Home Media Magazine - February 16-22, 2009 - (Page 8) NEWS BRIEFS I WAL-MART TO CUT 800 CORPORATE JOBS Wal-Mart Stores, one of the few retailers to prosper during the current recession, Feb. 10 said it would eliminate between 700 and 800 positions at its corporate headquarters in Little Rock, Ark. Citing the declining economy and a decision to scale back the number of new store openings this year, the world’s largest retailer of DVDs said the job cuts would occur in its real estate, apparel, and health and wellness departments. The cuts come just days after Wal-Mart said January same-store sales (open at least 12 months) increased 2.1%, compared to 0.2% during the prior-year – Erik Gruenwedel period. www.homemediamagazine.com Borders Gets A ‘Twilight’ Exclusive By Erik Gruenwedel RETAIL Borders Group Inc. will get an exclusive special two-disc limitededition DVD boxed set of Summit Home Entertainment’s Twilight that will be available March 21, the same day as the Blu-ray, standard DVD and electronic releases. The boxed set of the highly anticipated home video debut of Twilight, which generated $187 million at the U.S. box office and captivated millions of female teen readers of the four “Twilight” novels, is available exclusively at Borders, as well as on Borders.com. The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based book chain at most locations will host midnight parties March 20 counting down the final minutes until the disc’s official sale at midnight. The $39.99 boxed set includes an extra 60 minutes of special bonus features, 10 photo cards printed on pearlescent paper, and packaging unique to the Borders special edition. Exclusive material includes cast interviews with Robert Pattinson (Edward), Kristen Stewart (Bella), Cam Gigandet (James), Edi Gathegi (Laurent) and Rachelle Lefevre (Victoria) recorded last summer during San Diego ComicCon International. The set includes red-carpet footage See ‘TWILIGHT’, Page 22 Twilight I IMAGE SIGNS ‘TALENT’ WINNER TERRY FATOR Image Entertainment signed an exclusive agreement with Terry Fator, winner of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” to produce and distribute a live performance show. This agreement provides Image exclusive worldwide home video, digital, television, non-theatrical and audio rights to the celebrity impressionist, singer, comedian and ventriloquist’s performance at The Mirage in Las Vegas. The performance will be recorded in high-defini– Erika Carmona tion later this month. Studios Up Same-Day DVD, VOD Releases By Erik Gruenwedel and Chris Tribbey PRODUCT Summit Home Entertainment’s highly anticipated March 21 Twilight DVD and Blu-ray release will reportedly also be available on video-on-demand (VOD) the same day. The release represents the first major blockbuster title in 2009 to be released electronically day-and-date with DVD. Summit previously streeted Fly Me to the Moon, Penelope and Never Back Down on DVD and VOD day-and-date. Universal Studios Home Entertainment Feb. 17 releases Oscar-nominated Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, and Flash of Genius, starring Greg Kinnear, on VOD the same day as DVD and Blu-ray, the studio confirmed. “This is not necessarily a strategy moving forward,” said Universal spokesperson Lea Porteneuve. “We will review opportunities on a title-by-title basis as appropriate moving forward.” Separately, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has streeted Bottle Shock on DVD/VOD simultaneously, to be followed Feb. 17 by Choke. Last October, Fox released The Happening simultaneously on DVD and VOD. Lionsgate shrank the 30-day release window on select titles, including Saw V and W., while Sony Pictures Home See STUDIOS, Page 22 I STEVIE WONDER HAS FIRST LIVE VIDEO RELEASE Music legend Stevie Wonder will have his first-ever live concert DVD ($19.99) and Blu-ray Disc ($24.95), Live at Last, released by Universal Motown Records March 10 in the United States, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Motown Records. The program was filmed at the O2 Arena in London Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 2008, as part of Wonder’s first world tour in more than a decade. The 58-year-old Wonder recently performed with teen heartthrob act The Jonas Brothers at the 51st Grammy – Billy Gil Awards. CIRCUIT CITY SEEKS $4.7M FOR EXECUTIVE BONUSES By Erik Gruenwedel Shuttered Circuit City Stores Feb. 10 asked a bankruptcy court to set aside $4.7 million from the ongoing liquidation sale for retention bonuses to select executives, according to a filing. Under terms of the “Wind Down Incentive and Retention Plan,” CEO James Marcum and John Kelly, chief merchandising officer, together with 16 other senior executives would split $2.3 million, while 137 other RETAIL “tier 2” employees would be eligible to access $1.6 million, on top of current salaries and compensation. A final discretionary sum of $750,000 would be allocated as needed. The Richmond, Va.