HMV to Close All 102 Stores

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

I was in Best Buy last weekend to purchase a rather high end TV. They didn't have the model I wanted in stock, and rather then let me have the only model above it for the same price (or something fair), they let me walk.

I went to Visions (where they sell for commission), and I got the tv I wanted for $500 less. WTH - Best Buy, if you are reading this, if you let a customer walk out empty handed, you are doing something wrong. This is the path to a fast retail death. How can Visions sell the same product, with commission for $500 less?

Best Buy employees don't work on commissions and I believe Vision employees do. Probably the difference of the level of care between the two places.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

The old A&B was awesome. I loved that store. Wish that building was basically anything but a gym now.

Like McNally Robinson being the Sportchek further down Stephen Ave.

[calgaryblood]

Yeah I've got to admit I used to be so annoyed at future shop. Walking in, you were harassed by multiple people because they were on commission.

Walked into a Best Buy in the summer and I pretty much had to beg for a little help.

Guess lazy workers are the reason commission based jobs are needed.

[Johnny Makarov]

Next up, how is The Source(Radio Shack) still around? I can't think of a single thing I would ever buy from that store.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Next up, how is The Source(Radio Shack) still around? I can't think of a single thing I would ever buy from that store.

Batteries man....batteries...

[craigwd]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Next up, how is The Source(Radio Shack) still around? I can't think of a single thing I would ever buy from that store.

Best customer service of all the electronic stores.
I try to do most of my shopping there.

[gottabekd]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

In regards to Chapters. I was looking for a particular book for my wife at Christmas.I decided to look on their website so I would not waste my time and find out there were none when I got there. The website said that there were 15 in stock and hey it was on sale for $22, terrific. I get to the store and find the book but it says $30 on it. I bring up the website on my phone and talk to a person there. They told me that the price online is cheaper because people will pay a premium to get the book right now in their hands.
Needless to say I put the book back and ordered it online before I even left the store. Sure they still got the money but it I thought it odd that the same company had different pricing for online vs. a physical store.

I conceptually understand the reasoning, but it definitely rubs me the wrong way. It makes me never want to walk in to a Chapters, knowing that I would be paying the sucker price.

[Superflyer]

Originally Posted by gottabekd

I conceptually understand the reasoning, but it definitely rubs me the wrong way. It makes me never want to walk in to a Chapters, knowing that I would be paying the sucker price.

The worst thing was the smug way the lady told me. She sort of had that tone of "what are you going to do about it"? I then told her that I will order it online and she again smugly says "Well it's past the time where we can guarantee it will be delivered before Christmas so it's up to you but it will be late." I got it on the 19th after ordering it on the 14th or 15th.

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by Fire

Best Buy employees don't work on commissions and I believe Vision employees do. Probably the difference of the level of care between the two places.

I think that is what I posted?

Vision, with commission, was able to sell me a TV for $500 less. Best Buy did not have the tv in stock and wouldn't budge on the price of a TV that was less than $500 more, but in stock. They let me walk. There was no reason to let me walk out without a tv, especially in the price range I was looking at.

[Anduril]

One big thing that Bestbuy has going for it is the extremely profitable cellphone industry as well as the fact that they've embraced their store model being a "showcase floor" of sorts. Companies like Apple, LG, Samsung, etc all pay Bestbuy for floor space to have their product prominently displayed with demos and assigned employees, whether Bestbuy or 3rd party hires. Couple the fact that the company holds a sizable majority in electronic sales and are continually expanding their product line in a weird way (home appliance, decor, etc) and it's hard to imagine them being in serious trouble unless something major changes.

They've already gone through a number of restructures (cutting excessive middle management and managers, closing Futureshop/some Bestbuy stores).

[Flamesguy_SJ]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Similar to the conversation, I'm amazed Chapters/Indigo is still around in the same capacity. I get books are a lot more personal to (most) people than physical dvds/games/music, but they fact that they still continue to hold the amount of retail space they do, and be anchor stores for malls astonishes me.

Basically, a customer who buys one gift item at Indigo/Chapters subsidizes 3 books to be or stay on the shelf. They've also started ordering a more reasonable volume of new books from publishers. Instead of a store getting 80 copies of the newest James Patterson and having to either mark down ~50 or so copies 2 months later or send them back to the publisher, they will get 25%-50% less stock in the first place....which allows more space & money for the gift items.

