Tarnower

I live in West Palm Beach, Fla. Down here, we have the advantage of being in a market that is jam-packed with stores that sell DVDs. Because of this, the prices are very competitive. For example, Borders (which I've heard can be pricey), is actually as low as Circuit City and Best Buy.

There are four Best Buys within a half-hour drive of where I live. I think there must be around eight Circuit Citys. Four Borders. Three Wal-Mart SuperCenters. A gazillion Targets. Two FYE stores. Three Suncoast. And six Barnes and Nobles (all have huge DVD sections).

Only FYE and Barnes and Noble are pricey. The others are all within a dollar or so of each other.

Anyways, my question is: what is your favorite and/or least favorite place to shop (I know many prefer online shopping. If you are one of those, don't bother replying here).

My favorite is a tie between Best Buy and Borders. Mainly because the product is merchandised so well. DVDs are easy to shop with the way the spines are all facing out. I can stand back, cross my arms, tilt my head to the side, and just glance from left to right to easily view the available titles. The cases all are easily removed from the racks and are alphabetized extremely well. Plus, the price is usually very reasonable.

My least favorite is, hands down, Circuit City. The worst, God-awful racks (not only for DVD, but for CDs as well) ever designed! The racks are so hard to shop. When you pull back a case, the two cases on either side come flying off the shelf as well. The aphabetizing zoning is abominable. God help if you want something they only carry a single copy of. Like looking for a needle in a haystack. At least at Best Buy, the entire DVD section must be totally re-alphabetized before the store opens. The prices are very reasonable at Circuit City (in fact, because it is easy to find new releases, I sometimes go there on Tuesday if I'm close to one; but I never bother looking for catalog titles there EVER). It's a shame, because I really like the rest of Circuit City. The salespeople seem to have a much better knowledge base on what they sell as opposed to some of the drones that work at Best Buy. But, like I said, those awful racks at Circuity City at just too much of a turnoff to shop at.

lesterlong

Favorite: Borders - because of all the obscure titles, I could spend hours there

Least Favorite: Wal-Mart

Most Frustrating: TIE Target/Best Buy Target because they sometimes don't have the new releases stocked in the right spot and Best Buy because they simply won't get in movies I'm looking for

mwj

Favorite is Amazon
Least Favorite is Wal-Mart

mediabear

My favorite online: Amazon
My favorite store in my area: Target
My least favorite: Wal-Mart

My favorite store for DVDs is Virgin MegaStore. Unfortunately, the closest is 2 1/2 hours away from me. Whenever we go to Orlando, I am there for several hours. Although the prices are a little higher than Amazon, it is instant gratification on everything from imports to CC.

Red Dog

Costco

DVD Polizei

Tower Records. They are complete morons, and rude to top it off.

wendersfan

My least favorite has got to be Barnes and Noble. There's one close to my office, and I love to go there at lunch and see how much I'm saving by not buying my DVDs there. They sell everything at list price, so they charge from between 10 - 15 dolllars more per DVD than what I pay online. Absurd.

I don't have a favorite, although I occasionally shop at Sam's, Best Buy, Target, even Wal-Mart. I buy most DVDs online, since most of the movies I buy are more obscure than what the typical stores carry (except for Barnes and Noble or Borders, which are of course way too expensive...)

danol

Favorite DeepDiscountDVD


Least favorite EzyDVD too much shipping

Sessa17

Favorite:

Probably only Jersey people will know this, but CD World is by far my favorite place to buy DVDs. Prices went up a little bit, but about a year ago their club membership beat Best Buy prices, b/c it's mostly kids working there so they frequently will break the street date, & they will have most obscure titles, plus I've found quite a few OOP titles there as well. AND even more goodness, they almost always have a great used section.


LEAST FAVORITE:

Suncoast - I just don't get why anyone would shop at these places. My DVD collection practically rivals their selection, & the prices, dear lord. Not to mention it's a MOVIE store & they almost always have a staff that knows nothing about movies.

DonnachaOne

Suncoast was my favourite, until the two clerks who were the most knowledgeable movie buffs I know got laid off.

They were telling the smarter people where to go for better prices.

They weren't the best guys for that job - obviously - but they were the reason I shopped there, and I miss them.

Least favourite? Any place that carries p&S titles instead of the correct aspect ratio.

Max Bottomtime

Favorite; Tie between BestBuy and Fry's. Fry's has the best selection, but their pricing is strange. Some DVDs are lower priced than other B&Ms while older titles are still over $20. I can't bring myself to spend $20 for a single DVD.

Least favorites; Target and WalMart. Target never seems to have enough copies of new releases and they only carry pan n scam family films. I've only been in Walmart twice because it makes me feel like white trash just being in there.

Deckard-10

Favorite Retail: Best Buy
Least Favorite: Wal-Mart.
Favorite Online: DeepDiscountDVD

I have to mention Media Play as a runner-up for least favorite. &nbsp They have a lot of obscure titles, but their prices are bordering on highway robbery.

MasterCXtreme

Favorites that are nearby:
Best Buy - They're cheap, have frequent sales, and have a great selection.

