Kmart Dumps Blu-ray Due to Price

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K-Mart has decided to go HD DVD only, not because of any format preference or quality of players. The store decided against stocking Blu-ray players based solely on price and, as the article mentions, K-Mart probably isn’t the first place home theater enthusiasts go to buy HD equipment.

The HD DVD Promotions Group said that Kmart's decision to go exclusive wasn't related to an end-cap purchase, but rather because the cost of Blu-ray players are more tailored to home theater enthusiasts. HD DVD meanwhile, will have players under $200, with even deeper discounts after Thanksgiving.
 
And considering the vast retail real estate that K-mart has (including owning Sears)... Ouchies for BluRay. :D

Wow...i didn't know that about Sears. All the Kmarts closed in my area anyway. There was one down the block from me and i just went there for the the convenience. Alot of stuff was more than Wally World though.
 
Enthusiasts won't decide this format war, that much at least has become clear over the last year. It was always unlikely this group would swing into one camp in enough matters to settle things though. Personally I don't care which format wins, they both seem to get the HD video job done fine in the end and both have annoying copy protection that will be completely broken before it matters. :p
 
And speaking of Wally World, let's see, who's selling $9X HD-DVD players today?

If not for the PS3, Blu-Ray would be dead and buried already. I guess now we get to see just how much power the adult entertainment industry really has, whether their preference for Blu-Ray can save it.
 
And considering the vast retail real estate that K-mart has (including owning Sears)... Ouchies for BluRay. :D

Funny, I don't see Sears mentioned anywhere in the article. You have some inside information you'd like to share on a decision by Sears to drop Blu-ray?
 
K-Marts still exist? Wow who knew. Not very news worthy since there is only like one store left in all of the US. Hopefully this puts the pressure on Sony to lower prices though.
 
Yeah, there's still a bunch of Kmarts in my area. At least 3 in a 10 mile radius.

And I thought that Sears bought KMart, not the other way around.

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While K-mart isn't where many A/V enthusiasts buy their electronic components, it is where many, many, many people buy their equipment. If enthusiasts and educated of the population decided ANYTHING about what gets marketed and sold, then we would be in a very different world, with very different options. Enthusiasts will not decide the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war, a bunch of rednecks shopping at K-mart, Walmart, and Bestbuy WILL.
 
K-Mart bought Sears a few years back. You can use your Sears card at K-Mart just like a Visa.

As we have said all along, regardless of the store, it will be the end price that decides the format war. When it makes NO SENSE to buy standard DVD (price parity or close to it), people will buy the HD equivalent.

As it sits right now, players AND movies are too damn expensive for the average Joe.
 
Who cares? I mean, does anyone here still shop at either? LOL

You won't catch me at a Wal-Mart either if I can help it.....but about 324,899,023,082,557,918,543,001 people actually do. You know, all the people buying standard DVDs ...not buying HD DVD or Blu-ray.
 
Kmart is largely gone from the SoCal area, much like CompUSSR did recently. Thousand Oaks store: gone (and STILL empty BTW); West Hills: gone; Hollywood (La Brea area?): gone as well I think - and that store was packed to hell when I went there a few years back fvor holiday decorations or something. Sears may not be mentioned in the article, but IMHO, if Kmart drops BluRay, Sears prob will too, since Sears OWNS KMart (check searsholdings.com) - (not 'tother way around btw; semantics I know).

Nor do I think pr0n will save the day for BluRay, I think it's effectively dead in the water if any other retailers give Sony the finger at this point. Debates of superiority aside, I agree with the others, price WILL make the difference. And as far as pr0n goes, AFAIK some companies did go HDDVD anyway - it's the heavy hitters like Vivid that went Blu. But when the costs of HDDVD go down, as well as all around film market penetration [SORRY for the unintended pun!] for HD up, it will make it sensible for them to switch. Just like the manstream media - go where the market goes, and my money is now on HDDVD.

ps Ron Jeremy in HD, NO WAY! Twas bad enough seeing him (cough) live (cough) back in ~03 last time Metro rented out my sister's place for a shoot, that fat wrinkly hedgehog in 1080 pukeness? Ackkk. Also, the scumbag napped on my bed I use when I go there in downtimes :eek: - had to disinfect it and sleep in another room for a couple days :p.
 
