Borders stores dropping media (CD and DVD) (1 Viewer)

The good news is that your local Borders store, like mine, may be having a 30% off sale on every CD and DVD in the store through March 1.

The bad news is ... that's because that store will no longer be offering media (CDs and DVDs). This is quite distressing to some of us who actually like to browse in a B&M store that features deeper catalog items than the usual top 40 stuff (Target, are you listening?).

I found out that only one of five Borders in my area will be carrying media anymore. Chances are this is happening everywhere, including your town.

So grab those 30% off items while you can, and they might be more than that off soon enough.

Yup. I got that e-mail for my Albany, NY Borders. :frowning:

Sad news, indeed. Although it has been clear that they have been cutting back inventory for many months.

It's sad because they did have good selections and very pro-widescreen on DVDs, but it's hardly surprising. I often liked to visit Borders to browse around, but hardly ever bought anything there considering there much higher DVD prices than C.C. B.B. or Amazon. Even with 30% off you're still most likely paying more than what you could get at Amazon.

I actually think I got a decent deal at my local Borders at this sale tonight. They had a copy of the BD of The Passion of the Christ for $34.99.

30% off dropped it down to $24.49. The best price I had seen it for locally was $29.99. (It IS $22.99 currently at amazon).



The CD section was looking pretty depleted and very disorganized.

I'm guessing that the Borders in my area isn't getting rid of their DVDs (yet). About a month ago, they shrunk their DVD inventory by about 1/4 but there's no 'dumping our inventory' sales going on there.

Back in 2000 they actually lowered the prices on all their DVDs so that they were at Best Buy levels, and I bought a lot from them then. They gradually crept back up though.

Their CD prices have always been high, so no surprise those aren't selling. You'd think with Tower gone the record labels would wake up and lower their prices so stores could sell them for less.

Yeah, with all the incredibly low priced DVDs on the market, I've bought a huge amount. I don't even look at CDs much anymore. Record companies should be selling more around the price point that comes out to $3.99 at a Best Buy. Of course, the DVD market had a glut over the past few years and there's a lot of slow moving product out there...

I love the Border's stores, but I think they've hurt themselves with those silly coupons & they've trained us not to come over unless we have it.

While their selection is great, they are out of touch with pricing. I never seem to have a coupon with me, and when they send me I only have 1 or 2 days to rush over there to get something. If they would just have reasonable prices everyday, I would stop in, but instead I think "oh I don't have a coupon". Without it, you are just hosed.

Strange, I haven't heard of the the removal of media from any of my local Borders stores, and I remember reading an article a year or two ago about how Borders was expanding it's media sections because CDs and DVDs sold better than books.

When I was in Borders the other day, the DVD shelves looked a bit sparse, but I haven't gotten an email or anything (yet) telling me that they were ending CD/DVD sales.

I was there to get a DVD of Wrath of Khan because I understand it's out of print now, and Amazon is sold out. Borders luckily had one copy left, and I had a 20% off coupon with me so I got it for just over $11 including tax. That's comparable to what Amazon was selling it for.

If this is in fact happening, I wonder if they're experiencing problems getting product and are cutting back by necessity rather than because they want to. As you may know, major book distributors will no longer ship books to Borders and so Borders has to use intermediaries in order to even have books on their shelves. Maybe the dvd distributors are cutting them off too?

$11 is nice...

I have never found a single price worth paying at Borders. It's sad to see another B&M go away but the writing was on the wall for this one...

Not all Borders are dropping their media ... yet. But if your local Borders currently features a 30% off sale on DVDs and CDs, it's one of them. That sale runs through March 1, after which the percentage off will probably go up until all inventory is cleared. They will not be replacing media inventory at those stores.

I read a lot of complaints about Borders prices, but as many have mentioned, if you are a Rewards member, you get coupons almost every week that often bring the prices down to levels of what you can get online. And this has the advantage of instant gratification, plus inspecting your media for any damages before taking it home. B&N has the same high retail prices, but I don't see them having coupon deals near what Borders has regularly offered.

It's not always the cheapest solution for media shoppers, but it was nice to have a B&M for browsing and impulse buys in addition to the usual online purchase sources (Amazon, Deep Discount, Overstock, etc.).

And now we have Best Buy phasing out DVDs as well.

Wayne: You just had me jump around the forum looking for a thread discussing this. I couldn't find one.

What are you talking about and what is your source?

There's a thread in the TV on DVD section that's misnamed saying that Best Buy is eliminating their DVD section and I'm sure it's creating confusion. The article in the thread says that they're cutting back some titles (the ones that don't sell) and not eliminating DVDs.

Here's the thread from the SD TV shows and TV movies forum:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ory-anime.html

That's my only source for Best Buy information. The Borders info came directly from a source at the stores. But it's not inaccurate to say Best Buy is phasing out DVDs, or at least standard DVDs. If you shop there regularly, as I do, you'll see the writing's on the wall (and off the shelf space) for SD DVDs.

Can you explain why the writing is on the wall?

EDIT: I realize that DVD won't be around forever but it's going to be years until Blu-ray equals it (let alone supercedes and eclipses it) so I don't think that Best Buy is going to stop carrying DVDs for a long time.

I didn't think the bookselling biz was so hot that Borders could afford to drop revenue streams. I can see, perhaps, the CD's, but DVD is still a decent market.

Oh, well. I don't often shop there anyway. With the availability of used book stores, Amazon.com and Costco, I really try and avoid paying the full cover price for any book, anyway.

Yeah, I think the last time Amazon had it in stock they were selling it for $9.99 or thereabouts. I kept putting off buying it until they were out of stock.

Borders prices aren't that bad if you use a coupon or take advantage of their "buy 2 get 1 free" sales. Plus, the traffic at my nearest Borders is so light that it's a good bet they'll have a recently-OOP DVD on the shelf which is why I went there to find "Khan".

I'll be sorry if they stop carrying DVDs.