Worst that are nearby:
FYE - It's the only one in the mall I allways go to and I allways end up buying some DVD's there. They're way overpriced, and I allways seem to have trouble finding what I'm looking for. I'll only buy a DVD there if I know it's basically the same price everywhere else.
One example of the overpricing was Reservoir Dogs: SE for $30. The next week I picked it up at BB for $12.
Sometimes they have some good prices but those are on the DVD's whos retail price is 9.99, yet they still mark it as a sale.

... sorry, I just don't like FYE. Had to get that off my chest. There's also a Borders near the mall, but I hardly ever go.

zekeburger1979

Favorite Place to buy DVD's - Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

The reason I buy at Wal-Mart is because if it is a big release, they'll price the DVD's 10% cheaper than the next cheapest store. The manager in the electronics department is a friend of mine and he always lowers the price of the new releases. Of course, I only get it if it is in OAR. That's why I didn't get Bourne Identity and One Hour Photo there.

Best Buy because they have the best selection and knowledgeable sales staff. I can be there for hours. I've actually looked through the DVD section for 4 hours straight before.

Worst - Barnes and Noble and Suncoase because of the price. Plus the staff at my local Suncoast treat people who want full frame DVD's like crap. If you don't like it, fine, but don't belittle the customer. Although, maybe they do deserve for shopping at Suncoast in the first place..........

GmoneyOwnsYou

Favorite - Best Buy

Least Favorite - Media Play or Wal Mart

Joe Schmoe

I only buy DVDs at Target because they're always on sale the first 4-5 days after they're released, and they're generally cheaper than everyone else (even Wal-Mart). Recently, they beat Wal-Mart's prices on "Dances With Wolves SE" and the first seasons of "Cheers" and "Frasier." I stopped buying DVDs online years ago. There doesn't seem to be as many coupons available anymore, and the price of freight makes it not worth it usually.

Tarnower

I agree that paying freight charges sucks, but have you checked out DEEP DISCOUNT DVD.COM??? They offer free shipping, remarkably extensive catalog titles and rock-bottom prices. Although when you have to return something, it's a pain, but they work with you very well.

Also, Best Buy online offers free shipping. Whatever you don't see at your local Best Buy store you can just order from their website. And if there's a defect in the disc, you can just take it to any of their retail stores for either exchange or credit.

Check these out.

DarthMaul420

Barnes and Nobles it is. Where every dvd is expensive. I love how its the only store near me that has Criterion dvds, yet the Criterions are all at MSRP.

meiso

i really only shop at either future shop or a&b sound because theyre close to me (all their branches are), but i would prefer futureshop because they are friendlier, less hassle etc. the people working at a&b don't know what theyre doing and are unfriendly. though a&b has a better selection sometimes.

Mondo Kane

Favorite-Best Buy & Fry's (Criterion heaven!!)

Least Favorite-Suncoast (They got the biggest selections for Martial arts...But lord, those prices)

harpo787

Favorite stores to shop: Best Buy is my general store that I visit at least every Tuesday, if not more often. As pointed out, decent sales often during the first week of release, and always some sort of mark down going too. And also as pointed out...just the ease of locating stuff....its well organized. When I don't find it there, I go to Borders...they're a bit more expensive than Best Buy, but they will often have the more obscure stuff.

Least favorite: Circuit City...their prices are usually great, but damned if I can find ANYTHING at all...I don't care that the racks are bad for scanning...I'll deal with that...but when it's total chaos like it was organized by a 3 year old...my patience disappears real fast.

EDITED to add: I've been TRICKED!!!!! I have NEVER, EVER posted in the Store Forum...I was merely scanning around in DVD Talk, and I go to post in this thread, and low and behold.....SCAMMED! Why I NEVER!!!! I'm callin the better business bureau, or something.

shill66

I'm one of the fortunate few who can say that Deep Discount DVD is my favorite brick-and-mortar store. I've been going there just about every week lately. But I have to keep an eye on prices for the MAJOR major releases, because other stores will often be cheaper - and for that I prefer Best Buy.

Heat

I've got some relatives down there, nice area, though they have some problems reading punch cards.

As for my favorite and least favorite retail (b&m) stores:

Favorite: Best Buy or Circuit City (best prices the week it comes out)

Least Favorite: K-Mart, Wal-Mart: At least around here, they tend to have only pan and scan on their isle displays.

Spooky

My favorite is BEST BUY, with MEDIA PLAY coming in second (more expensive, but will often have a title I can't find at BEST BUY).

SUNCOAST is the worst! Why don't they just have a big sign up that says "We sell DVDs at the suggested retail price and not one penny less!"

chesola

Favorite: I used to favor Best Buy but their prices are creeping up to the point where they're only really competitive on brand new releases. I like the selection at Borders and have found some decent deals on catalog titles, but again you have to be careful.

Mostly I just stick with Deep Discount DVD.

As for my least favorite: Circuit City. Absolutely the worst merchandised DVD department I've ever seen. Good luck finding something if it's not on the new release wall, and even then it's a challenge.