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ome Target stores have reportedly stopped selling DVDs, Blu-rays, and CDs in their stores, removing displays in the part of the store where they sell other physical media like books and vinyl records. This move is not entirely unexpected -- the retailer, which had a significant amount of space dedicated to movies and music until 2021 or so, has been reducing the footprint of its disc sales for the last few years -- but it's surprising in that it comes now, as physical media seems to be experiencing a bit of a renaissance, with a number of Disney+ shows coming to Blu-ray for the first time, and some pretty big and notable box sets on the way.

(Of course, that's all in the United States. There was also a recent report that Disney would stop selling discs altogether in Australia.)

Some Target Stores Reportedly No Longer Selling DVDs, Blu-rays, and CDs

Some Target stores have reportedly stopped selling DVDs, Blu-rays, and CDs in their stores, removing displays in the part of the store where they sell other physical media like books and vinyl records. This move is not entirely unexpected — the retailer, which had a significant amount of space...

comicbook.com

The slow but certain march towards the death of physical media continues.

 

[sendit]

Good.

 

[Punished Miku]

They've just been giant boxes of random plastic boxes all tossed together at Wal-Mart for a few years now.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Coordinated effort.

 

[Holammer]

Shelf space is expensive.
CDs sell so little even hipster vinyl earns more these days. If they pressed new movies in Laser Disc they would probably earn more than DVD.

Vinyl records outsell CDs for first time in decades

Streaming may be king, but fans of physical albums are weighing in with record sales growth

www.bbc.com

 

[mrmustard]

Luckily i got a huge dvd collection, even if the internet dies i got plenty to watch.

 

[Robb]

Go for it. Even if I were to purchase a physical copy of something I wouldn’t go to the store anyway, I’d just order it online.

 

[Bergoglio]

Is there anyone who sells me The Lord of The Rings - The Fellowship of the ring - The complete recordings on vinyl?

Please.

 

[Elder Legend]

Makes sense and not surprising due to where the industry is heading. Writing has been on the wall forever now. Anyone who is denying is just mad coping, I am sorry to say but that's the reality.

 

[Unknown?]

Ewww, streaming is terrible. Enjoy lacking details! Also glad I don't shop at that terrible store. It's really only for hipsters who won't shop at Walmart despite being exactly the same only more expensive.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Well renting space is expensive and discs haven't made a comeback yet like the vinyls.

As long as you can order disc copies online it's still good, probably cheaper as well in most cases.

 

[A.Romero]

Yeah, most likely physical retailers will opt for not carrying discs but ordering online will always be an option for sure.

There will always be demand for that because physical media offers quality that can't be matched by streaming (even if few people care or have the equipment to enjoy it) and because discs will never be delisted. Also hard to believe people will sub to every single streaming service under the sun.

 

[NickFire]

Coordinated effort.

To be fair - at the retailer level I could easily envision multiple companies deciding the profit margins don't warrant the shelf space anymore. If the IP holders are charging a wholesale price to protect digital from being undercut, there would come a point where the margins aren't worth the sale anymore. Factoring in reduced purchase power for 99% of people and rampant theft in many areas, and it definitely would not shock me.

 

[Mister Wolf]

End of an era.

 

[DeepEnigma]

To be fair - at the retailer level I could easily envision multiple companies deciding the profit margins don't warrant the shelf space anymore. If the IP holders are charging a wholesale price to protect digital from being undercut, there would come a point where the margins aren't worth the sale anymore. Factoring in reduced purchase power for 99% of people and rampant theft in many areas, and it definitely would not shock me.

Mass scale theft in this big box stores in select cities on the easiest to steal and hock items are a factor I'm sure as well. Hell, they're closing these entire stores due to that in those areas.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Same at Best Buy. It’s weird.

 

[KuraiShidosha]

I've never seen people so eager to rush towards a future where they own nothing.

 

[sendit]

I've never seen people so eager to rush towards a future where they own nothing.

I buy a digital copy. I own the licensee to play that digital copy.
I buy a physical copy. I own the license to play that digital copy with the added bonus of the CD acting as a drink coaster.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I've never seen people so eager to rush towards a future where they own nothing.

Yeah, doesn't really make sense to me either.

I just don't see the point in wanting digital when it's the same price as physical. If it was cheaper, I'd be more welcoming. It's all opinionated though. Some look at physical as junk, but I look at it as wanting something to hold, especially if it's the same price.

This isn't AS plentiful as many may think either. Out of 5 Targets I visit, only 1 of them is doing this. Even then they DO still have physical games, just not movies or vinyls. but it's also a super small and unique location. With Best Buy it was 1 out of 5. Could vary by city of course, but here it's never looked like things were being phased out. Looked more like a, "these products aren't really moving at these locations, so let's stop selling them" thing to me. Much like how Hot Topic would advertise being "all about the music" but then some locations stopped selling music of any form.

 

[Bridges]

As time has gone on, I find myself retreating back to physical more and more with movies, TV and music. It used to make more sense when one Netflix subscription got you all the biggest shows. Now there are so many streaming services and the good shows are always bouncing around between them or their parent company opens their own. It's gotten to the point where it's just too much hassle. Especially when these services start removing episodes for not being up to "modern day standards". Buy up your favorite show boxsets before they get too expensive.

