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Originally Posted by gripper The new Target "prison" system is just killing their Games business. Nobody wants to even bother with the new layout and I notice that the games section is totally devoid of shoppers. Even the games knocked down to $37 did not even attract me - I cannot be bothered waiting for an employee to come over, unlock remove and escort me to the desk to pay right then - like I am a criminal or something.

Uh...how is this different than when they had a glass case with shelves, and you had to wait for an employee to come over and unlock the case, then escort you over to the desk to pay? How is this different than most Walmarts? It's only marginally different than Gamestop, except they just have everything behind the counter.

Best Buy may have games in boxes and allow you to look through them, but they also have a full-time security person at the front door hawking over a camera watching the media section. Feel like a criminal yet?

The bottom line is that these sections are the highest shrink areas of a store. You can't blame the retailer just because you yourself are honest. Most people are, but it's the few who steal who ruin it for everyone.

Originally Posted by Idx86 Is it safe to say the Golden Age of Target clearance has passed?

yup... sad. See you next January

Originally Posted by gripper The new Target "prison" system is just killing their Games business. Nobody wants to even bother with the new layout and I notice that the games section is totally devoid of shoppers. Even the games knocked down to $37 did not even attract me - I cannot be bothered waiting for an employee to come over, unlock remove and escort me to the desk to pay right then - like I am a criminal or something.

When I bought L4D a couple of weeks ago, the guy took it out of the case and then asked was I done shopping. I said no as there was other stuff I wanted to get and he let me walk though the store with the game. I dont know if this is stor policy or not, but he didnt have a problem with it nor did the cashier up front think anything strange.

Originally Posted by Ronin317 Uh...how is this different than when they had a glass case with shelves, and you had to wait for an employee to come over and unlock the case, then escort you over to the desk to pay? How is this different than most Walmarts? It's only marginally different than Gamestop, except they just have everything behind the counter. Best Buy may have games in boxes and allow you to look through them, but they also have a full-time security person at the front door hawking over a camera watching the media section. Feel like a criminal yet? The bottom line is that these sections are the highest shrink areas of a store. You can't blame the retailer just because you yourself are honest. Most people are, but it's the few who steal who ruin it for everyone.

It's not different in the least. People just like to bitch about change.

I love how his anecdotal evidence means Target video game sales are going down the tubes. Oh no! Oh No! I hope they know the sky is falling in Minneapolis.

Originally Posted by hostyl1 When I bought L4D a couple of weeks ago, the guy took it out of the case and then asked was I done shopping. I said no as there was other stuff I wanted to get and he let me walk though the store with the game. I dont know if this is stor policy or not, but he didnt have a problem with it nor did the cashier up front think anything strange.

Target has always let me do that when it's a clearance item, even when they have to get the clearance item out of the case. I guess they figure if you want to try steal a $20, go for it. They're protective of only their $50+ games.

I've noticed it seems like a lot more people are milling around in the game sections; I see a lot more people playing the demo systems than before. That said, maybe people are milling around because they can't find anything anymore.

I've also noticed a lot of the retractable display cases have already broken and are pulled out and laying all over the floor/rack around them.

I did find a Wii Speak for $7.48 at a store that sold out of them apparently a week or two ago, but it's getting pretty dry. The 100+ copies of Zelda DS that were here vanished, probably off to salvage.

Originally Posted by Brain In Chains All of the Targets within 15 miles of me no longer have a clearance section. I can't stand the plastic prison set up. They take up more room and hold less product.

But you can read the back of the game which is the point!

Had a pleasant surprise for clearance today, at least when compared to how bleak it's been lately.

Fallout Trilogy (PC) hit clearance at $7.48
picked it up as I felt it was more than worth it

Also, found Shawn White Snowboarding (PS3) for $3.74
this was really funny as the 360 version hit clearance so long ago, reached the $3.74 price, went out of stock and then came back in stock at 14.99

And finally, my local stores decided to clear out the guitar strings, but all of them were out of stock.

Some games showed up today, must have had them sitting in the back somewhere.



Spongebob Truth or Square $27.98
Il Sturmovik $20.98
Call of Juarez $13.98

Only one copy of each, so they won't last.

