Wal-Mart is committed to rolling out its ‘Blu-ray Experience Area' (which ties in high-definition hardware and software into a central merchandising space within Walmart's entertainment department) to more of its stores during 2010. The chain believes that as pricing has dropped for hardware and software, Wal-Mart's family customer base is now seriously willing to upgrade their home entertainment systems to Blu-ray.
Wal-Mart didn't give data on Blu-ray sales volume or growth. However, the retailer has aggressively promoted Blu-ray in the fourth quarter of 2009. Customers seemed to respond, as during the days before the Christmas holiday, five Blu-ray titles were listed within Walmart.com's overall best DVD/Blu-ray sellers.
However, Wal-Mart management believes the transition from standard-def to high-def will be gradual for its customers.
I keep reading all this stuff about how Wal-mart is doing this and that to help push Blu-ray but yet you can't find a decent selection of blu-ray titles in a Wal-mart store.
[quote]However, Wal-Mart management believes the transition from standard-def to high-def will be gradual for its customers.[/quote]
What do you expect when the store places such an emphasis on DVDs? They even have a $5-10 DVD section.
Their blu-ray section is in 3 different areas within the store, not centralized to one area. Their selection is limited to new releases mostly. The selection isn't that great.
I agree that Walmart needs to do more for blu-ray.
Tuesday morning they had no new blu-ray releases out. "Sometimes we don't get to them until the afternoon." Now that's commitment! Their workers are too stupid and/or lazy to follow the simplest of instructions. Until that improves, they'll still be Wal*Mart as usual.
Such BS. You guys are all spot on. Wal-Mart is so hit and miss with Blu-Rays. Orion10, funny you say that about the multiple areas for their Blu-Rays. It is quite annoying they are so unorganized.
I work at WalMart and the store I work at has the worst selection i ever seen. Blockbuster Video has a better selection, granted at a much higher price but their selection blows WalMart's away. We get the new releases and a few of the new releases of older movies but once those are gone...they are usually gone for good. 2 exceptions i noticed have been Braveheart and Gladiator. I have heard of this NEW entertainment section and i have heard its huge but i dunno how much bigger the BD's section is going to increase. They will have to start by shrinking the DVD section which is 4 rows while the BD section is basically half a row with the BD players in the middle.
My local Walmart has a very small selection of Blu-rays as well. I went there a couple of days after the Gone With the Wind 70th Anniversary Collector's edition was released because their price matched Amazon's and I was in the area anyway. I talked to three employees in the video section and the first two had never heard of Gone With the Wind and asked if it was a new release. I said that it was and they asked who was in it. The third person, who was considerably older, knew of Gone With the Wind but said it was not a new release as it was a VERY OLD movie and that Walmart only carries new releases on Blu-rays. Needless to say, I will not be shopping for Blu-rays at Walmart anytime soon.
I guess if Walmart believes if they just keep saying "We're #1!" long enough first they will start to believe there own BS then the average Walmart shopper will believe their BS.
My Walmart is one of those old timey ones. There is nothing "Super" about it. They do not carry any Blu-ray Disc's. Not one. Not even new releases. Nothing. And like Chrishaney23 says; Even those that do carry the format; the selection is worse than even Blockbuster.
Wal Mart is a complete joke when it comes to blu ray selection! I bought my Mother a blu ray player for Christmas from Wal Mart. When it came time to select a blu ray movie to go with it, guess what?? Wal Mart had absolutely nothing to choose from that she would like! Nothing! Plus their prices are ridiculous! They are still selling Iron Man for 29.99!!
I continue to have issues with fake BR discs @WM. I have had the same issues with 3 different stores in the GTA, so the issue must be one of fakes being introduced into their Supply Chain.
I have had issues with Hellboy 2, Spiderman trilogy, Pinocchio, Ice Age 3, and a few others - some were first day releases and Pinnochio was pulled right from a sealed shipment box so it isn't a return issue or employees; all where in perfect external packaging and the disc inside was a BR, but had an obvious inkjet printing on it and the disc wouldn't read. I returned 2 copies of HB2 and only the third was real.
One of the assistant managers confessed they were area of problems and the issue 'was being investigated' but for the hassle and the price, you might want to go elsewhere or at least open the BRs in the parking lot to make sure they look real (like I do).
Walmart is a joke, as is there so called high-def section. The wally-world's around my town have also condensed the blu section to endcaps and the $10 section only holds 15 titles. Most of which are empty. The only 'new' thing they did was set up a sony lcd TV with some sony titles with price tags from 14.99 to 29.99. They are slow at adapting to new formats. Remember when DVD took off they only had small sections of DVD and still huge sections of VHS. This is why I shop at Amazon.com..................