-based No. 2 consumer electronics retailer, which ceased operations Jan. 16, said it would generate $250 million more than budgeted from the liquidation. The court Feb. 3 ordered Circuit City Stores to pay Alliance Entertainment a lien payment of more than $1 million for the warehousing and shipment of third-party DVD movies and related content to stores during the ongoing liquidation sale, according to a filing. The Coral Springs, Fla.-based merchandising and fulfillment-company last month filed a claim with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., demanding the No. 2 consumer electronics retailer make good on a pre-payment lien in the amount of $1,028,153.34. 30 YEARS OF NEWS FEBRUARY I 1985 Sellthrough Predicted to Go to Mass Merchants Things were quite a bit different in the video retail world in 1985. For instance my family’s video watching came mostly from a local rental store, Video Club in La Palma, Calif., and besides children’s video, the only store-bought VHS we owned was a copy of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video. But sellthrough was taking off, spurred by successful price cuts on VHS and Betamax. At the 1985 CES show, panelists talked of how video sellthrough could end up going to mass merchants. Nick Santarizos of U.K. company Thorn-EMI said the 17 million VCRs in U.S. homes represented a great potential for sellthrough. And Jim Lahm of Video Crossroads said, “Most independent video retailers have a rental mentality. The sales market may go to the mass merchants unless that mentality can be changed.” The rest is history, Wal-Mart bargain – Billy Gil bins and all. Trans World: Dead Retailer Walking? By Erik Gruenwedel RETAIL With consumer confidence decidedly shaky, Wall Street appears to be marching Trans World Entertainment Corp. off a cliff no stimulus package can cushion. Shares of the Albany, N.Y.-based parent of the f.y.e. music and video retail chain Feb. 9 closed at 77 cents per share — a 15% drop since falling below $1 per share to 90 cents in January and representing an 82% decline in value over the past 52 weeks. Until the Securities and Exchange Commission relaxed the rules due to the economy, if a stock fell below $1 for 30 consecutive business days, a company had 180 days to bring the stock back up to $1 for 10 business days I REPORT: STIMULUS DOESN’T HELP ENOUGH The National Retail Federation Feb. 11 told Congress, hours before the Senate and the House approved a $789 billion stimulus package, that the economic legislation wouldn’t do enough to provide a jumpstart to bring shoppers back into stores. Instead, the retail trade association said legislation aimed at increased home ownership tax credits coupled with a series of national sales tax holidays (shopping days where no sales tax would be applied to purchases) would promote speedier consumer consump– Erik Gruenwedel tion. or be de-listed. Described by founder and CEO Robert Higgins as the “last entertainment retailer standing,” the 715-store chain has doggedly stuck to music-CD sales despite the ongoing industry-wide migration to digital distribution. That allegiance backfired in December when Trans World reported a comparable-store sales decrease of 14% for the nine-week period ended Jan. 3, which included the Christmas holiday. The company last month terminated 25 employees at its corporate headquarters. It has shuttered 70 underperforming stores. The f.y.e. stores stock an impressive selection of Blu-ray and DVD titles, but total sales for the nine-week period totaled $287 million, compared to $378 million during the same period a year ago, a decrease of 24%. Trans World has about $9 million in available cash and debt in excess of $75 million. CFO John Sullivan remains resolute in his conviction the retailer can return from the precipice. “Our focus is on turning the business around,” he told The Business Review. “The share price will take care of itself.” Edward Woo, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles who tracks Trans World, isn’t so sure. “The stock market doesn’t have much confidence,” Woo said. “I have to admit the environment looks very tough.” Home Media Magazine February 16–22, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.Borders.com
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