‘TIS THE SEASON FOR CD, VCR, TAPE SALES
If electronics purveyors--of both hardware and software--were to slap a title on their holiday sales to date, it might be “It’s a Wonderful Season,” to paraphrase the classic Frank Capra perennial, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
“Overall, it’s been a good Christmas,” said Shervin Matinkhou, marketing manager at Adray’s on Wilshire Boulevard. “Sales in consumer electronics have been even better than we expected.”
“It’s booming here,” said Jeff Huff, manager of the TV/hi-fi department at the downtown May Co. “Business is even better than we thought it would be.”
At the Federated Group store in Huntington Park, assistant general manager Victor Lizardi reported sales “higher than expected.”
Ken Antos, president of Circuit City’s Western division, said it was hard to compare this season’s local sales to last Christmas’, because the company has expanded so much since then. But the total should be “substantial.”
Shoppers have never had a bigger choice of electronic goodies to choose from--not just videocassette and compact disc players but also big-screen TVs and all sorts of accessories. Among the accessories: gadgets that combine all of your remote controls into one, and the Rabbit, a “multiplying system” that enables you to send a VCR signal to several TVs in the house.
What’s selling biggest? It depends on whom you ask.
Lizardi and Huff cited videocassette recorders. “It surprises me how well VCRs are still selling,” Huff said. “You’d think everyone who wanted a VCR would already have one, but if they own one they haven’t told the people who are buying them gifts.”
At Adray’s, compact disc players have been the surprise hit, Matinkhou said. What surprises him isn’t that people want the machines--that was proved earlier; it’s the extent to which they’re wanted--and the types of players selling best.
Despite the recent introduction of very economical models, “the high-price CD players are selling even better,” he said, “especially the ones that play several CDs. There’s a great demand for the Pioneer, JVC and Sony multi-disc models--and for players with remote control. It’s really something when you think that eight months ago only one multi-disc model was available.”
But just about anything that spins those cute little CDs is earning its keep at Adray’s: “Right now,” said Matinkhou, “about 60% of our hi-fi sales are compact disc players. Many are being bought as presents, of course. But a lot of people say they’re buying the players for themselves--and that’s when they really like to get the extra features.”
At Circuit City, Antos reported a similar consumer emphasis on pricey items. “About the only area selling below expectations is some of the lower-end systems. People are buying merchandise with features.” Compact disc players and VCRs are both doing well at the Circuit City stores.
As for VCRs at Adray’s, “they are selling about the same as last year, which is good,” said Matinkhou. But the hottest video items at the Wilshire store are camcorders (video cameras capable of playback), with the furious competition between Sony’s 8-millimeter version and JVC’s compact-VHS format going a bit in Sony’s favor. “Sony keeps bringing out new models,” said Matinkhou. He noted that Sony’s most popular 8-millimeter camcorder has come down to an actual selling price of around $1,000.
On the video software front, shop owners are also going ho-ho-ho. Meir Hed, co-owner (with brother Yehuda) of the three Los Angeles-area Videotheque stores, reported strong sales of prerecorded cassettes. “They’re doing something like 10 to 1 over rental in dollar amounts. That compares to around 6 to 1 last year.” According to Daily Variety, videocassette sales this holiday season may double last Christmas’ total.
The biggest factor in the increase, Hed believes, is the promotional campaigns by the studio-owned video companies--lowering prices on movies, generally to the $20-$30 range. “Even a lot of films that were available on video last Christmas are selling well now because the prices are so low.” Among the new releases, Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” is the biggest seller. “We order it in caseloads and we still can’t keep it in the store.” Other titles doing especially good business, he mentioned, were Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief,” “Jane Fonda’s Low-Impact Workout” and--of course--”It’s a Wonderful Life.”
