Dazza

Will be visiting BC (Vancouver & Victoria) in a couple of weeks... wonder if some fellow DVDTalkers could give me some pointers on good places to look for DVDs (and also CDs) in these 2 places? I know of HMV, and have also heard about A&B Sound, but any good places (whether small independent places or whatever) anyone knows about would be of real interest to me. I often like to buy local product when overseas, so would be interested to hear of places that would carry a good stock of Canadian films (English or French language). But really, please recommend anything you think is worth a visit for DVD/CD shopping. The times I've been in Toronto I've spent a lot of time and money in Bay St. Video, so if there's anything that resembles the inventory of that place I'll be very happy.

Thanks in advance for suggestions...

Dazza.

Furious

A&B Sound is unfortunately a shell of what it used to be. The new owners ran the company into the ground and its on the verge of bankruptcy....again. Pricing sucks, selection sucks. The entire buying team left the company (myself included) so they have no clue what they are bringing in. The downtown Vancouver location now resembles a ghost town, a far cry from a few years ago when it had one of the highest sales/sq foot in North America.

In Vancouver visit the HMV downtown on Robson street. They took over the Virigin Megastore location when Virgin sold off. Good selection of foreign and regular R1, but they tend to be more expensive for mainstream stuff.

If you have access to a rental car, also visit CNL Multimedia (www.thecnl.com). They are a bit pricier but they carry a large selection of US imports and specialty genres. They have strange warehouse hours (their retail front is their warehouse for their web) so be sure to check ahead of time. A local gem, but come knowing what titles you are looking for as all products are filed by distributor rather than genre.

Apart from that Bestbuy and Futureshop are the best "mainstream" retailers to bother with. If you are feeling like an Asian fix you can always hop over to Richmond or Chinatown (Mal Music would be retailer to visit).

Ron G

There's a good place in Victoria, right near Eaton Centre, but I can't remember what it's called.

EDIT: It might be and A&B Sound, as I think of it. I haven't been to Victoria in a few years, so the memory is hazy. I remember them having a good selection of DVDs that weren't available in the States.

Dazza

Thanks guys

Dazza.