Dare we say yet another nail in the coffin for 4K Blu-ray?

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.

      • weariedfae@lemmy.world
        4·
        7 months ago

        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.

    • comfydecal@infosec.pub
      2·
      7 months ago

      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

  • ToasterOverlord@feddit.uk
    3·
    7 months ago

    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.

  • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
    2·
    7 months ago

    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.

  • Kelly@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    7 months ago

    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.