HOME VIDEO : Initial Clamor Over ‘E.T.’ Videocassette Dies Down

Two weeks ago, the release of MCA’s “E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial” turned the home video business upside down. But there’s a lull in the “E.T.” storm right now--making it a good time for an update.

The big problem was that, at first, the initial supply of the cassette which retails for $24.95, was about three million copies short of the 10.6 million orders MCA had received. Reports of the shortage prompted a stampede among consumers: There were lines outside many stores on the first day “E.T.” was available.

The clamor has died down since then.

“We’re all out now, but people aren’t asking for it as much as they did a few weeks ago,” said the clerk at an Atlanta store. “I think people aren’t shopping for it because they assume it’s not available now.”

Copies are available, however, but mostly at some of the bigger chains or prosperous small ones. Mitch Perliss of Music Plus said his chain has lots of “E.T.” copies in stock, as does the Westside Videotheque chain. So does the eastern Erol’s chain, which purchased 90,000 cassettes.

Those who have the most copies now are retailers who had the resources--and the savvy--to order excessive amounts initially, so that they remained well-stocked even after MCA had to reduce its first deliveries.

At the moment, those least likely to have “E.T.” in stock are the small video retailers and the discount department stores such as Target and K-mart. Small retailers didn’t have many in the first place, so their supplies were drained almost immediately. The mass stores offered them at such low discounts--as much as $10 cheaper--that their stocks were depleted early by bargain hunters.

On the other hand, some video retailers have copies of “E.T.” left for the very reason that would-be customers discovered they could buy it cheaper at the discount stores.

Lou Berg of Houston’s Audio-Video Plus said a supermarket in his area offered “E.T.” for $4.95 to shoppers who bought a certain amount of groceries.

“How can I compete with that?” asked Berg, who has plenty of “E.T.” cassettes in stock. “Customers come in and ask if I can match some of these low prices, which are below my wholesale price. I can’t. I’ve had people cancel orders because they found it cheaper at the mass merchants.”

When will the shelves be bulging with copies of “E.T.” again? MCA said it hoped to have filled the remainder of its pre-orders by the end of this week. So next week is a good time to start checking.

This lull in the “E.T.” storm is expected to last only a few weeks.

“After Thanksgiving, when Christmas shopping starts in earnest, the clamor for ‘E.T.’ will start again,” Berg predicted. “Hopefully, MCA will have their supply in tune with the demand by then.”

Still, the best way to bring “E.T.” home is to rent a copy. Currently it’s No. 2 on the Billboard magazine rental chart. Even small stores that don’t have any for sale have put aside rental copies.

One negative consequence of the shortage of “E.T.” copies has been to make the small video retailers feel even smaller. Said one Seattle retailer who wanted to remain unidentified: “The little guys have no clout. I didn’t order a lot of copies, but I didn’t even get what I ordered. My distributor said he was out. He sold mine to some chain or other that had more clout and more money. I get the feeling he didn’t give a damn about my business.”

Some small retailers have another problem. They apparently stretched their budgets so far to buy “E.T.” that they didn’t have much left for some of this month’s bigger titles, such as “Three Men and a Baby,” “Above the Law” and “Biloxi Blues.”

Speaking for the small retailers, the Seattle store owner said: “We just don’t have the financial resources to compete with the chains. Something like ‘E.T.’ can come along and throw your whole business out of whack. Little guys don’t have the money to buy lots of ‘E.T.’s and then stock up on the latest hot rentals.”