DrS

I just noticed that the return label for some DVD Planet discs I got today goes back to 900N Rohlwing Rd, Itasca, IL -- the same address as DDD. Also, Digital Eyes just co-located some facilities with DDD in Itasca.

So what does this all mean? Might it relate to all these reports of troubles and slowdowns? To what degree are they merging? Are they just merging the warehouse and their buying power, but otherwise running separate businesses? Does this mean that the guy who has to get the last copy of a disc on the shelf for DDD has to duke it out with the shipper for Eyes for that disc? Or are they merging more substantially? And, if so, what does that bode for competition among some of our favorite budget places? Better in the long term viz stability and profits? Or worse for prices? Or both or neither?

I hope this isn't old news, but if not, it's worth chewing on.

d

boc4ever

I'm not sure what to think, but I know that I haven't been ordering as many from DDD or Digital Eyes as I was. Digital Eyes used to have great sales on a regular basis. Haven't seen one of those in a while. And DDD never seems to be the way to go on pre-orders. I have become a loyal Amazon, Best Buy and Circuit City customer over the last six months. Best Buy and Circuit City seem to make "offers I can't refuse" during the first week of release. I have made two trips to Circuit City over the last couple days because of the MGM sale. Best Buy has the rewards program now, which encourages me to use them over anyone else. I actually had Dead & Buried in my hand at Circuit City and went across the street to Best Buy to get the points. I will probably price match at Best Buy whenever possible to add to the points also. However, getting a price match on the MGM deal seemed like way too much of a hassle. Amazon usually gets my business when I get a coupon code + share the love. Even DDD can't compete when you add those into the mix. Since they don't have a code out there right now, I haven't ordered anything from them recently. However, I am waiting on a $15 gc from mastercard, so I will be buying LOTRTT as soon as it arrives.

As far as the merger, it could help in a way because Digital Eyes tended to stock more independent DVDs while DDD had holes in their stock. However, pricing at Digital Eyes was usually slightly higher plus shipping so a merger could drive prices up slightly, like we saw at Best Buy within the past year...

marty888

Within the last few days I've received DVDs from both DeepDiscount and DVDPlanet - and noticed the same thing .... it's been a few months since my last order at DVD Planet - anyone know when they started shipping from Illinois?

ydkjman

There must be some type of warehouse there that alot of different companies have their orders shipped from there. Any one remember that company called Big Star DVD ? Any way they used to ship from there and I even think the movies that you get from the Yourfreedvds.com site comes from the same address

RonG617

Wow, it's great they are following the Big Star path to success. Why can't these companies go out of business like Reel.com did? By giving me great deals and tons of coupons! Now that's the way to go under!

nekobus

When all the problems started happening due to the changeover from not using their own Nevada warehouse and systems.

dvd-4-life

Why did Ken Cranes/DVD Planet get away from shipping from there store?Seems like DVD Empire is the only place that ships directly from there own location and they seem to be very successful at it(most shipping goes out the same day).

nekobus

They were trying to cut costs. They now all use the same fulfillment company for their backroom operations to save money.

As they're finding out, there is something to be said for having control over your entire operation.

DrS

I remain curious about how they are sharing costs for the warehouse, if they pay the same wholesale price for each DVD, for shipping, etc.

D

Deftones

Alot of times a company will drop ship from their distributor. I'd be willing to bet it's probably an Ingram wherehouse.

Movie_Man

Critics Choice Video is also the same address.
The common theme seems to be Infinity Resources.

Deke Rivers

Infinity Resources owns a big warehouse on Rohlwing road.. Thats where DDD and Critics Choice ships from along with Collectors Choice music..now Digital Eyes has joined the fold along with DVD Planet it sounds like. They also have a small store front there call Music, Movies and More where the few of us that live near there can go and buy DVD's at DDD price without waiting for the slow shipping times

matome

You are a lucky man!

chanster

But you have to pay tax

nekobus

But he also doesn't have to wait for his dvds.

AtlDVD

its a drop ship operation. As far as I know neither company owns it.

Other firms do this including CircuitCity.

AtlDVD

check this out--

Playboy Enterprises plans to sell off its Critics’ Choice catalog of videos and the companion CCVideo.com Website, the company has announced. Critics’ Choice features over 50,000 titles on VHS and DVD, classic titles and reissues as well as current offerings. The intended buyer is Infinity Resources, another Chicago-based company.

A letter of intent by Playboy Enterprises says Infinity Resources will take over Playboy’s Itasca customer service and order fulfillment facility, with Playboy Catalog Group chief operating officer Robert J. Terry to join Infinity as part of the deal, Playboy says.

“Infinity... will handle product fulfillment for PlayboyStore.com and Cyberspice.com,” said Playboy chief financial officer Linda Havard in a statement, “and completion of this deal marks [our] divestiture of [our] catalog business.”

Infinity CEO Dennis Abboud said the company was excited to have the chance to buy Critics’ Choice. “[It’s] recognized as one of the largest and most respected catalog video software resellers in the United States,” he said in a statement of his own. “By working with Bob Terry, we look forward to creating a seamless integration and retaining the brand’s reputation for differential customer service.”

He added that the Itasca facility, the Critics’ Choice work force, and customer service management team, suits Infinity “ideally... for our goal of establishing a world class e-commerce catalog fulfillment enterprise.”

AtlDVD

It looks like Infinity Owns DeepDiscountCD and DDDVD

DeepDiscountCD.com
The music industry's vigorous prosecution of online music-swapping services such as Napster was one reason Itasca, IL-based Infinity Resources launched DeepDiscountCD.com in May. The company wanted to tap deeper into the vast online market of value-conscious shoppers already targeted by Infinity's DeepDiscountDVD.com Website.

As an example of the company's deep discounting, Infinity Resources CEO/owner Dennis Abboud says his shipped price of $9.89 for P. Diddy's newest release was at the least 31% lower than BestBuy.com's price and up to 76% lower than the price at CDnow.com. “The people who were file-swapping [downloading music without buying it] were looking for the best value in online music,” Abboud says. In addition to a lowest total price guarantee, the Website offers free standard shipping on all orders.

DeepDiscountCD.com's launch followed Infinity's acquisition of music cataloger Collectors' Choice Music this past December. Although Collectors' Choice Music offered a relatively narrow range of titles, Abboud says, the acquisition provided Infinity with valuable record-label contacts.

Abboud reports that the Website is receiving more orders than expected. “We forecasted it to be comparable to DeepDiscountDVD in total order volume, and it's running about 20% ahead at the same stage of maturity,” he says. The site attracts 8 million hits a month and has a conversion rate of 3.5%.

Web address: www.DeepDiscountCD.com Product category: music CDs Launched: May 2002 Target customer: music shoppers Phone: 800-258-1995 Competitors: BestBuy.com, CDnow.com, Amazon.com, Buy.com

DrS

Some good insights there, thanks.

Here a link on DVD Planet's new setup:

http://biz.yahoo.com/e/030813/disk10-q.html

RonG617

Infinity also bought Digitaleyes.net this past year.

Deke Rivers

yes i do but I never said nor implied that I was getting away cheaper than everyone else. I was just trying to answer the question on INfinity resources and also address shipping times.