Who cares? I mean, does anyone here still shop at either? LOL

That's the point. WE are not the deciding factor in the format war. The soccer mom that DOES shop at K-mart is the deciding factor.

And yes, K-mart bought Sears. I was shocked, too. One of my company's clients is K-mart and Sears and it's an account I work on, so I'd hope I know. :D
 
Alot of the K-Marts in my area swapped over to "Sears Grand" stores, and it wasn't just in name either, there invintory went upscale with the change. most of the ones that stayed K-Mart were really close to an existing Sears store. The Sears closest to me is about the only other store left in the mall, they have a lifetime lease and they aint giving it up. Why they would want to hang on to a dead location is beyond me when they can move into the K-Mart across the street.

If you look at the Reasons K-Mart gave for dropping Blue Ray it makes sense, Who goes to K-Mart to buy high end electronics, or even mid range electronics. I really don't think this will have muchh effect in the format wars.
And just because they dropped out of the Blue ray market wasn't based on there throwing the weight around, it was the consumer for not going there and buying them.
 
You won't catch me at a Wal-Mart either if I can help it.....but about 324,899,023,082,557,918,543,001 people actually do. You know, all the people buying standard DVDs ...not buying HD DVD or Blu-ray.

I'd have to be really desperate to buy a movie from there! I usually buy mine from Best Buy/CC or online.

ps Ron Jeremy in HD, NO WAY! Twas bad enough seeing him (cough) live (cough) back in ~03 last time Metro rented out my sister's place for a shoot, that fat wrinkly hedgehog in 1080 pukeness? Ackkk. Also, the scumbag napped on my bed I use when I go there in downtimes :eek: - had to disinfect it and sleep in another room for a couple days :p.

You could use that story to lure in all the wanna-be "stars." :D
 
Kmart is largely gone from the SoCal area, much like CompUSSR did recently. Thousand Oaks store: gone (and STILL empty BTW); West Hills: gone; Hollywood (La Brea area?): gone as well I think - and that store was packed to hell when I went there a few years back fvor holiday decorations or something. Sears may not be mentioned in the article, but IMHO, if Kmart drops BluRay, Sears prob will too, since Sears OWNS KMart (check searsholdings.com) - (not 'tother way around btw; semantics I know).
K-mart bought Sears, but decided to use the Sears name since it has more prestige than K-mart. Kinda like how Federated bought Macy's, changed all the other stores' names to Macy's, and now Federated changed their name to Macy's.

A lot of K-marts are being turned into Sears.