Hahha yes wonderfull walmart and there 3 different small sections of Blu's! A Big joke!
Im also a big fan of how the have the big DVD displays in the middle of the Aisle & somewhere mixed in are a few Blu's. Makes NO sense from a seling stand point!
Yeah I have'nt bought many blu-rays at Walmart cause of the lack of selection and the high prices. I mean why buy a movie at Walmart for 29.99 plus tax when you can get the same thing on Amazon for ten dollars cheaper and no tax and no shipping?? Of the few I have bought there two of them had encoding issues which was really strange. They would get to a certain spot freeze and skip to another scene. I tried 3 copies of one movie cause of their policy of no refunds if they have been opened and had to go through a big hassle to finally get management to give me a refund. I got the same two movies on Amazon later and no issues with either of them. Strange that it only seemed to happen on disk from Walmart??
where have I heard this before??? I think they said June 2008 was the year of BD at walmart, but as of yet is one of the worst places to find them and have some of the highest prices to boot.
Orion10: "Their blu-ray section is in 3 different areas within the store, not centralized to one area. Their selection is limited to new releases mostly. The selection isn't that great. "
This. A thousand times this. I've yet to see a Wal-Mart that keeps the BDs in a centralized, logical, and highlighted location. We've heard this noise before from them... I'd love to see this in 2010, but I'm not holding my breath.
i don't care what wal mart does cause i will continue to buy my blu rays from amazon. i don't think i've been in wal mart at all in 2009. i think i've only been in wal mart 2-3 times in the past 2-3 years. my local target is a much better, cleaner store and easier to find stuff than my local wal mart
Seems mine is not the only Walmart to have a horrible selection. Would like to see them increase and drop price, but don't see it happening like they are claiming.
jk1138 is right, they did previously say that they were expanding the Bluray sections at all stores and I think they actually started carrying less titles. My wal-mart is just like most the other complaints, one main row broken up in the middle with players and most the titles I already own and found much cheaper elsewhere (amazon, best buy sales). They have 2 endcaps with a few cheaper titles usually empty. The only positive thing I found about Bluray from Walmart was the new titles were released at 17.99-19.99, but keep in mind there were only like 5-6 titles like that. Not sure how you could charge twenty bucks for a new major title and then expect thirty bucks for an older catalog title.
Well our new releases have dropped to $20 and like Steelmaker has said we are still selling Iron Man for $30 too. It doesn't make any sense. If Best Buy would wisen up and drop their prices they would easily beat WalMart and contend with amazon.com. They have a great selection but just way to expensive. I have not seen this 3 different areas of BD's yet and i hope i don't. And as alot of people have stated...I get 95% of my BD's at amazon.com as well. Long live the internet !
I have seen a "renovated" Wal-Mart in Belen, New Mexico. Yeah, not impressed. The selection was the same, if not worse. All they did, that I could see, was move everything around. But, I guess I don't have those trained eyes that the ceo's at Wal-Fart have that see this concentration on Blus.
Have never bought a Blu-ray from Wal-Mart. Even when they do have a decent sale price on a title from what I keep hearing the stock is so low if you're not there to grab it the second the sale starts you're out of luck.
My Wal-Mart, plain and simple, sucks when it comes to Blu-ray selection. I have maybe bought five BDs there in the two years I have been collecting. My store also seems to reflect the trend that has BDs in several different places in and around the electronics section.
just like everyone has said already, my near-by Walmarts went from having an aisle full og blurays, to a 1/4 or 1/2 aisle at best, and some of them only have about 30 movies on small hanging shelves below the BD players and TVs. I rememebr last Christmas 2008 they must have had over 300 copies in stock (about 100 titles at least), now I am lucky if I can find 20 new releases and maybe some random $10 catalogs.
I think I ran across one of these when I wasted time trying to find BD titles a WMT. A teeny area stuffed off in a corner with a TV playing and perhaps a dozen or two titles for sale. (And there were a few titles on the main shelves also, but rather poorly stocked (it was Xmas-time though).) Got a long ways to go to even get close to Target.
That's cool. Now hopefully some of those blu-ray prices decrease or i'll simply just stick with Amazon.com where the blu-ray movies are truly the cheapest regardless what all those other posts say.
