Retail Focus on ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Simpsons’

12 Jan, 2010 By: John Latchem

With Jan. 12 lacking any blockbuster new releases, no single title seemed to hog retailer attention.

Early Oscar favorite The Hurt Locker did come with a few exclusives. Best Buy offered the Blu-ray in a steelbook casing with a photo book. And Wal-Mart packaged the DVD with a DVD of the documentary Brothers at War, which like The Hurt Locker focuses on the Iraq War.

Another big title released Jan. 12 was 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s The Simpsons: Season 20 on DVD and Blu-ray. Best Buy had the DVD at $28.99 and the Blu-ray at $38.99, while Target had the DVD at $28.99 and the Blu-ray at $36.99.

A Wal-Mart in Long Beach, Calif., didn’t have the Blu-ray version of The Simpsons: Season 20, but did package the DVD with an exclusive “Laugh-a-Day” 2010 calendar for $34.96.

The same Wal-Mart also tried to clear excess two-movie packages for $13 each. Wal-Mart typically offers a new release packaged with an older, similarly themed film as a bonus for a few dollars more.

Best Buy is holding a huge Blu-ray Disc promotion with titles for as low as $9.99.

A Fry’s in Fountain Valley, Calif., didn’t even put up a new-release display, though the store offered several prominent Blu-ray Disc displays. The store didn’t even have every new title, and those it did have were scattered among th shelves as if they had been released weeks ago.