DEALS REELING 'EM IN STORES LURING CUSTOMERS WITH DEEP CUTS IN PRICES FOR NEW DVD RELEASES.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer The newly released DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. of Nicole Kidman's ``Bewitched'' was a mere $8 for early-bird Wal-Mart shoppers last weekend, while her ex-husband Tom Cruise's ``Minority Report'' could be had for a mere $3.44. More than ever before, major retailers are using deeply discounted DVDs as bait bait a preparation containing a palatable food substance such as raw meat, carrot or bran and a pharmaceutical or poisonous substance. The purpose is to introduce the medicament or poison into the unsuspecting animal. to lure in shoppers this year. Black Friday Black Friday, Sept. 24, 1869, in U.S. history, day of financial panic. In 1869 a small group of American financial speculators, including Jay Gould and James Fisk, sought the support of federal officials of the Grant administration in a drive to corner the gold , the post-Thanksgiving start to the holiday shopping season, saw some unprecedented door-busting DVD prices on both new releases and library titles. Among the deals: Circuit City had ``The Incredibles,'' ``Kingdom of Heaven'' and ``Robots'' priced at $8.99; Wherehouse stores had a $5.99 price tag on tag on Verb to add at the end of something: a throwaway remark, tagged on at the end of a casual conversation Verb 1. ``Shark Tale'' and ``Meet the Fockers,'' while Best Buy touted $3.99 specials for ``8 Mile,'' ``The Cat in the Hat'' and ``Along Came Polly Polly Biotechnology A Poll Dorset sheep cloned from sheep skin cells, which has a human gene in each cell. See Dolly. .'' ``Everybody is trying to come up with a better piece of cheese to lure the customer,'' said Eugene Muscat Muscat, Maskat, or Masqat (all: mŭs`kăt, mŭs`kət), city (1993 pop. 533,774), capital of Oman, SE Arabia, on the Gulf of Oman. It is flanked by rugged mountains. , dean of the University of San Francisco's School of Business. ``Of course, the bigger the retailer, the more cheese you can come up with because of your volume.'' In addition to ``Bewitched be·witch tr.v. be·witched, be·witch·ing, be·witch·es 1. To place under one's power by or as if by magic; cast a spell over. 2. To captivate completely; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. ,'' early-bird shoppers at Wal-Mart could buy the Adam Sandler comedy ``The Longest Yard,'' Will Ferrell's ``Kicking and Screaming'' and ``The Interpreter,'' starring Kidman and Sean Penn, for a mere $8. ``You have to consider who is in the store on that Black Friday: bargain hunters Bargain Hunters was a game show on ABC in the summer of 1987, hosted by Peter Tomarken. Games Each episode featured six contestants, with two playing one of the following games — Bargain Quiz, Bargain Trap and Bargain Busters — at a time. ,'' said Ralph Tribbey, editor of DVD Release Report, an industry newsletter. ``It has gotten insane INSANE. One deprived of the use of reason, after he has arrived at the age when he ought to have it, either by a natural defect or by accident. Domat, Lois Civ. Lib. prel. tit. 2, s. 1, n. 11. . But if you get people to buy movies and it helps to get rid of inventory, that's not a bad thing.'' Or is it? Many in the entertainment industry have mixed feelings about the trend. It may fuel sales, but savvy consumers have grown increasingly accustomed to not ever having to pay full price for a new DVD, most of which have a list price of around $30 but are likely to be sold for about $20 at many stores. ``It's both good and bad,'' Bo Andersen, president of the Video Software Dealers Association, said of the discounting. ``The best part is that DVDs are being used to drive traffic and it speaks to the power of the products. But it does tend to allow consumers to think that these movies aren't really expensive to make. It has a sense of devaluing them for some consumers.'' Beyond Black Friday's bargain basement bargain basement sale of old stock at highly discounted prices. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Inexpensiveness prices, retailers continued to use DVD deals to lure consumers over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Best Buy, for example, had all-day Friday and Saturday $5.99 deals for ``Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,'' ``Friday Night Lights,'' ``Shrek 2,'' and ``Apollo 13: Anniversary Edition,'' and Target continued to discount such new releases as ``Madagascar'' and ``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'' ``We had some really brisk sales on DVDs on Friday and Saturday,'' said Target spokeswoman Kristi Arndt. ``We went into the sale expecting that toys and electronics would be some of our hottest items, and movie DVDs touch on both of those categories.'' The bargains, while not at Black Friday's level, are continuing with this week's new releases. ``Mr. & Mrs. Smith,'' the hit movie that brought co-stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie together in real life, is being touted on the front page of newspaper circulars from Best Buy and Circuit City for the discount prices of $15.99 and $13.99, respectively. Hidden Hills resident Stacy Shakiban, 42, stood in front of the new release racks of the Best Buy store in Woodland Hills scouting scouting: see Boy Scouts; Girl Scouts. scouting Activities of various national and worldwide organizations for youth aimed at developing character, citizenship, and individual skills. Scouting began when Robert S. for bargains on Tuesday. With a $15.99 copy of ``Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' in her hand already, she made a call on her cell phone. ``Do you want 'Sky High' too?'' she asked a family member after seeing that the Disney release was also on sale. Shakiban was buying some DVDs as Christmas gifts, but also some titles for herself and her family. It was no mistake that she was at a Best Buy on what has become known as ``New Release Tuesday,'' when the best bargains on the latest films are first available. ``That's why I'm here,'' she said. Jared Mahan, a 23-year-old Woodland Hills resident, isn't partial to Best Buy even though that was where he was shopping Tuesday. ``I try to find which place has the cheapest prices,'' he said. ``This year, I've even been checking Web sites to find the best prices.'' Muscat thinks the escalation es·ca·late v. es·ca·lat·ed, es·ca·lat·ing, es·ca·lates v.tr. To increase, enlarge, or intensify: escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf. v.intr. of DVD discounting may be great for customers like Shakiban and Mahan, but isn't so good for businesses in the long run. ``It's really an unhealthy trend,'' he said. ``Anything that creates business traffic without an acceptable profit margin is just going to make all boats sink.'' Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) A set of three movies is for sale at a Valley Best Buy. (2) James Santos James Santos a.k.a. "Jimmy" was a corrupt Italian-American NYPD police officer from Jamaica, Queens who was assigned to the 103rd Brooklyn, New York Precinct's "Patrol Services Bureau" who later became a mob associate of the Lucchese crime family under Paul Vario. of Canoga Park considers buying a discounted copy of ``Mr. & Mrs. Smith.'' David Sprague/Staff Photographer (3 -- color) no caption (dvds) |
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