2007, 10:08 AM

I have not checked Wal~Mart here in Peachtree but Target and BB both have all the Harry Potter movies for $24.99 each. I bought Order of the Phoenix for full price but didn't buy the rest. If I could find the others for $15 each, I'd jump on it in a heart beat.

Todd H · 12-13-2007, 10:16 AM

My small town Wal-Mart finally has a HDM endcap. It's about 70% Blu-ray and 30% HD DVD. The prices are terrible with the exception of the Harry Potter movies, which are selling for $18 each.

Stephen_J_H · 12-13-2007, 10:39 AM

Thankfully, the Wal*Mart HD sections in Canada are much more sensible. They use a custom gondola with LCD displays on two of the four sides. One display shows a Blu-Ray promo and is directly above the BDs, while the other shows an HD DVD promo with a similar setup. The remaining two sides are filled with media. Granted, with the average Wal*Mart shopper it doesn't take long for the media to get all jumbled up (I'll reserve comment on the average Wal*Mart employee), but it seems to be a workable solution.