Indigo also didn't shy away from ebooks & ereaders, right from the start. It helps that they partially owned Kobo, but even after they sold it off, they still sell them in their stores at ~$125 a pop, and they are a solid product. Plus all the accessories that go with, plus you can use Indigo gift cards with a Kobo. I don't think you'll see much in the way of newer "anchor" stores being built...they just closed a couple of large flagship stores in Toronto a couple of years ago.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

The website said that there were 15 in stock and hey it was on sale for $22, terrific. I get to the store and find the book but it says $30 on it. I bring up the website on my phone and talk to a person there. They told me that the price online is cheaper because people will pay a premium to get the book right now in their hands.

Pay a premium because it's "in your hands right now"? This (besides sounding like a bait and switch) seems completely ass-backwards to me. It's a book, not a morning after pill.

I'd pay a premium to not have to go to the mall but I don't have to pay a premium because I get it cheaper by not going to the mall and order books online and they show up 2-3 days later.

Telling someone they need to pay almost a third more for a book because "it's in their hands" is just silly, and if that's a company rationale for charging more these days, they are screwed.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Pay a premium because it's "in your hands right now"? This (besides sounding like a bait and switch) seems completely ass-backwards to me. It's a book, not a morning after pill.

I'd pay a premium to not have to go to the mall but I don't have to pay a premium because I get it cheaper by not going to the mall and order books online and they show up 2-3 days later.

Telling someone they need to pay almost a third more for a book because "it's in their hands" is just silly, and if that's a company rationale for charging more these days, they are screwed.

I would guess its an employee who did not do a very good job of explaining why this was the case (i.e. more overhead costs to carry a book in store versus online, etc.).

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Probably 90% of major video game purchases are still physical. They will be fine for some time.

Do you mean a physical box with a token startup disk? most high end games are now 15-20+ gigs that you have to download the content anyway.

my son hasn't bought a game from EB in 2 years, he finds it easier/cheaper to use steam,origin or Xbox points.

EB games will likely be gone in 2 years or less

[johnnyrocket03]

Went in to HMV last night to drain my Pure points before they close down and was told that they don't accept them anymore. Kinda wish they would have said something sooner...now im sitting on $30 worth of points that I could have used a week ago.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Do you mean a physical box with a token startup disk? most high end games are now 15-20+ gigs that you have to download the content anyway.

my son hasn't bought a game from EB in 2 years, he finds it easier/cheaper to use steam,origin or Xbox points.

EB games will likely be gone in 2 years or less

Console storefronts are starting to do more Steam like sales which is a good sign, but until the lower prices are more regular, I will stick to buying boxed copies that I can trade, give to friends, re-sell, etc.

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by Anduril

One big thing that Bestbuy has going for it is the extremely profitable cellphone industry as well as the fact that they've embraced their store model being a "showcase floor" of sorts. Companies like Apple, LG, Samsung, etc all pay Bestbuy for floor space to have their product prominently displayed with demos and assigned employees, whether Bestbuy or 3rd party hires. Couple the fact that the company holds a sizable majority in electronic sales and are continually expanding their product line in a weird way (home appliance, decor, etc) and it's hard to imagine them being in serious trouble unless something major changes.

They've already gone through a number of restructures (cutting excessive middle management and managers, closing Futureshop/some Bestbuy stores).

Not to mention the that early last year (i believe, or the year before), they laid off all their higher earning managers, and replaced with with their intermediate sales people.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by manwiches

Not to mention the that early last year (i believe, or the year before), they laid off all their higher earning managers, and replaced with with their intermediate sales people.

That sounds like SOP for pretty much any service/retail company every few years.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Pay a premium because it's "in your hands right now"? This (besides sounding like a bait and switch) seems completely ass-backwards to me. It's a book, not a morning after pill.

I'd pay a premium to not have to go to the mall but I don't have to pay a premium because I get it cheaper by not going to the mall and order books online and they show up 2-3 days later.

Telling someone they need to pay almost a third more for a book because "it's in their hands" is just silly, and if that's a company rationale for charging more these days, they are screwed.

I think a lot of people would pay a few dollars more to have something immediately than wait a week to order it online. That's especially true for new releases and trendy things. Many people also love to tell people they've read something, so that makes the desire to have it now greater.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by blankall

I think a lot of people would pay a few dollars more to have something immediately than wait a week to order it online. That's especially true for new releases and trendy things. Many people also love to tell people they've read something, so that makes the desire to have it now greater.

I think a lot of people are used to waiting a day or two for delivery, and if (God, I hate this phrase) brick and mortar stores tried charging a premium for the fact that I had to drive there, instead of ordering it in my underwear and seeing it on my step the day after tomorrow, they'll tighten their own noose.

I agree that this was an incoherent staffperson. Such a bad thing to say.