[I]I have not seen this 3 different areas of BD's yet and i hope i don't.[/I]
At my Walmart they have 2 separate sections on the same row. One at each end that is broken up in the middle by blu ray players (a completely idiotic way to display the disks if you ask me). Then you have an end cap with a Sony TV and a blu ray player (usually the player is showing the movie's menu screen, not even playing the movie). There are a handfull of blu ray disks displayed here. Then you have the new release end cap where the newest blu ray movies are displayed (these are usually empty and not well stocked). Then you have a display that's over in front of the electronics section that has a handful of 10.00 blu rays that seems to be mixed in with regular dvd's. According to my math, this makes FIVE separate areas where you have blu ray movies. That's just plain stupid! Please tell me how displaying the blu ray's in this manner is better than having them all in one centralized location with a "new relase" shelf, a standard alphabetized shelf, and a 10.00 budget shelf? Plus their selection is beyond bad! Yes they will carry the newest major releases. But good look finding catalogue titles.
the 2 walmarts in my town have two 4 foot sections, one of best sellers and one of new releases, and they seem to stay up to date with some minor new releases, not just the best f the best.
It's the saddest thing to see Walmart (no hyphen anymore), which is one of the biggest companies and employer in the US, not have a marketing department that is good enough to know how to cater blu-ray to 'we the people' (average Joe).
How difficult is it to research the market in a certain Walmart store and cater HD equipment and media to them? Do they not have people working on it?
Y'Know, it's funny. My Wal-Mart has a GREAT selection of Blus. Maybe it's a Canadian thing.
They have all the new releases every Tuesday with as many copies as the DVD, and for the big titles they're always $18.47. Plus they have an entire aisle devoted to Blu, and while some have some crazy ass prices, you can get other things like Coraline, Gremlins, etc. for $19.99.
It's weird that you guys all say Wal-Mart sucks for Blu-Ray, yet mine is good. It's all the other stores that have a problem in my area.
Maybe they are only good in Canada? If my Wal Mart has more then 10 titles I will eat my hand. When they first got Blu then expanded I was excited, now they reduced and have displays for Harry Potter toys, Twilight, and Kiss mixed in the electronics with their movies and music. Also Wal MArt always looks like they are filming Twister 2 in there. I rather go to Target or Amazon. Target has some good sales too.
Wow! A lotta folks not so happy. Walmart once again puts out a press release that touts them as doing something they're not (Remember when they said that they were selling the same percentage of Blurays as Best Buy but they left out the part about how it took 7 or 8 Walmarts to sell the same amount as 1 Best buy).
Maybe Walmart figures that by bombarding the media with stories ranging from half-truths to outright lies they will eventually infiltrate the minds of indiscriminate consumers and win them over much like how large fast food chains control the same weak-minded people by saturating TV, sporting events and the internet with their name. In other words, if you feed people crap long enough, eventually they're going to think it's a meal. It's good to see a lot of people here are not being fooled.
...Also Wal MArt always looks like they are filming Twister 2 in there....
Nice call! Mine always looks like a third world conflict occured in the aisles.
Walmart is all about leveraging their size to gain a price advantage by moving large quantities at discounted prices: economies of scale. If the manufacturers are not dealing with Walmart on the price per unit, then they will not devote the shelf space because the product doesn't fit their sales model. Much like how Southwest Airlines doesn't fly to certain cities because the gate fees and/or taxes at certain airports do not allow them to price their flights within their model. Maybe that explains it? But then they shouldn't go out and make press releases on their "expanded" blu-ray areas. Makes them look really bad... I don't even try to shop there for BD anymore. Best Buy, Target, or Amazon.
I think their Blu-Ray focus is for select stores, because by-in-large I have seen a better selection of Blu-Rays in Target stores than most Walmart stores... but one Walmart in my town has a dedicated Blu-Ray section, that none of the others have. (It just so happens, that is the WalMart on the more affluent side of town
It also disappoints me that most WalMarts mix the Blu-Rays in with the DVDs, so it is impossible to find what movies they have on Blu-Ray, and which they don't.
I agree with all you guys as my local wal-mart's have horrible selection as well. I keep seeing all this jibber jabber from their corporate guys about commitment to blu-ray but so far it's just them spewing sh*t to the public. Best Buy has TONS more blu-rays and selection as does Target.
well best buy has a lot of bds ,but even they don't stock everything that comes out on a tuesday.
when the 4 set startrek next gen came out they only had two in the store,at sale price,then none for 2 weeks after the sale was over.just another bunch of losers.
walmart is just as bad with prices,what a joke. they have ''9'' this week for 28.something.i never have seen a price like that at walmart. behind blu-ray my ass!