BTW, these are the stores that we service in California. I don't know which are north and south (I haven't MapQuested them or anything).
Code:
Store#    Retailer    City    State    Zip
9746    K-Mart    GRASS VALLEY    CA    95949
9761    K-Mart    VISALIA    CA    93277
9797    K-Mart    SCOTTS VALLEY    CA    95066
7047    K-Mart    HEMET    CA    92543
7098    K-Mart    CONCORD    CA    94521
7165    K-Mart    CAMARILLO    CA    93010
7175    K-Mart    RIVERSIDE    CA    92509
7195    K-Mart    GOLETA    CA    93117
7225    K-Mart    LOS ANGELES    CA    90036
7287    K-Mart    TAFT    CA    93268
7390    K-Mart    MCKINLEYVILLE    CA    95521
7418    K-Mart    SAN YSIDRO    CA    92173
7471    K-Mart    PLACERVILLE    CA    95667
7481    K-Mart    ATWATER    CA    95301
7486    K-Mart    LODI    CA    95240
7551    K-Mart    INDIO    CA    92201
7552    K-Mart    ARROYO GRANDE    CA    93420
7587    K-Mart    FONTANA    CA    92335
7606    K-Mart    HESPERIA    CA    92345
7619    K-Mart    ATASCADERO    CA    93422
7625    K-Mart    LOS ANGELES    CA    90044
7636    K-Mart    CHULA VISTA    CA    91910
7639    K-Mart    SANTA PAULA    CA    93060
7653    K-Mart    BIG BEAR LAKE    CA    92315
7756    K-Mart    BISHOP    CA    93514
7916    K-Mart    EUREKA    CA    95503
9153    K-Mart    SOUTH LAKE TAHOE    CA    96150
9328    K-Mart    LONG BEACH    CA    90815
9551    K-Mart    PARADISE    CA    95969
9608    K-Mart    AUBURN    CA    95603
3865    K-Mart    RIDGECREST    CA    93555
3881    K-Mart    BLYTHE    CA    92225
3916    K-Mart    TULARE    CA    93274
3922    K-Mart    OCEANSIDE    CA    92057
3945    K-Mart    DELANO    CA    93215
3968    K-Mart    WASCO    CA    93280
3982    K-Mart    LEMOORE    CA    93245
3998    K-Mart    DINUBA    CA    93618
4007    K-Mart    COMMERCE    CA    90022
4047    K-Mart    COSTA MESA    CA    92627
4117    K-Mart    SACRAMENTO    CA    95820
4191    K-Mart    HARBOR CITY    CA    90710
4240    K-Mart    NORTHRIDGE    CA    91324
4277    K-Mart    STOCKTON    CA    95207
4281    K-Mart    COVINA    CA    91722
4282    K-Mart    HACIENDA HEIGHTS    CA    91745
4285    K-Mart    VENTURA    CA    93003
4291    K-Mart    SIMI    CA    93065
4320    K-Mart    BELLFLOWER    CA    90706
4330    K-Mart    OXNARD    CA    93033
4340    K-Mart    SANTA ROSA    CA    95403
4341    K-Mart    FAIRFIELD    CA    94533
4349    K-Mart    REDWOOD CITY    CA    94063
4364    K-Mart    BAKERSFIELD    CA    93309
4367    K-Mart    LANCASTER    CA    93534
4371    K-Mart    SANTA MARIA    CA    93455
4421    K-Mart    NORTH HOLLYWOOD    CA    91605
4432    K-Mart    RIVERSIDE    CA    92507
4457    K-Mart    HAYWARD    CA    94544
4474    K-Mart    TORRANCE    CA    90503
4705    K-Mart    KINGSBURG    CA    93631
4706    K-Mart    RIVERSIDE    CA    92508
4721    K-Mart    COALINGA    CA    93210
4749    K-Mart    ONTARIO    CA    91764
4751    K-Mart    TEHACHAPI    CA    93561
4762    K-Mart    ANTIOCH    CA    94509
4819    K-Mart    LAKEPORT    CA    95453
4857    K-Mart    DESERT HOT SPRINGS    CA    92240
4862    K-Mart    MANTECA    CA    95336
4987    K-Mart    CARSON    CA    90745
3018    K-Mart    VALENCIA    CA    91355
3053    K-Mart    PLEASANT HILL    CA    94523
3086    K-Mart    CHICO    CA    95926
3106    K-Mart    RIVERSIDE    CA    92503
3127    K-Mart    TEMPLE CITY    CA    91780
3130    K-Mart    REDDING    CA    96002
3151    K-Mart    EL CENTRO    CA    92243
3162    K-Mart    YUBA CITY    CA    95991
3169    K-Mart    DIAMOND BAR    CA    91765
3174    K-Mart    STOCKTON    CA    95205
3235    K-Mart    WEST COVINA    CA    91790
3276    K-Mart    SAN LEANDRO    CA    94578
3337    K-Mart    CUDAHY    CA    90201
3345    K-Mart    MODESTO    CA    95351
3363    K-Mart    ANAHEIM    CA    92804
3368    K-Mart    REDLANDS    CA    92373
3369    K-Mart    RANCHO CORDOVA    CA    95670
3376    K-Mart    CITRUS HGTS    CA    95610
3412    K-Mart    SALINAS    CA    93907
3435    K-Mart    ANAHEIM    CA    92806
3483    K-Mart    ONTARIO    CA    91762
3501    K-Mart    PETALUMA    CA    94954
3531    K-Mart    PINOLE    CA    94564
3568    K-Mart    JACKSON    CA    95642
3582    K-Mart    CLOVIS    CA    93612
3595    K-Mart    SAN MATEO    CA    94402
3678    K-Mart    RAMONA    CA    92065
3696    K-Mart    ROCKLIN    CA    95677
3699    K-Mart    APPLE VALLEY    CA    92308
3708    K-Mart    BANNING    CA    92220
3725    K-Mart    FREEDOM    CA    95019
3748    K-Mart    HOLLISTER    CA    95023
3764    K-Mart    LOS BANOS    CA    93635
3828    K-Mart    TEMECULA    CA    92591
3834    K-Mart    BURBANK    CA    91504
3842    K-Mart    OAKDALE    CA    95361
 
Wow...i didn't know that about Sears. All the Kmarts closed in my area anyway. There was one down the block from me and i just went there for the the convenience. Alot of stuff was more than Wally World though.

