Sorry for taking this as a personal attack if it wasn't one. I just have a passionate hatred for Best Buy.

Uhhh...are you OK? Or are you trying to hint to someone to add your face in the pic next to Dalen?

i edited my post homeslice, but you were probably responding while i did it.

"BB doesn't carry many of the releases i look for."

that's why i order from small stores online most of the time.

and yeah, i would rather not have to deal with walking into a store to be honest. i can wait a day or two for the mail.

OPA, clearly he wants to suck my cock, and is obsessed with my photo.

it's funny to watch him pop on and off my last.fm page, following me around all day.

I understand fundamentally why people can hate Best Buy, with them running local "Mom and Pop" stores out of town, but it's expected. With 99% of the population being casual music fans, unlike us on this board who are utterly obsessed, Best Buy is an easier, and more importantly, cheaper way for them to get what they want.

It's not like the owners of Best Buy are on the market to purposely cause smaller record stores' demise, but it's just what inevitably happens.

No, it's just a reminder to Dalen that no one can take someone with a picture like that seriously.

Oh no you didn't...

Well, who can blame the man...it's a nice cock...I mean, photo.

Yes Dalen, ALL OF US on this board are frankly OBSESSED with your music taste.

Can we have a 15-post cooling off period in this thread?
Shit's getting beyond ridiculous

That's true, I just try to avoid perpetuating it. The local mom and pops' niche can be independent / hard to find music but the more Best Buy discovers the demand for these markets, the harder it is for the mom and pops to keep an edge. I understand its appeal to the mass market, I'm just so tired of everything being done to such an enormous, wasteful level.

no need to say "all of us", as clearly YOU are the only one following me around.

I hate the freaks that work at indie stores and look down their noses at me. They hide with their Buddy Holly glasses and florescent light tans behind those big counters for a reason.

I'll go to Best Buy for convenience and price( I would have to drive all the way into Atlanta to go to a non chain record store), Order or go to an indie for something I Want to actually own, but dont see at Best Buy or similiar.

Edit: I dont know anything about Best Buy's business practices but they have to pay better than Wal Mart ---they are, as previously mentioned, a very well-fed workforce.

I don't have a problem with Best Buy. I've shopped there before but only because I've gone with others who shop there.

I don't know but in the last year or so, I've found it so much easier simply ordering CDs online from places like Neighborhoodies or eBay, etc.

Bloor,
Dunno about WalMart, but I've read that Best Buy uses cheap CDs as a loss leader to get folks into a store initially. The thinking being that they'll grab a DVD, video game or some other items that erase the $2 they might lose by discounting the New Pornos record (for example) that got you in there in the first place.
Or, it also builds store familiarity so when you're looking for your first refrigerator, latest computer, etc. your first inclination will be to see what Best Buy is selling and that makes you less likely to go elsewhere.
Genius really.

Since WalMart doesn't have tons of high-margin durable goods to make up for profit-losing media, I suspect they must use their market penetration to leverage insanely low bulk prices from the record companies. That way, they can buy the new Kanye (for example) at $6-7 a unit, sell for $10-11 each and make enough profit to justify the shelf space.

Competition, people. This is going to sound contradictory as hell, but I have no beef with Best Buy, though I hardly--if ever--shop there.

Consumers make purchasing decision all the time that are not based solely on price. If the local record shop can provide a product or service that has benefits that equal or exceed the price break you get at Best Buy or Wal-Mart, then they will keep a reliable clientele that will keep them in business and well fed.

I make most of my purchases at Tower Records and a local chain that probably has 10-12 stores. Believe it or not there are a few people that work at Tower who are either genuinely helpful or sincerely curious about the type of music you enjoy. The main reason I like both places is because they each have a decent used section and won't hassle you for browsing too long or treating you like a criminal.

There's another local shop that I can't stand, primarily because the stock is pretty scarce and prices are ridiculous thanks to their shoplifting problem and likely astronomical rent.

It's only a matter of time until they go under, and I'm not going to shed a tear. It's a shitty store that can't compete. Not personal, just business. And you know what? It's not the fault of Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

Right. Record companies need to get their product onto Wal-Mart's shelves, otherwise they are not getting their product in front of a huge swath of consumers. Lots of kids in smaller towns have Wal-Mart and little else in the way of music retailers. That gives Wal-Mart the big'un: leverage. The record companies need their product on Wal-Mart's shelves, not vice-versa.

very true, and very sad.

in many cases, probably because Wal-Mart has destroyed all of the home town retailers in those towns. when the monster moves in, the mice move out.

But it's the same with the post I made before. Wal-Mart forces these retailers to compete at a higher level.

Living in a small town in Louisiana, Wal-Mart was pretty much the only music retailer without going a half-hour to another city, which had a mall, at least one or two Wal-Marts, plus a small record store run by a friend of mine.

He didn't make a fortune, but he stayed in business. He loved running a record store, and probably 80% of the times I went in his shop, someone would come in and ask him to special order something. That was his competitive advantage: he carried things other retailers didn't, and if he didn't have it, he would go out of his way not only to find it, but he also would charge your normal price for it. Then recommend some other things you might like.

That's what kept him in business. The benefits of buying with Mike outweighed the several bucks you could save at one of several Wal-Marts in town.

There are ways to not only survive but to thrive when facing a Wal-Mart. Customer service is just an easy one.

Hell, there are no Wal-Marts in Annapolis, but I want a damn Supercenter, so that the grocery store moguls around here will have to fight a little harder for their dollars.

I haven't been in a Best Buy in like 3-4 months and if I do go in there I'll usually only buy dvd's. I've been shopping online a lot lately, mostly from Ebay & Amazon. I do admit that waiting for the package to come in the mail is a bit aggravating, but I don't really have room to complain about that shit.