Best Buy Anime Titles Half Off This Month

In case you live in the States and haven't heard this story yet, certain underperforming Best Buy stores will be getting rid of lots of anime all-together in an attempt to level out or improve their anime sales overall. The clearance started yesterday and will go until about the end of the month. From the Anime News Network, among other sources:

Quote

- ICv2 reports a confirmation that the Best Buy retail chain plans a drastic reduction of in-store anime retail sales. Over 460 nationwide Best Buy stores with historically low anime sales will run 50% off close-out sales from March 1 to 21. Following the inventory reduction, those stores will maintain a selection of only around 20 different anime DVDs.

Over 500 Best Buy stores will continue to carry over 100 anime DVD products, and roughly the 200 nationwide stores with the strongest anime sales will continue to carry a selection similar to what they offer now.

The selection will be cut at approximately 800 stores out of Best Buy's just over 1,000 (1,006 as of February 19) stores in the USA. Of these, 461 stores will carry only the top-20 titles.

- According to ICv2 and confirmed by ANN's sources, the stores where anime is being cut account for only a very small percentage (less than 20%) of overall anime sales at Best Buy. The remaining 540 stores will carry over 100 anime skus with the top 200 of those stores continuing to carry a large selection similar to what they currently carry.

Best Buy will divide their catalog into A-List titles, B-List titles and C-List titles, based on sales performance. The A-List anime titles will be the top-20 performing anime and will be carried in all Best Buy locations. The B-List titles will be carried in 500 stores nationwide, and the C-List titles will only be carried in the top 200 stores nationwide.

A list was released with stores that do have the clearance sale, although it was retracted and said to be subject to change. Here was the original list:

(click to show/hide)

I went today and found that one of the stores listed indeed did have small signs up for 50% off on the shelves (it really wasn't very noticeable), while another did not. The one that didn't was a much newer, larger store and had a larger selection. Still, after talking to one of the employees, who didn't know about it but looked it up on their computers, he agreed to give me 50% off on a couple sets. So it's worth asking the people at any location anyways. The smaller store had less than a quarter of the aisle for anime titles and not a great selection, but still a worthwhile visit. I'd assume it's these smaller stores that are more likely to be part of the clearance.

My haul today: Bleach Complete Season 1 and 2, Evangelion Complete Platinum Collection, Yu Yu Hakusho Complete Season 3, and Final Fantasy Unlimited Complete Set for just a shade over $100 total. When Eva was retailing at $80, I'd say I got a good deal. I know they had plenty of Geass, TTGL, Witchblade, Beck, FMA, DBZ, Naruto, Deathnote, etc. at the smaller store where I stopped, so at least it wasn't an aisle full of Lucky Star DVDs that weren't selling. Not all the titles I was looking for were there, but I was happy to come away with something. So if you want to take advantage of this deal, go now before the selection is wiped.

I've so been running away with things from Circuit City and Best Buy the last month+ Laughing