Not many people know about it. Sears bought KMart a couple years ago and for the most part, it was a pretty quiet merger.

If you go to KMart these days you'll see signs on the door and customer service that Sears credit cards are accepted at KMart.

Our local KMart used to be utter crap, but since Sears bought it, they're starting to carry better brands.. not a whole lot, but it's a start.
 

The power of your in-depth rebuttal of my thesis overwhelms me...

While K-mart isn't where many A/V enthusiasts buy their electronic components, it is where many, many, many people buy their equipment. If enthusiasts and educated of the population decided ANYTHING about what gets marketed and sold, then we would be in a very different world, with very different options. Enthusiasts will not decide the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war, a bunch of rednecks shopping at K-mart, Walmart, and Bestbuy WILL.

And this is a good summation of why I said what I did. It was bad enough when HD-DVD players were coming out at $200 vs. $400+ for Blu-Ray. Now that they are selling for sub-$100, forget it. What is the proportion of the Blu-Ray install base that's accounted for by PS3s? 80%? 90%? 95%? If these diehard Playstation fans weren't getting Blu-Ray for "free" with their consoles, HD-DVD's market penetration would exceed that of Blu-Ray by something like 10 to 1. After this Christmas buying season it would be game over, and it still might be if the $100 HD-DVD players keep coming and Blu-Ray doesn't do something to counter.
 
Isn't also Toshiba and owner of Sony's former division responsible for ,amongst other things, manufacturing chips for BluRay players?

And if so, wouldn't it only make sense for Toshiba to re-tool the division to make HD DVD parts?
 
The format war will get interesting after the holidays...

With HD-DVD players @ $200* for the holidays and Blu-ray still in the $400 range and with better and better deals on HDTVs or just lcd TVs in general when the dust settles player sales will be interesting to see.

Honestly I am a wait a see person (with a HDTV), I didn't want to get burned like with Beta a number of years back.

But for $200 I will take the plunge and get a HD-DVD player. Sure I won't have the new HD-DD etc sound and "only" 1080i but for $200 who cares... I will get the best $200 player when the winner is finally decided.

Lets be honest many enthusiasts probably do not have 1080p and new receivers etc for the new sound. They were the ones that got 1080i sets a year+ ago. Well except the rich ones that can buy a $5000 set each year.

I bought a decent set about 1 year ago and it is only 1080i... I certainly am NOT going to invest in HD receivers etc now when the clear winner is still not known... Most certainly not going to get a new TV until things settle down.


But as many mentioned the masses will decide this, you can't argue much that sub $200 HD-DVD players at Walmart and Best Buy is NOT going to affect the DVD market, it just will hands down. How much will be able to tell in 3 months or so.
 
If not for the PS3, Blu-Ray would be dead and buried already. I guess now we get to see just how much power the adult entertainment industry really has, whether their preference for Blu-Ray can save it.

I think you have that backwards. There are more adult movies on HD-DVD than theere are on Blu-Ray. Checking 2 stores, it's 18 to 3 at one, and 13 to 2 at the other with HD-DVD winning in both cases.
 
From Wikepedia, "On November 17, 2004, Kmart announced its intention to purchase Sears, Roebuck and Company. As a part of the merger, the Kmart Holdings Corporation would change its name to Sears Holdings Corporation. The new corporation announced that it would continue to operate stores under both the Sears and Kmart brands."
 
From Wikepedia, "On November 17, 2004, Kmart announced its intention to purchase Sears, Roebuck and Company. As a part of the merger, the Kmart Holdings Corporation would change its name to Sears Holdings Corporation. The new corporation announced that it would continue to operate stores under both the Sears and Kmart brands."

