Wal-Mart DVD's under lock and key (1 Viewer)

[Steven Wesley]

Like you needed another reason to get mad at Wal-Mart...
I live in Chicago, and the nearest Wal-Mart to me is actually beyond the city limits in a small suburb. Purchased DVD's there before without a hastle, because frankly, you can't beat their prices sometimes.
This past weekend I noticed something different as I dropped by their DVD display... it had glass and all the DVD's were locked behind it (much like video games are currently secured). They must have been having some crazy time with shoplifting or something for them to go to these measures (feel free to shoplift the VHS copies, though ). The Target down the street still has their DVD's out in the open, however.
Personally, I like to actually hold and view the DVD (for case damage, etc) before purchasing it, and this is sort of inhibiting. Call me crazy
Has anyone else seen this happen in their local stores?

 

[John_Berger]

Personally, I like to actually hold and view the DVD (for case damage, etc) before purchasing it, and this is sort of inhibiting. Call me crazy

Particularly when things like aspect ratio and anamorphic information are located on the back. Smart move, Wal-Mart.

 

[Jaxon's Dad]

Every Wal-Mart I've been to has adopted this policy as of late. I don't know if this is a corporate move or not. what's interesting to me is that when Wal-Mart first started selling DVDs, my local store had their inventory behind a locked display case but then, about 2 years ago, the DVDs were sold out in the open.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

It's hard to blame a retailer for trying to counter shoplifters (and employee theft). That they went to such an expensive and customer-unfriendly system tells you everything you need to know about the level of DVD theft at Wal-Mart. Ultimately, as they say, we're ALL paying for it.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Ridiculous retail move. Not only can't you hold the product and browse freely, but when the DVDs are turned sideways, you can't even see how much THEY ARE! So, you have to track down some Walmart shirt and if they aren't completely annoyed to help a customer, they'll let you know the price.

I never bought a DVD there in my life. Never will.

I wonder if a Beancounter came up with the notion that locking the DVDs would save them more money in shoplifting than by lost sales of the customer who can't be bothered to find someone to open the case.

 

[Chuck L]

What is funny on this account is a friend of mine used to manage the fabrics and crafts department for my local Walmart. She would go in about 4 in the morning and assess her area and I cannot tell you how many times she would find empty boxes of actual DVD PLAYERS...not the movies...but the players...that people would walk off with.

I have often had this image of a man or woman walking through the front door with a 16 by 10 (or whatever the dimensions of a DVD player are) bluge in their pants. :b

It will not dimish theft in the long run. After you get the DVD from the store clerk, there is nothing that says you can't go to another portion of the store and hide it then. Those Walmarts are big these days with many hiding places and in most cases, store associates that could not find their ass with your hands.

 

[Marc Deslauriers]

Don't DVDs have security devices inside? Does that mean people were opening the outer wrap, removing the security stickers, removing the security devices and shoplifting them?

 

[Chuck L]

In most cases, yes that is what is happening. The people that are stealing them aren't the type to love or respect the cover art. They are after the film and that is all. It isn't like they can't simply put them in a regular jewel case or take them to the flea market and sell them.

 

[Jeff Wilson]

There are ways of circumventing those tags. I used to work for Borders, and we had a team of people come in and swipe 20 to 30 DVDs at a time. All we ever found were the plastic keepers we had the discs in. No shrinkwrap or tags were left. We had the same thing with compact discs. I don't know how they did it, whether they brought in a magnet and killed the tags that way or what, but they were smooth. I think during the main stretch we were getting hit, we lost about 200 DVDs in a week or two.

 

[george kaplan]

The funny thing is when Wal-Marts first started carrying dvds way back when, this was how they did it, locked in a glass case. After a while, they've were moved into the open, where they remain to this day, at least around here.

 

[Markus Lidstrom]

I dont see why they dont adopt an empty cover system. Simply have empty dvd cases on the shelf where you can evaluate the purchase, and then a small slip of paper located underneath which you can take to the counter and recieve your DVD when you decide to purchase it.

 

[Richard Travale]

A friend of mine used to work at the big W and he told me a story about two people stealing a canoe. They got away with it too and even had the door held open for them by an employee.

 

[StephenA]

My local Wal-Mart still has DVDs out in the open, unless they changed it in the past couple weeks. I only say that because I just bought a bunch there like a week and a half ago. It's also very hard to steal DVDs there, because there's usually alot of employees hanging around in that area. I'm not the type who'd steal DVDs, so I have no need to worry about employees, security officers, and security cameras. I do wish sometimes I could though, without getting caught, but would never actually do it. Guess it's from my upbringing of being taught not to steal.

 

[Mark Kalzer]

Here's a good idea. Has anyone here ever been to Bay Video in downtown Toronto? Well, they have such a vast catalog of DVDs that they can't try to keep them all on the shelves. Instead, they have whole racks of plastics holders that present the cover, minus the box inside it. You can read the front and back, and the price tag is posted on the front. It's quite neat, very descriptive, and above all, prevents shoplifting! They still keep new and popular titles out in the open to save time.

 

[Will_B]

I remember twenty years ago I was in a record store where the audiotapes were stored behind glass. But the glass had holes in it large enough to reach through, so you could hold the tape, but small enough so that the tape and its shell could not be pulled out through the hole. So you could handle it, and view the back, and then if you wanted to buy it you simply dropped it to the floor, where a constantly moving conveyor belt carried it to the checkout counter.

Very elaborate. And weird.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

But the glass had holes in it large enough to reach through, so you could hold the tape, but small enough so that the tape and its shell could not be pulled out through the hole.

Damn, what kind of tiny hands do they think everyone has?

 

[EdG]

When the 2 Wal-Marts in my area started carrying DVDs a few
years ago, both stores had the DVDs out in the open. Then
one store put them behind glass. 2 months later they were
back out in the open. The 2nd store put their DVDs behind
glass about 6 months later. Again it only lasted a couple of months and then they were back out in the open. Neither store has done that since. I figure they saw the
sales go down because people wouldn't bother to ask them
to open it up for a $20 DVD. I started going to Circuit
City when they started locking them up.

The 2nd store also tried the empty DVD cases on the shelf
where you had to take the case to an employee and they would get you the title but again that only lasted for about
a month.

 

[LarryH]

Since there seems to be evidence that Wal-Mart is favoring sales of MAR P&S titles, I guess we should be glad of anything that reduces their share of the market.

 

[Kurt N]

A friend of mine who works at Wal-Mart told me a couple weeks ago of a customer who took a toaster oven out of the box, took the box to the electronics department, filled it with DVDs, went to the stationery department and taped it shut. He then went thru the checkout, paid the $30 and headed foe the door. Fortunately, the beepers at the door went off and the person is now under lock and key.

This shows the guts people have when it comes to getting a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff. Remember, we all pay higher prices everytime we shop because of jerks like this.

 

[Rob T]

The Zellers near my use to have DVDs in a counter display case. I sometimeswent in there and looked at them but never bought any. Last year, when school started up again, the had the DVDs out on the shelves and since then I've bought 2 or 3 from there, I think.
I usually shop at Wal-mart for my discs (especially when I'm going to school) and I haven't seen them put the DVDs behind glass yet and I hope it stays that way.