One of America’s biggest retail chains has announced it will stop selling DVD and Blu-ray discs in-store by 2025. Target, which sells everything from daily groceries to clothes and electronics, has confirmed rumours that it will sell DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays only at specified times of the year as well, as stocking limited new releases for short periods.
Rumours began surfacing last week, when X (formerly Twitter) user President of Physical Media (we approve of the name) dropped an ‘exclusive’ bombshell that the retailer will drop physical media sales by 2025, alongside an image of an empty shelf where it presumably stocks its DVDs and Blu-rays.
Online gaming and entertainment publication IGN followed up by reaching out for comment, to which a Target spokesperson responded. Here is what they had to say:
“Based on our guests’ shopping patterns and broader industry trends, we’re transitioning the limited assortment of DVDs we carry in our stores to Target.com, where guests will continue to find thousands of titles,” the spokesperson said. “Moving forward, we’ll offer select DVDs in stores when they are newly released or during key times throughout the year when they are more popular, like for gift giving during the holidays.”
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It’s certainly becoming more evident that the days of disc-based media are numbered, especially in the US. While Amazon remains a key supplier of DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays to the masses, the options to browse in person are becoming slimmer and slimmer. Thankfully, this is less of an issue in the UK as, alongside dedicated retailers such as HMV and Fopp, most large supermarkets continue to stock physical discs.
Welp, time to hit the thrift stores and pray the ever so tiny scratches aren’t disc killers.
Someone has to sell them new in order to get them thrift.
Truth. I haven’t been thrifting in a while but at least where I am Value Village/Savers has a pretty good supply to stock up on now before they get scarce.
So they have these cool machines that repair disks and if you can find a computer and videogame repair store you might be able to rent them for cheap
Oh yeah! I remember that was a big deal back in the day. It’s funny the things you forget about until someone reminds you. Good call!
Totally! Good luck
You will own nothing, and you better fucking smile really big and pretend it’s okay.
This is a shame, but it’s understandable. Just as long as they don’t cut back on what they carry online. They have a fantastic online selection which the stores never really matched. Some of their sales made it possible to grab Criterion blu rays for cheaper than the 50% off sales at B&N.
spoiler
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Huh, IIRC Aussie target dropped music and video media back in 2018. I can buy DVDs at my supermarket but none of the dept stores have any physical media.
You Down Under cinephiles really get the shitty end of the stick when it comes to home video.
I would love to see figures for this that factor out the general decline of brick and mortar sales. I do hope physical media continues to sell, but I think if it does, it will be a niche market that probably isn’t shopping at Target.
So what
Didn’t see what community this was in eh?
Of course I did. I just don’t give a shit about target. I can still buy what I need elsewhere.
I gotcha! Any tips for a newly minted hoarder?
IMO garage sales and thrift stores will get you most of what you want. You’ll find stuff like the entire series of the Office for $2 per season or all the Starwars movies for $10 or some classic Western for $1. Cheaper than streaming and it’s yours. Pay cash and help your local economy out. And if you want some new, then spend the $30 for it or rent it from the library (most city libraries will have a large DVD, CD and audio book collection)
Not really. I scalp the Internet for any deals I can find and also thrift stores etc. I dunno how many times I’ve seen brand new copies of DVDs and blu rays at thrift stores. Not old releases either
