Abob Teff

Teehee ... one of the stores that I ran in my area was closed down last time; the other is going this time. It is sad, it was a good company to work for at one time. I do have to laugh -- 2 of the 3 stores in our city had Game Crazy stores added to them ... Game Crazy was supposed to be the second coming and the saving grace ... the only store to remain open is the one that did NOT add a Game Crazy.

Game Crazy was such an over-inflated, propped-up concept ... the stores showed mega-profitability because ALL overhead was charged to the Hollywood Video side.

Gizmo

Yeah, I ran one for a few years and we made good money thanks to HWV paying for everything

wildman1037

Overheard one of the employees the other day talking about going out of business. He said that won't close the doors until the end of March timeframe (8 weeks). He also said that prices will start dropping as the weeks go by.

So bottom line is, looks like they won't be closing down for quite some time yet.

EDIT: Went back today at lunchtime and prices on regular DVDs dropped from $10 to $9, or 3 for $25.

JAYARE

my guy said they will close in 6 weeks

Undeadcow

Any idea how to remove those horrible red spine alphabet stickers without damaging the original artwork?

I picked up George Washington [Criterion] with insert for 8.97 in Austin, TX (William Canon store). There were several criterions left but none with inserts.

izatright

I've successfully done it many times. But sometimes the sticker is so bonded with the paper its impossible:

1. If you can somehow remove the top layer of the sticker and apply goo gone you're as good as gold. This method can leave a discoloration, though, either because the insert has faded or the liquid itself causes it.

2. If you can remove the sticker, leaving a sticky residue, you can use a moisturizing tissue. The expensive, moisturizing kind blends in with the sticky, making it easier to wipe off. However, if the sticky substance is too old (that is, too dry and hard) this won't work. Also, don't use the cheap stuff, and be careful how much pressure you apply as too much can cause damage.

JohnIan

The product is called "un-du" it's an adhesive remover that is paper-friendly (does not stain). It works wonders.

- - - - -

There are two stores near me. One is selling their stuff for $4.99, the other for $9.98. You can pretty much guess which store I've been shopping at.

wkkunkle

Closest closing store is approx. 23.1 miles away ....

felcher

the coinoptailers redbox and blockbuster express made the switch in time im thinking. those 2 would be smart if they catered to the truck stops. buying a dvd for 10 dollars and watching it once is not fiscally smart. and truck drivers do spend money cuz they have money. and everything they buy on the road is a tax exemption. you better believe it baby lol.

drmar35mm

The Hollywood and the Movie Gallery I got to from time to time (one in town, one out) both shut down in the past months; another Hollywood I regularly patronized out of town shut down a couple of years ago. Blockbusters are all that's left in my area. Less variety, less choices, that's the way of the future.

'dledee

Does anyone know an estimate of the final clearance prices?

I visited one of the two closing in my area today and there were 3-for-$25, $9.98, $4.99, and $2.99 titles; the brand-new DVDs and certain games were 20%. A bunch of the 3-for-$25 was a bit worse for wear, or in stock covers. I cannot fathom anyone paying more than $3-5 on used DVDs, especially ones without their original covers.

Kind of saw this particular HWV's closing coming--their gamecrazy shut down a couple months ago.

Undeadcow

During the bout of Hollywood store closings in 2008 movies dropped down to a dollar each at the end of the sale. It seemed for the longest time they were at $3.99 each. I can't recall exactly what my best deals were on their last day but I recall paying less than a dollar per trash movie remaining.

I understand my local Hollywood sold their stock to a liquidator so they may not even be using the same people as before. However, I can't imagine the liquidator is willing to retain stock so I imagine things will be slash and burn down the line.

'dledee

I'll have to watch the two stores closing within my vicinity. Hopefully the trend won't stray too far from 2008's. Thanks the quick response!

SkipKassidy

It's funny. I'm using Gohastings.com as a measuring stick for used DVDs at the Hollywood Video nearest me.

It seems that the best deals are in the Foreign and Special Interest (Documentary) sections, since used copies are hard to come by at Gohastings (at least for certain titles).

So far, I've picked up:

Crazy Love
13 Tzameti
The Return
Get Carter (1971)

I am considering titles like The Bridge, The Endurance, Lost in La Mancha, American Movie, Project Grizzly and The Piano Teacher.

orangecrush

I stoped by the nearest Hollywood video that was closing on my lunch break and they are down to 30% off of new and used Video games. There wasn't a lot that interested me in the section that was for sale, but there were a number of titles in the rental section I hope they decide to sell. I think I am going to wait until next week to see if they up the % off.

SpinalGuffman

Aren't they selling everything if the store is closing? Or do Hollywood Video stores that are closing hold back some of their titles?

mike07

Hollywood Video in Albany to close

1225 Western Ave
Albany, NY

According to that article, they will close down in 3-7 weeks.

ericn101

So me and a friend were discussing this at work and she seems to be absolutley sure that everyone who has rentals outstanding during the close, will not have to return them after the store is shut down, that basiclly you can keep any movies you rented and they just chalk it up to getting the rental fee. She says they dont have her credit card on file and even if they did have one on file it would be so old that it wouldnt work. She say she is going down and renting a shitload of new releases and keeping them all, even though it may still be a month before it closes. I wished her good luck. I know they have my credit card on file and it is recent, so i told her , no thanks I will pass.

dkedvd

Nice! Good idea! hope it works. Of course if it does I'll be pissed I didn't go through with it. LOL!

Lastdaysofrain

So her idea is stealing then? That IS a great way to get a bargain.

Edison

Two of the HWV stores in town are closing here, although one seems to be a lot further along in the sale process. The one closest to me evidently started their sale after the first of the year, and the other store said they started in November, but both say they will be open another 6-8 weeks. They are both still renting also so some of the titles are not available for sale (newer release DVD, Blu-ray, Games).

So far I've picked up some PS3 games for 20% off, Empire of the Wolves, and Timecrimes for $3.98 each.

Mysteryfan

The Bridgewater, NJ location indicated that they will continue renting until the end of February. The store will be closing the end of March. The clerk suggested the better deals will start the beginning of March.

Quatermass

Two potential problems with that scenario:
1. Most of the stores haven't gotten any new rental dvds since October or November when they stopped paying their distributors, so the "New Releases" she imagines will likely be 6 months old.

2. Her debt to HWV (Full MSRP of the unreturned DVDs) will probably be sold to a collection agency who will hound her until the end of the world and destroy her credit. At that point she couldn't return them even if she wanted to. It's usually spelled out in the fine print of the original agreement you have to sign when you join. I'm guessing she didn't save a copy of that

MrSmearkase

/\ I wouldn't be surprised if it came to option #2

Dexter Douglas

I have friends who "forgot to return their rentals" at stores that immediately closed and haven't heard anything. I'm not surprised because Movie Gallery can't run themselves decently. The problem is that all the stores going through a closing process have been turned over to a liquidation company. The only reason they're still renting is to complete the obligation to people who have PowerPlay. Everyone's has been canceled and the renting will cease at the end of February.

The difference is that Movie Gallery (who were such morons they couldn't see the obvious upside of letting Netflix buy them) isn't running these stores any more. Liquidation companys are in business to make money however they can. My gut tells me that they aren't going to sweat minor late fees. If you keep a dvd/bluray that they could have sold, however, they very well might come after you.

Beyond the fact that it's theft, I just don't see this coming out very well for people who keep the movies.