HDTV Almanac - Where Did You Shop?

[alfredpoor]

Earlier this month, the market research firm BIGresearch released their results for the top five retailers for consumer electronics for December 2009. According to the company press release, nearly one-third of all adults (18 years old or older) surveyed indicated that they shopped at Best Buy most often when looking for electronics. Walmart was close [...]

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/columns/2010/01/hdtv_almanac_where_did_you_shop.php]Read Column[/url]

[alice]

Well Alfred , that is very disappointing news . Especially when Walmart is a close 2nd

i felt no lose from Circuit City


Personally do not shop theses stores for quality gear . When one is looking for quality
they would not either .I will continue support my speciality retailer who has the skills , product and knowlege
to supply my needs

[stevekaden]

How depressing.

BB: go to buy a Plasma TV, get told it's really an LED and that I really want the flame thrower set where everyone has the glow in the dark faces. But of course ALWAYS needs the $100 a piece HDMI cables.

Or with the Magnolia inserts....simply get ignored.


WalMart: it's just "huh"?

I've been a Ken Cranes buyer for a long time. But I did skip them last cycle for a closeout of Pioneer Monitors. Had they had the monitor model, I bet we'd have made a deal. So that makes me sad.

Well, I do have to give it to BB for sheer marketing effectiveness.

[alfredpoor]

This past weekend, I actually went shopping for a new flat screen as a house-warming present for our daughter and her family. If their Costco (they're in another state) had the same deal available that I was able to find at our local store, I would have bought that for them. I also went to Walmart, Best Buy, and 6th Ave Electronics (an NYC regional chain that did some agressive expanding last year). I ended up getting a set from Best Buy which I thought was the next best bargain for a 46"-47" LCD. (I was planning to buy a 50" plasma for less, but they get a lot of afternoon light in their new living room, and I decided they really need the extra light from an LCD.)

One take-away from the shopping trip was how horrendous the signal was in some stores. I won't pick on the worst one by naming it, but they were showing college basketball on ESPN HD. Edge detection appeared to be cranked up to the point that all the players seemed to have glowing auras around their bodies, and the court floor next to them was completely scrambled with compression artifacts. I suspect that they were using a cable service that has squeezed the channel's bandwidth too hard -- all the sets in the room had the same problem -- but it looked awful.

It's true that there were a dozen other stores between here and there where I could have shopped also, such as Radio Shack, Sears, and a bunch of specialty electronics store. As it was, it took half a day to make the rounds, and I'm certain that it's unlikely that I could have made a significantly better deal. The big box stores require that you know what you're doing, but that's the case for just about anywhere you shop (and for whatever you're buying). Personal, informed service is a rare commodity these days (though that's exactly what I got at the shoe repair store on the same trip), and I expect that it will get even rarer. Which is why people hang out at sites like this, so that they are better informed when it comes time to make a purchase.

Alfred

[And no, in the interest of impartiality, I won't be sharing what make and model I bought for my daughter.]

[jordanm]

I happen to live in an area that has a large Best Buy and Walmart presence. We are also "blessed" by having two outlets of Fry's Electronics here.

While Best Buy and Walmart have crowds during season, Fry's has throngs of customers each day neither could fathom over the entire holiday season.

It goes to show how statistics can be so incomplete, and veer opinion incorrectly. I believe if Fry's could afford a national presence, they'd put local Best Buy or Walmart outlets out of business.

In the meantime, the survey also stratifies a particular field, and the PC and hardware sales leader is probably NewEgg.com. As we see more and more convergence such as widget TV, and streaming devices such as WD TV Live, the online leaders may surpass the B&M sales.

The next 5 years should be quite telltale, as Blockbuster suffers at the hand of NetFlix, and the B&M compete with online resellers. NewEgg.com and Tiger both small-feed Amazon, so far. If that relationship changes to large-feed, Amazon could be a top reseller in the future, as well.