Wonder what else is sitting in the back?

Shaun White for $3.74...that's $3.74 too much.

I saw Red Faction Guerrilla for $5 on clearance.

I saw Madden 10 and NCAA Football 10 with NCF designations so they'll probably go on clearance soon, although that isn't a surprise with the new iterations coming out soon.

Originally Posted by 180husher Some games showed up today, must have had them sitting in the back somewhere. Spongebob Truth or Square $27.98 Il Sturmovik $20.98 Call of Juarez $13.98 Only one copy of each, so they won't last. Wonder what else is sitting in the back? Shaun White for $3.74...that's $3.74 too much.

singstar queen ps3 27.xx, a few weeks back i saw this same game for 7.xx or so, and i passed, now i wish i hadnt, cuz its reappeared back up to $27 , whats up with these magical games???

Originally Posted by aleraiders singstar queen ps3 27.xx, a few weeks back i saw this same game for 7.xx or so, and i passed, now i wish i hadnt, cuz its reappeared back up to $27 , whats up with these magical games???

Chances are it is just starting clearance cycle at his store and it has already completed it at yours. This happens all of the time. I saw Call of Juarez last November on clearance and people have been reporting it popping up on clearance for the first time at their stores in the past few weeks.

Call of juarez was 9.99 months ago at my target

I was on vacation in Florida and stopped by a Target down there and found a nice suprise.

360:
$5 Bioshock, The Saboteur, Dead Rising, Burnout Paradise, Left 4 Dead.

$7.50 Oblvion GOTY

$12.50 Resident Evil 5 Gold

PS3:

$5 red Faction Guerilla.

Originally Posted by VexxedCS You can complain about the lack of clearance titles, but to complain about the new layout itself makes no sense, the games were always locked up requiring an associate to make a purchase as salty said. The only difference now is you can actually pick the game up and look at the back cover. Also, to say Target "fails" for not having clearance is some backwards logic. Products get clearanced because they didn't sell for shit, how much money do you think Target makes off those $4.98 copies of LFD? I loved Target clearance as much as the next guy, but c'mon... they want to sell games at $60, not $5...

Target "fails" for not having clearance when their stock is collecting dust because most of it is at MSRP and going nowhere, especially when I've got to walk an entire aisle's length to look over the titles they have compared to the half an aisle I was walking. Not to mention the fact that often the prices seem updated less often in these new shells than they did in the former cases.

Just from what I've seen, more people are browsing, less people are buying. Is that enough "fail" for you? Contrary to popular belief, stores do NOT want to hold onto stock, even if they have ample room for it, forever. L4D GOTY's value will drop whether Target puts it on clearance or not.

Originally Posted by HisDivineShadow Target "fails" for not having clearance when their stock is collecting dust because most of it is at MSRP and going nowhere, especially when I've got to walk an entire aisle's length to look over the titles they have compared to the half an aisle I was walking. Not to mention the fact that often the prices seem updated less often in these new shells than they did in the former cases.

The new storage system allows them to stock more titles and for longer periods of time, thus less clearance. Best Buy has a LOT more room for games compared to Target, and thus they don't have the clearance or discounts on games that Best Buy does. Just because a game doesn't sell at YOUR store doesn't mean after X number of weeks/months it has to go on clearance. Target management realized they could keep the games at regular MSRP, or just do a $10-$20 price drop as opposed to the 50%-75% clearance that they used to do. Target "fails" for making a smart business decision.

Any business decision, smart or otherwise, that sucks for the consumer which I happen to be definitely fails as far as I'm concerned. Only someone with a vested interest would feel any differently.

Something caught my eye in the plastic prison section. Brutal legend for 360, had a red sticker (mostly) pulled off, and was back in the plastic case marked as $19.99.

This delineates what Target is doing, waiting customers out like Best Buy's business model. Best Buy would rather not make a sale than give the customer a good deal. That's why I don't shop at BB, and have ended up buying 3 TVs from Target over the past few years.

picked up:
The Club 2.96
Red Faction : 4.96
FF: DiSSIDIA : 7.98

Wow, there must be an influx of Red Faction games coming out of backrooms everywhere, 'cause a lot of people are reporting a 4.98/9.98 pick-up.