Good, because in this thread alone, there is a lot of mis-information about the Sears-Kmart acquisition. I'm glad someone cleared it up with some sort of actual proof. But consider me part of the I told you so crowd. Anything Sony touches goes to crap(gaming entertainment). This is not my personal opinion, it is my deduction from all the data retrieved that details their finanical losses, idiotic upper management, recalls, and failed formats.
 
I think you have that backwards. There are more adult movies on HD-DVD than theere are on Blu-Ray. Checking 2 stores, it's 18 to 3 at one, and 13 to 2 at the other with HD-DVD winning in both cases.

Ah, I see--I based that strictly on older news items that said the adult industry was backing BR. I don't shop for adult movies, so I haven't done any grass-roots research...;)
 
Good, because in this thread alone, there is a lot of mis-information about the Sears-Kmart acquisition. I'm glad someone cleared it up with some sort of actual proof. But consider me part of the I told you so crowd. Anything Sony touches goes to crap(gaming entertainment). This is not my personal opinion, it is my deduction from all the data retrieved that details their finanical losses, idiotic upper management, recalls, and failed formats.

I posted that link above. LOL

That's not entirely true. Sony DID have a good run for the PS1 and PS2. Then Satan took over the company.
 
Good, because in this thread alone, there is a lot of mis-information about the Sears-Kmart acquisition. I'm glad someone cleared it up with some sort of actual proof. But consider me part of the I told you so crowd. Anything Sony touches goes to crap(gaming entertainment). This is not my personal opinion, it is my deduction from all the data retrieved that details their finanical losses, idiotic upper management, recalls, and failed formats.

I don't know, they seem to run in streaks--the Walkman was a world-beater, then the Watchman and mini-disc were a bust. Then Playstation 1 and 2 ruled the consoles, followed by a lackluster PS3. The Vaio ultra-light laptops were on everyone's wish list when they came out, but competition caught up quickly. My 32" Wega XBR SD TV still makes any other non-HD set look like utter crap, eight years after I bought it. I love it so much I was tempted to get the HD 40" version even though it was 4:3 instead of 16:9. Pity they don't make plasma sets, at least as far as I know.
 
The power of your in-depth rebuttal of my thesis overwhelms me...
Hmm, let me try then.

And this is a good summation of why I said what I did. It was bad enough when HD-DVD players were coming out at $200 vs. $400+ for Blu-Ray. Now that they are selling for sub-$100, forget it. What is the proportion of the Blu-Ray install base that's accounted for by PS3s? 80%? 90%? 95%? If these diehard Playstation fans weren't getting Blu-Ray for "free" with their consoles, HD-DVD's market penetration would exceed that of Blu-Ray by something like 10 to 1. After this Christmas buying season it would be game over, and it still might be if the $100 HD-DVD players keep coming and Blu-Ray doesn't do something to counter.

HD DVD Promotional Group, in June, announced that their standalone players accounted for 60% of the market. That is after owning 100% of the market before BD was finally released, and this does not count PS3 owners, nor the leaching of Blu-ray player seeking consumers, leached by the PS3.
http://www.hddvdprg.com/eng/press/index.html#070613

IF die-hard PS3 fans weren't getting Blu-Ray free with their consoles, and other BD fans weren't buying the PS3, I think the market penetration would tip in favor of BD. You reason that were it not for the PS3, the scales would tip in favor of HD DVD. How so? Lots of home theater owners, builders, afficionados etc. have gushed about the PS3 - these would be BD standalone player buyers but for it.

And before anyone points out that the article is old, well think about this, one, you may be right. Or, in the alternative, it isn't different or better now, or else HD DVD Promotional Group would have jumped all over it and released a PR statement.

Secondly, this price drop will definitely help. Shit I might have to get one, but at $99 for a Gen2 player one day sale, I'm not sure how I can score one. Quantities are limited. THe real price will be the A3 at $179 or whatever the MSRP will be (even that is a sale price I believe). BD camp can counter at $299 or so by X-Mas, and that price difference is roughly on par with the price advantage HD DVD has enjoyed since inception of BD.
 
it's not like KMart has a huge part of the market. But they have been an influential part for years.

I'm waiting it out to see who wins this. DVD Quality movies are just fine for me right now considering I have over 1000 movies.