Me thinks someone is pulling my chain. It ain't happening at my local Wal-Mart. Maybe they are talking about another Wal-Mart on another planet. From what I have seen, there are 5 Wal-Mart stores within a 20 mile radius from where I live and all of them are very large stores, especially the one in Huntington Beach and each one has a lousy selection of blu rays and few at that. I live in Orange County, California and you would think the Wal-Mart stores out here would be top notch. Just try going into any of the stores mentioned and ask a clerk about blu ray movies. They will have no clue as to what you're talking about.
Sorry Wal-Mart, but you can't pull the wool lover our eyes. We here at Blu-Ray.com can't be tricked twice. Fool us once, shame on you, fool us twice, shame on us. So Wal-Mart, if you really mean business, then get serious and show us your stuff. So far, all I see is a puff of smoke that someone is trying to put up our collective asses (my apologies to the admin and mods for using the four letter word).
BTW, Mr. TVine2000, I agree with you. Those Yahoos at Walmart do mix the blus with the DVDs... that is pathetic if you ask me. Can't find dookie!
The sad thing about Walmart is they don't even price match against their own online stores... My 4 walmarts are all crap as well just like all the posters here said only a few rows and unorganized.
Our Walmart could definitely use a better selection. Granted, they do have all the major new releases and a handful of classics for $10, but they also have some older releases still priced too high. If you go to they $10 DVD section, you will find some BluRay movies in there too, and they are not $10. They are VERY unorganized!!
I do remember when DVD's first came out and it was the same thing then though. Now look at the shelves in Blockbuster. I can only hope/assume that this will be how BluRay ends up.
I do have to add that I went to a Best Buy out of town and they have a HUGE selection of BluRay movies. I wish we had a Best Buy here
What everyone here needs to remember is that there's a simple way you can tell when a Wally World rep is lying (yep, their lips are moving).
It's not only about BDs -- they lied about the inventory of DCUC exclusive figures (saying they'd be 80% of their stores when they are in about 20%). I'm not one of those people who cut off their own nose to spite their face -- I do shop Wal-mart when I need something they sell cheaper, but that's NEVER anything I can't buy at Amazon (love me that Amazon Prime). However, that said, they are truly the Evil Empire and why they don't dress their clerks in storm trooper costumes I'll never know.
my local walmart downgraded there selection of Blu's 3 times. now it's only the newest releases and the HOT selling titles. even then they only keep in stock about 1-3 per title. I look at there selection just to laugh beacsue of how rediculous it is.
my walmart is getting a lot better in fact they got me started with the deals they i admit they are no bestbuy(yet) however i did notice them adding more blues firefly for $39 and also the xmen movies for $10!i hope they do well because they have great prices.i recently made a 1st time purchase thru amazon and they F@#$ up really bad so no more from them.i also hope walmarts move creates target and bestbuy price wars!
My local Walmart,there BD section is horrendous!!
the section itself had literally next to nothing and you might get lucky if you can find one on an endcap!!
And I only live about a mile away from it!
I usually drag my butt a good 12-15 miles(at least) to make it to the nearest BestBuy,there BD section is AMAZING!!!
They've gone from half an aisle to a full aisle,and just might go to 2!
Unless they start stocking BD the way BestBuy does....I guess I'm gonna be burning up alot of gas!
With only 2 places to buy BDs around here (Wal Mart being on of them, FYE the other bleh!) this news is great if it actually happens. But I'll just stick to amazon even if it does.
Your all just idiots honestly. Wal-mart stores are the best stores out there for one stop shopping. No they are not that great for buying every Blu Ray ever made, but um look at their DVD selections, they have ALWAYS been that way, you NEVER go to Wal-mart to get the obscure titles most people haven't heard of you grab the latest popcorn fest on your way past the electronics isle from the shoes to the toys.
I live in rural central Wisconsin and our local Wal*Mart has almost 30 feet of selection for Bluray movies. 1 whole side of an isle and a 4 foot section on the other side for new releases plus and endcap with some 10 and 15 dollar stuff on it. Granted most of it is crap for selection but they always have new releases on time and usually in the 19 dollar range. All the competing stores are about 20 miles from here, so they price match them for the first week. I don't have to drive over to BestBuy for a new release but usually anything else..I have to hike the 20 minute drive for. I personally would love to see them get rid of the lame ass HTIB and Home Stereo Isle and add 2 more rows of Bluray. HTIB are disgusting on any level and should not exsist. I can't remember the last time I went to a friends house and saw some big stereo with detachable speakers sitting on his shelf...