[ccclvib]

Unless Fry's has changed their emphasis recently, they're not a "consumer electronics" store. They started by selling computer components back when it was a really big deal. That has toned down, but the emphasis is still there - not with the TV/surround sound, etc. The people who know Fry's know it for that reason. Take that into account, and it changes how effective Fry's would be nationally. They do well with the "other electronics" because they a) expect you to know what you want, and b) are willing to sell at reduced margins on everything, because they do have volume (boy, do they). But watch out when you purchase something "new" from them. I've gotten home with more than one piece of gear only to find out it was sold previously, returned and repackaged - often with missing pieces.

Haven't been in a Fry's in a couple of years because I no longer make the "over the hill" commute to Silicon Valley any more, so it's possible they've gotten better. I'll believe it when I actually see it, though. They survived a long time by continuing to do the same thing.

[akirby]

Fry's is great for components of all kinds - they have everything from tools to pc parts to cables and connectors, etc.

I found a Sony Bravia 120 hz 52" LCD there 3 months ago. MSRP was $2099. Best buy was selling it for $1699. Fry's had it marked down to $1299. I checked around and that was an amazing deal. The same model with 60 hz was actually more expensive. I went back to get it Sunday morning only to be told that they were out of stock and they didn't know when they'd be getting more and that they only had 2 warehouses on the East Coast - blah, blah, blah.

BAIT AND SWITCH! Totally pissed me off and I considered calling their bluff and forcing the sale but I didn't want to wait a few weeks to get it. So I printed off the website price and took it to Best Buy and they matched it the same day.

I hate Best Buy (and Circuit City previously). My first choice is always Costco (they extend the mfr warranty to 2 years on tvs), but if they don't have what I want then I bite the bullet and use Fry's or Best Buy (begrudgingly).

In Atlanta we used to have Hi-Fi Buys which was later bought by Tweeter before going out of business. They were smaller than the big box stores and as far as I could tell they were straight shooters. And they carried my favorite brands at the time (mits and denon).

[alfredpoor]

I found a Sony Bravia 120 hz 52" LCD there 3 months ago. MSRP was $2099. Best buy was selling it for $1699. Fry's had it marked down to $1299. I checked around and that was an amazing deal. The same model with 60 hz was actually more expensive. I went back to get it Sunday morning only to be told that they were out of stock and they didn't know when they'd be getting more and that they only had 2 warehouses on the East Coast - blah, blah, blah.

Actually, I believe that Fry's relies a lot on "surplus" sources for their inventory. I expect that the Sony LCD deal was a special purchase from some retailer who needed cash more than inventory -- the infamous "gray market" -- and that's why they had a limited quantity with no expectations of getting additional product at that price.

As with the online Tiger/CompUSA/Circuit City (all part of Systemax) conglomerate, you should pull the trigger right away if you see something you want at the price you want. Don't expect the offer to still be there tomorrow.

Alfred

[akirby]

Actually, I believe that Fry's relies a lot on "surplus" sources for their inventory. I expect that the Sony LCD deal was a special purchase from some retailer who needed cash more than inventory -- the infamous "gray market" -- and that's why they had a limited quantity with no expectations of getting additional product at that price.

I understand that but if that was true then they should not have continued advertising it after the stock was sold. The website also showed it to be available for online ordering so they must have had them in stock somewhere.

It was also the attitude of the sales people. I've done retail sales and I know bait-and-switch when I see it, even if it might not have been pre-meditated in this particular case.

[Richard]

Unless Fry's... But watch out when you purchase something "new" from them. I've gotten home with more than one piece of gear only to find out it was sold previously, returned and repackaged - often with missing pieces.

For the 28 years of my service career it has always been that way, name the store... any store... they all do it! The higher the volume the more it happens.

Best advice after 28 years? Know your store, know their return policies and keep your sales receipt. Also, due to all the new technology and unknown failures that you might get manufacturer assistance on, keep the sales receipt for any piece of equipment worthy of repair for as long as you own it!