My TV is a 37" Olevia 537H 1080i TV. I don't have a HD receiver.
So there's no point for me to be concerned about the winner. Both have similar items and quality in the market and I'm not a deciding factor anyway.

Once a winner shows up, I'll buy in and get the player, the receiver and the TV. But for now, I'll save my cash and wait.
 
Oh, and BTW, Kmart has released a statement, saying they have not dropped Blu-Ray suport, and are not taking sides in this war. What is unclear is what the fuck they mean lol. Could be they are carrying the PS3 still, which they are, or they are still carrying movies of both formats, which I think they are.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Kmart/Kmart:_Were_Purple/1137

There have been numerous statements in the media today, attributed to Toshiba, indicating exclusive support for the HD DVD format in Kmart stores. These statements are false. Kmart intends to support both the HD DVD and Blu-ray platforms, and has no plans to support either platform exclusively.
 
Hmm, let me try then.

HD DVD Promotional Group, in June, announced that their standalone players accounted for 60% of the market. That is after owning 100% of the market before BD was finally released, and this does not count PS3 owners, nor the leaching of Blu-ray player seeking consumers, leached by the PS3.
http://www.hddvdprg.com/eng/press/index.html#070613

Good homework--my remarks were based on recent dueling press releases that showed the formats ecxhanging the lead back and forth, which did not say anything about the PS3 being excluded from the counting. If that is generally true, it changes the picture somewhat.

IF die-hard PS3 fans weren't getting Blu-Ray free with their consoles, and other BD fans weren't buying the PS3, I think the market penetration would tip in favor of BD. You reason that were it not for the PS3, the scales would tip in favor of HD DVD. How so? Lots of home theater owners, builders, afficionados etc. have gushed about the PS3 - these would be BD standalone player buyers but for it.

The PS3 was a popular avenue into HD content precisely because of its price. Standalone BD players have finally begun to appear at prices below the PS3, but that was not the case for months. If the PS3 option was not available, do you not think the price advantage of HD-DVD dedicated players would have won a great number of buyers over? How could they be hardcore BD fans when they'd never used either format before? Even fans of expensive AV equipment don't like to throw money away. Of course, now that the market is expanding to the broader consumer population, price is even more important and even more tilted in favor of HD-DVD.

I have no stake in either format. I have not yet purchased an HDTV, and I don't care for console gaming. If BD is technologically superior, I'd just as soon see it win. But $100 vs. $400? No chance.
 
Its a bad sign for old for old Blu. Now if Walmart did this the format would be dead. Kinda puts this news story in perspective.:D
 
And to think I used to trust the [H]'s editorial integrity... (yes, it says member since 03, but my origional account from 01 was lost during one of the past DB crashes).

Kmart is not dropping blu-ray. It is unfortunate that no fact checking goes behind front page posts. For shame.
 
That's the point. WE are not the deciding factor in the format war. The soccer mom that DOES shop at K-mart is the deciding factor.

I think any retail chain is going to have a hard time convincing "soccer moms" or any non-enthusiast group to upgrade to HD-DVD. With the move from VHS to DVD, the new format offered a more convenient medium, extra features, scene selection, ability to skip previews...etc. What does HD-DVD have? A better picture?
 
While K-mart isn't where many A/V enthusiasts buy their electronic components, it is where many, many, many people buy their equipment. If enthusiasts and educated of the population decided ANYTHING about what gets marketed and sold, then we would be in a very different world, with very different options. Enthusiasts will not decide the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war, a bunch of rednecks shopping at K-mart, Walmart, and Bestbuy WILL.

K-mart is irrelevant. I can't remember the last time I saw a K-mart, but I'd guess its more than 5 years ago (and I've lived in 3 different states and even more cities). They all closed down. Now if Sears is getting out of the BD business, that might have an affect.

Bottom line is that unless everyone is buying their HD player this year, this is not relevant. Within a year, Blu Ray will be down under $200.00 as well.

HDDVD may win, but it's anything but certain at this point.

Besides, so long as there are so many studios exclusive to BD, it's not going to disapear. You want to see a Fox movie? Not on HD DVD. Wnat Dreamworks? Well you need HD-DVD for that.

The division on the software front guarantees that this war has a lot of legs left in it.
 
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