How Wal-Mart’s TV Prices Crushed Rivals – BusinessWeek.com: The publication provides an explanation behind the closures of such stores as CompUSA and Circuit City.
Last “Black Friday”, Wal-Mart Stores decided to slash the price of one of the hottest electronics items for the holidays—the 42-inch flat-panel TV—to $988. This move caused a freefall in prices of flat-panel televisions at hundreds of retailers—to the glee of many people who were then able to afford their first big-screen plasma or liquid-crystal-display model.
Now, it is becoming apparent that Wal-Mart’s calculated decision to break the $1,000 barrier for flat-panel TVs triggered a disastrous financial meltdown among some consumer-electronics retailers over the past four months
The fallout is evident: After closing 70 stores in February, Circuit City Stores (CC) on Mar. 28 laid off 3,400 employees and put its 800 Canadian stores on the block. Tweeter Home Entertainment Group (TWTR), the high-end home entertainment store, is shuttering 49 of its 153 stores and dismissed 650 workers. Dallas-based CompUSA is closing 126 of its 229 stores.
If what the article says is true, then we have a very interesting situation developing in the Blu-ray and HD-DVD war, with Wal-Mart having plans to deliver cheap HD-DVD players (US$300). This could be the sign of bad times for Blu-ray.
26, Comment by Lauren the Ghoti — 4/24/2007 @ 11:18 am
Got a birthday comin’ up. Buy me one of these? Can’t get it at WalMart. Already got the preamp and cables.
http://stereophile.com/turntables/407kuzma/
I have a Micro Center about 15 minutes away from me. I have been there twice and have no intention of going back. Newegg is the way to go for me. For the emergency parts for when all hell breaks loose, I have other choices. Customer service does make a difference. When I shop at Wal-Mart, I get left alone. When I need help, I can grab someone and they will tell me what they know. When I go to Micro Center, I cannot get them to leave me alone, and if I do have a slight question, they try to shove hundreds of dollars of merchandise into my hands.
Bleh.
What I’ve noticed is that once all the little guys are out of business, suddenly the prices aren’t as low as they once were. I suspect this is all part of the pattern. I’ve heard about the “savings” before, but I think years of no stock price appreciation has Wally’s world playing a new game.
#29 – I’ve been to a United Artists theater twice in the last 48 hours and cannot complain at all about anything related to the theater experience. I never experience those issues. In fact, I attend a screening at least once a week. It’s still the best bargain in town, and I know that because I buy tickets to concerts too, and those prices are outrag… what am I saying… I never buy tickets to the pedestrian crap at major venues. I buy tickets to real music in dive clubs. So movies are the second best bargain in town.
I like a good HT system, but no matter what you say, nothing looks as good as light through film. Period. And since I attend this one UA theater almost exclusively (except when I go to the art house) nothing sounds better as the entire house is fitted with Klipsch speakers.
There might be a difference between a $25 cable and $100 cable (though there is no scientific reason why there should be) but there is no difference between a $100 cable and a $500 cable… and a $5000 cable only proves an axiom about a fool and money.
#30 – Good point made in that article. I work with audiophiles all day long. Give me a room with 100 audiophiles in it and I’ll show you 95 guys living in a sad little world of self delusion.
#31 – I’ve got two. They are nice, but you can only use records with it and that sounds crappy.
http://www.theaudiocritic.com/downloads/article_1.pdf
Okay…. I posted that. I’m done. I’m not gonna debate this. I’m not getting sucked it. I’m not paid for this and I only talk with audiophiles when I’m getting paid. Period. You people are wrong in the head. You obsess over every last nitpicky detail. You spend 60 grand on HT gear, and you never even watch movies. You all freak me out.
#30, Comment by Awake — 4/24/2007 @ 2:59 pm
From the article / url you posted:
“I have a record player. I can tell it sounds different. But better? I don’t get it. Isn’t sound a far more subjective thing than audiophiles care to admit?”
A record player? (ROFL) But a fun article, thanks. (perhaps one must have a trained ear.) $8K for a turntable is extravagant, I admit, and I wish I had the bucks for one of those $70K ‘record players’. I probably couldn’t tell the difference.
Maybe I should just go get a ‘record player’ at Wal-Mart.
#35 – Do they sell even record players at Wal-Mart? Let alone turntables.
#36, OFTLO
Well, they used to. And not a bad one, either.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5231059
Low end is now High end. Thank you Wall Mart for deciding the HD DVD format war. Good job.
Also, One big Fry’s store can kill a few Best Buy’s CC’s in a given area.