Retailers make room for Blu-ray

Rich Fiscus
21 Jan 2008 0:12

With Warner Brothers jumping on board the Blu-ray bandwagon, studios and consumer electronics manufacturers aren't the only ones starting to think about the end to the so-called war between the two supposed "next-gen" optical movie formats. Retailers, who have consistently said they don't expect to see a serious market as long as both formats are around, are starting to in anticipation of a Blu-ray victory.
Mark Higgins of Trans World Entertainment, which operates more than 800 F.Y.E. stores in the U.S., told Video Business “We are waiting to hear more about what [HD DVD] hardware manufacturers decide to do, but I think one thing we can all agree on as retailers, is that consumer confusion is leading to a delay in buying a format."
He added “They don’t want to buy into another BetaMax. As retailers, we need to simplify things for the consumers as much as we can with merchandising one format. We don’t want to be biased, but that is clearly the direction that high-def production looks to be going.”
Of course not everyone is as confident that a Blu-ray victory is ineveitable, and some companies are hedging their bets to ensure maximum profit from both products.
“We’ve always tried to educate people about what is going on in the two camps,” Best Buy spokesman Brian Lucas said. “Obviously, [Warner going BD-only] is the latest news. The ‘blue shirts’ are up to date on the latest developments, but it would be irresponsible to tell them [the war] is over when it’s not yet.”
DVDEmpire editorial director Shannon Nutt added "Although it looks like the writing may be on the wall, DVDEmpire will continue to push both formats equally until our customers show there is no longer any demand for one format or the other.”