Wal-Mart have good deals sometimes, but there not ONE W-M in my town that is organized....there are about 4 sections for blus all over the store, unorganized, messy, and nobody knows where anything is if you ask them....I only buy the Blus when they're cheap...got a few this Xmas, but they really need to smarten up to compete!
As much as some of you have vocalized your hatred of Wal-Mart, the store's sales have been a fairly consistent "barometer" of how "middle America" sales trends register. So if Wal-Mart begins to sell or push a certain item, that item usually does well. So this IS big news. If you read the original post, it says "Wal-Mart's family customer base is now seriously willing to upgrade their home entertainment systems to Blu-ray." Note the "now seriously" comment. That does not say that they have been pushing it all along (which it seems some of you may have misread). Just because the stores in your areas are slow, does not mean that they are not going to commit more of an effort to pushing Blu-ray. What this means is that we will start seeing more companies put more effort and development resources into their Blu-ray releases. And if trends follow, what this also means is that the prices of Blu-ray players and Blu-ray discs will drop even more as supply and demand increases. This is BIG NEWS, and whether you like Wal-Mart or not, this is a GOOD thing that should not be frowned upon. (Just my 2 cents.)
superdrag ninja has a point. but like a few other have stated...walmart has one of these announcements it seems every month. so MAYBE one day they will actually do what they say. but one thing is for sure reading all of these comments is that walmart is a sh*thole for organization. BD's everywhere and alot of them out of stock (as is most everything in that store nowadays ). Just expand and make some more money off of us. We're waiting !
It's pathetic when I can go to the ONLY store (Alco) in this tiny town where I live, and find a BIGGER selection of Blu's than the local BIG Wal-mart. Sure, they may be older titles (2001:Space Odyssey; etc.) but they're ALSO only $12.50! Those are NEAR Amazon prices and cheaper than Best Buy AND most of Walmart's DVD's! I worked for Wal-mart. It's a HORRIBLE place and I'll be glad when it's taken out of business the way K-mart was. Won't be for a while but I'll stick to Amazon until then!
My walmart's selection doesnt grow at all. Its been the same sized space for the last year or so, and they just rotate new releases. This news is BS to me as well
We have 2 Wal-Mart locations, each at about 18 miles away, and they both have a very poor BD selection, which (as stated above), is spread out over 2-3 sections. Super Wal-Mart seems to be a little better about this, but the closest one is about an hour and 15 minutes away so i pretty much do all my shopping through Amazon.
However, i stepped into Wal-Mart a few times, telling myself to stay away from the "BD Section" because i know it's the same old shit i saw last week, and the week before that. Yet, i can't seem to keep myself away from it and very rarely i'm glad i walked over anyway. For example, i picked up Rambo for $13, The Patriot for $13 and yesterday i got Casino Royale C.E for $14,50. So no matter how limited their collection is, i always walk over to see if they have gems like these at great prices.
I was in a WalMart this morning and they had a big cardboard display by the check stands with a section of $12 blu's. It was new because it was not there a few days ago and I'd never seen any of the selection on sale at that store before. It was awesome. I grabbed 5 of them. I do agree with the person who said they are not in a centralized area though. At this store they've got the main new release section mixed in with the other movies in the aisles, another selection of other titles on another aisle, then a collection of $10 blu's on the side of a wire rack down the main aisle, then a few $13 ones on another wire rack, then a selection of Sony titles with a Sony HDTV and PS3 setup in the middle of the department, and now this new display up front. It'd be nice if they could at least combine most of those into one centralized area to make it easier to find them, especially if they offered a bigger selection.
The Wal-Mart by me has a decent selection of Blu-ray movies and players. Heck the one I go to so many movies that they have star putting the movies next to the DVD counterparts on the shelves. So hopefully this extra committment means more space for Blus to stay in the same area and an even bigger selection.
I feel sorry to read others bad experiences at their local Wal-Mart... It must be the employees for some of you guys who are messing up.
