Circuit City Abandons Wide Screen? (1 Viewer)

[Joseph Knight]

I went to my local Circuit City today near Orlando to pick up Lion King. While I was there, I thought I might pick up Casper and Babe. I noticed that they were only available in full screen, so I asked the sales clerk if they had any widescreen copies available. He looked the titles up in the computer and advised me that they did not have any and would not be carrying any. He also checked on the Web site and they cannot be ordered there either. They only carry these titles in full screen. I also happened to notice that all copies of How the Grinch Stole Christmas in the store were full screen as well.

I don't know if they just haven't received the widescreen copies yet or if this is the beginning of a new policy not to carry widescreen, but these movies have been out for a couple of weeks now and even Target has the widescreen versions.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up...

 

[Josh Pounds]

I think Circuit City is losing money, and they recognize that pan and scan titles sell a bit better than widescreen, so that would explain it.

 

[Joshua Clinard]

I would dispute that information. DVD Sales & Stats

 

[Tony-B]

Maybe FS sells better for CC stores. However, I think that on the whole, WS does better, as indicated by the weekly sales charts at Video Business.

 

[wally]

Do they have any widescreen TVs on display?

The selection at our local BBs of 4:3 TVs seems to be shrinking by the month.

 

[Jeff Swearingen]

It could be that they've actually sold out of widescreen copies. I know that some brick and mortars get many more WS than Foolscreen, but after a few days when all the HT enthusiasts raid the shelves it looks like the store is just trying to push FS because there aren't many WS copies left.

 

[greg_t]

All my local Circuit City's are the older look, and they only have 1 little counter with dvd's. They hardly compete with Walmart on selection, let alone best buy. It's too bad, I would like to buy my dvd's at circuit city, as their new release prices are right with Best buy, and at least in their ad's, they always show the widescreen version, where Best buy will picture the full screen. Circuit city needs to get in the game and increase their DVD selection in the st. louis area.

 

[WillG]

Some retail stores and rental stores have the attitude that children oriented titles will not do well in WS and tend to either offer very few WS copies or none at all (even though sales history tells us this theory is rubbish) Did the CC you were at have WS copies of non-children oriented new releases?

 

[Joseph Knight]

Actually they told me that they definitely would not be carrying these titles in widescreen. Also, if you check their Web site, they are only available in full screen.

If CC is doing away with widescreen in favor of fullscreen, I think this is really a bad decision for a store that is pushing widescreen TVs. This same CC had about 2 dozen widescreen TVs on display.

It just doesn't make sense that they would sell you a widescreen TV and then tell you to go somewhere else to buy movies for that TV.

 

[WillG]

Personally, I don't think CC is all that much better that Wal Mart in this respect. They seem to give shabby treatment to WS. For example, on the racks, you'll see a place card for a title that will say "Full Frame" but sometime you will not see a WS card. And, once the initial batch of WS copies are gone, you'll be hard pressed to find them there again. In front of Store display boxes you will see the FS occupying the top 2, and sometimes 3 tiers while WS is on the bottom. That sort of thing

 

[Adam_ME]

What's really been bothering me about Circuit Sh-tty lately is that they don't even put new titles on display the day of their release. I went there last Tuesday in the afternoon and couldn't find Adventures of Robin Hood. One of the employees had to go dig it out of a box after I asked about it.

And in case you think this is an isolated incident or they were just disrespecting a minor catalog title, I was there today around 2 PM and they were just getting around to putting The Lion King on the display rack. That's a lot of business they probably lost to the Worst Buy right down the street since 10 AM.

 

[JohnDMoore]

I have the same problem with my Circuit City. If you actually ask the staff any questions, they're more than happy to help you, they just don't seem to worry about getting it out in the first half of the day.

 

[Adam Tyner]

I had no trouble finding a widescreen copy of Scarface there last week.

 

[Malcolm R]

Circuit City is awful as far as DVD selection. I think they only get 3-4 copies of most titles and are always sold out by the time I get there. I don't even go there anymore unless they have a super deal. I know that Best Buy will have a hundred copies in stock so it's not even worth fooling around at CC for only $1 or so cheaper.

Actually, widescreen sells better than FS, so if they're only getting a couple copies of each, the WS has probably already sold out.

And as WillG says, some retailers are under the misinformed notion that children don't like black bars so perhaps they're just not stocking WS at all on those discs they consider "kid" titles.

 

[jonathan_little]

A month or so ago I was looking for a copy of Soylent Green in the Bangor, Maine Circuit City store. I was looking all around and not finding it... Action, Scifi, Horror, all genres. Circuit City has about the absolute worst layout when it comes to displaying DVDs, but I was trying my hardest to find it. So I asked a Circuit City employee if they had the film, and he said their computer showed 2 copies in inventory. This fellow and two other employees searched virtually the whole DVD display and couldn't find Soylent Green, either. After the search, one of the employees told me that stuff listed in the inventory that doesn't exist is a pretty a common occurrence.

Anyhow, Circuit City lost out on that sale and my $15 went to Borders instead. Circuit City really has got to overhaul the way they manage their stores. Their employees did a good job helping me out, though.

 

[Ryan_TD]

I think that's cause it only came out in widescreen, if not - ditto for me. I bought a widescreen copy of Scarface from CC last week as well.......

 

[John Alderson]

There is a Best Buy going in very close to a Circuit City in my town.

I will likely never enter Circuit City again.

 

[Robert Anthony]

I used to work at a Circuit City. For about 2 years. The management there has no real clue what they're doing. I mean like, upper management. They dont' have any real focus, all they know is that they USED to be number one and they're getting their ass kicked. And that's it. They don't know anything else, they don't know how to compete, and they're slowly nose-diving, and that's it. DiVX was probably their last real big shot at getting any kind of footing before Best Buy kicked em in the groin and sent em falling, and we all know how that went. Ever since that one--they're just stuck. They'll be lucky to stay alive as a high-end Radio Shack. and that's if they're LUCKY.

Give it 5 years. 10 tops. Circuit City will be a non-entity. They might hang on in a couple communities or states, but they will cease to matter on a national scale.

 

[rutger_s]

No Casper in widescreen?!

Don't think so.

Circuit City's Casper detail page.

What about Babe?!

Click me.

The clerk did not have the common sense to click on the links and double check the results?

As for Scarface...

The new Anniversary Edition DVD is available in both Widescreen and Full Screen versions.

 

[Adam_WM]

Some retail stores and rental stores have the attitude that children oriented titles will not do well in WS and tend to either offer very few WS copies or none at all (even though sales history tells us this theory is rubbish)

This is probably true. In my 3 years working at Circuit, child oriented titles often came in, but only in FS. Very sad.