 

[Putonahappyface]

I always buy physical media off the high street when possible. If it comes to it I'll just buy physical media online.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Nobody in the future is going to be able to own a house to store all the Media.
Homes as a service is already a thing. (Rent)

 

[Evil Calvin]

Luckily i got a huge dvd collection, even if the internet dies i got plenty to watch.

and when get digitally it's usually only for streaming....or a code for Vudu but most of that will go away when the services die. If I want to watch a movie it's either pay for a service or rent for $4-10. I'd rather own a BluRay instead of paying that.

 

[Mossybrew]

I've never seen people so eager to rush towards a future where they own nothing.

Owning things is overrated.

 

[Evil Calvin]

I'm pretty sure all movies will always have a way to buy a BluRay or 4K BluRay. Likely via Amazon or special order

 

[Putonahappyface]

Owning things is overrated.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Owning things is overrated.

Can I have all your stuff?

 

[MiguelItUp]

I'm pretty sure all movies will always have a way to buy a BluRay or 4K BluRay. Likely via Amazon or special order

Most definitely. They're still being made and announced as soon as they're available. Highly doubt it's slowing down anytime soon. I just think if anything a ton of stores are seeing purchases made online rather than people going into stores.

 

[RoboFu]

So they took out that one little movie display on the end cap of one aisle?

I haven’t seen a music cd in a store in a looooomg time.

 

[March Climber]

I've never seen people so eager to rush towards a future where they own nothing.

Ask PC gamers. They were the first ones to make the jump.

 

[Woggleman]

It is what it is. I am old enough to remember the days of Sam Goody, Funco Land and Blockbuster but that era is over.

 

[Kilau]

I understand this is somewhat inevitable, but I don't understand the apparent cheerleading from some consumers.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Sad

I'm more concerned about blu-rays going extinct than physical games. In the case of blu-rays, there is literally no good alternative (ie: not streaming.) That is really going to suck.

 

[March Climber]

So they took out that one little movie display on the end cap of one aisle?

I haven’t seen a music cd in a store in a looooomg time.

I've still seen CDs...but they were all put next to the books, because what's left are all kid songs or educational.

 

[Chastten]

Makes sense. I just started building a small curated anime Blu-ray collection early this year, and I have most Disney Classics on Blu-ray, but otherwise I haven't bought a movie or tv-show on physical media since probably mid 2008. I mean, pretty much everyone I know who collected DVD's and movies and such has long since stopped collecting. All except for one.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Ask PC gamers. They were the first ones to make the jump.

I think in most cases it was because they had no choice, lol.

 

[March Climber]

I think in most cases it was because they had no choice, lol.

Even if that is the case, they seem pretty happy with the end result.

 

[Guerilla Munch]

Maybe it's not that people don't want physical media anymore.

Maybe it's that they charge 35 fucking dollarydoos for garbage movies that are already available for free on streaming services

 

[RoboFu]

I've never seen people so eager to rush towards a future where they own nothing.

Before 1976 there were no mass media way to watch movies at home. You could only go the theater. Now you can watch your whole collection almost anywhere in any first world country from your phone.

Luckily i got a huge dvd collection, even if the internet dies i got plenty to watch.

If the internet dies we have a much bigger problem than movies.

 

[Codes 208]

All of my local areas still have them, but dvd’s do make up like half an aisle now in most places, the rest being books and manga

Maybe it's not that people don't want physical media anymore.

Maybe it's that they charge 35 fucking dollarydoos for garbage movies that are already available for free on streaming services

if youre buying the high end 4k movies sure, but new releases are usually like $20, or $25 for bluray (which is only a dollar difference from walmart)

 

[twilo99]

Good, get rid of all that garbage.

 

[GHG]

Can I have all your stuff?

He doesn't own any stuff to give you.

 

[DeepEnigma]

He doesn't own any stuff to give you.

 

[ChiefDada]

 

[Muffdraul]

I'm pretty much all digital with video games, I don't sell my games, don't buy used, don't loan them out, don't care how much a new game costs, and even if you have a physical disc they're still essentially digital anyway, because virtually every single game that's come out in the last 10 years needs a big ol' day 1 patch to convert it from a broken beta to a finished game... But I still like to buy certain movies on disc simply because even with a 50 mbps connection streaming 4K, they still look better on a 4K UHD.

 

[Mossybrew]

Can I have all your stuff?

Sure, when I'm dead. Most of it will probably be tossed in a dumpster anyway.

On second thought you can have my collection of hundreds of dvds, which I've been too lazy to ever try to sell for a fraction of what I paid for them, they're just taking up space in the closet.

Just stuff that fills up closets, boxes, shelves. Overrated, as I said.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sure, when I'm dead. Most of it will probably be tossed in a dumpster anyway.

On second thought you can have my collection of hundreds of dvds, which I've been too lazy to ever try to sell for a fraction of what I paid for them, they're just taking up space in the closet.

Just stuff that fills up closets, boxes, shelves. Overrated, as I said.

Can I have your phone and game consoles? What do you drive?

 

[Mossybrew]

Can I have your phone and game consoles? What do you drive?

Now you're being silly, you know this conversation is within the context of physical media.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Now you're being silly, you know this conversation is within the context of physical media.

It's all stuff in the end.

 

[Unknown?]

It is what it is. I am old enough to remember the days of Sam Goody, Funco Land and Blockbuster but that era is over.

Not if you live in Bend Oregon. Blockbuster still exists!