The criticisms of Wal-Mart make NO SENSE. People do not go to Wal Mart JUST to buy movies, but when they do go to Wal-Mart they DO by movies. I know that is how it always has been for us and our family and EVERYONE I know. So what if they don't have the best selection god that is the lamest excuse. You obviously can't and won't buy all your Blu Ray's at one store, but they DO price match so ANYONE who complains about their prices IN AN IDIOT because they PRICE MATCH. Now they ALWAYS have the new releases and they are adding MORE catalog titles, HOW is that a bad thing? I think some people on here just hate Wal-Mart for the sake of hating them. Which is also idiotic since they are one of the nations LARGEST employers and best retailers.
we don't give a sh*t about how big WM and their employers are. we are talking about their dam bluray selection. you see, when i got to walmart, I really have a hard time to find where the hell they put their blurays. all i see is a dam big pile of $5-10 dvds and finally on the last side, you see blurays. and guess what? one fcking small shelf with 15-20 bluray titles. and guess what about their dvds? hundred of titles to choose from while bluray only has about 20.
Ok I understand that their selection is small COMPARED to Best Buy, but so is EVERYONE ELSE. I go to Target, K-mart, Shop-Ko, Fred Meyer, Wal-mart, and they all pretty much have the same selection, K-mart and Shop- Ko the absolute worst though. I mean yes not having every movie available on Blu Ray *would* be a valid complaint, if their primary competitors were doing better. Nobody in their right mind should ever expect Wal-Mart to carry as many DVD's, Blu Rays, or ANYTHING else as Best Buy, Wal-mart is a DEPARTMENT store Best Buy is an ELECTRONICS STORE. Do you complain Wal-marts shoe selection is not as good as Payless even though it trumps K-marts shoe selection? See why I think it makes no sense to me to complain?
I know some stores have better selection than Wal-mart but the ones that *do* are NOT Wal-Mart type stores.
I understand that they have more DVD's than Blu Ray, duh! So does Best Buy, proportionally they are the same, as in if you look at Best Buys DVD to Blu Ray Ratio it is no different than Wal-Marts, at least not at the 2 stores in my area.
And no shit DVD has been out longer and it is STILL the dominant format, hell even Best Buy with their 1 isle and 2 end caps, while a vast improvement over Wal-Mart, is still nothing compared to their DVD area. Seriously that is the problem I have with the baseless ranting, it just seams like people complain for the sake of complaining. So that is all.
It's nice to know that Walmart will be increasing their Blu ray selection. But at my local Walmart nothing has been done as of yet. Few select titles is all I see so hopefully changes are in store. If not I will stick with BB and Super Target.
When will retailers learn that ONE section in the store should contain ALL of the BDs they carry? They still don't understand that people miss and don't see other movies the store carries when they stupidly scatter them all over the place.
The Walmarts I have seen have have terrible BD layouts and selections. I would like to see this change.
I wouldn't believe anything Wal-mart says. First they sided with HD-DVD, then changed their mind just months later. They redesigned their entertaiment centers around Blu-ray, then changed their minds again and squeezed all their Blu-ray's in a single locked glass case. What do you expect from a bunch of Arkansas yahoo's?
This must be a real joke. When I walk into my Walmart store 90808 there are Three around. It is the sadest place to look at in-store Walmart was the Blu-ray DVD section. Whoever gave this statement must have been high.
Anyway Walmart is the worst place to shop.... extremely bad customer service you could find on earth. Thank god for amazon.com
This is too funny. When my remote for my Oppo DV-981 went bad last Fall, I went to our new Super Wal-Mart to see what they had in the way of players. The salesman tried to push a new BD player on me. Not really liking their selection of either BD or DVD players, I passeed that night and ended up ordering the new Oppo BD-83 from Amazon for $500.
Later on when I went back to Wal-Mart to browse the BD section, I was shocked to see that it was so small, while DVD had multiple shelf rows. Kidn of reminds me of when DVD was still relatively new as late as 2002 or so, when they were still carrying VHS, and the DVD sections were fairly small.
Anyway, so I asked, I think, the same employee from the first incident, if they were going to expand their BD section. He said, "No, not enough people have made the switch yet and DVD is fine for most people." Well, to be honest I thought DVD would have done me fine for quite some time yet, but now that I have gone BD, I can't hardly stand to watch reg. DVD.
But now that the prices have dropped considerably on both players and discs, it really doesn't make much sense to not upgrade. When you can get a BD for the same price or less than what a new DVD used to cost, and we're even starting to see the $10 bin for BDs.
Wal-Mart is committed to rolling out its ‘Blu-ray Experience Area' (which ties in high-definition hardware and software into a central merchandising space within Walmart's entertainment department) to more of its stores during 2010. The chain believes that as pricing has dropped for hardware and software, Wal-Mart's family customer base is now seriously willing to upgrade their home entertainment systems to Blu-ray.
