Retail is excited over DVD..............................................................
California Chains Spar Over Who's First with DVD Demos
By Mark Harrington
Los Angeles
As the official March 1 launch of DVD players nears, two California chains are vying for the title of "I had it first."
In a press release dated Feb. 14, The Good Guys! said it would be "one of the first retailers in the nation" to preview the technology to consumers at its stores, in demonstrations that began at stores Feb. 18.
"Yes!" exclaimed a Good Guys spokeswoman, asked if the chain's demo beat that of rival Dow Stereo/Video, which operates stores in San Diego. "I do know that we beat them for sure in San Diego."
At the same time, she said, The Good Guys hasn't gotten much publicity from its efforts. "We've only done one Demo Day so far," she said last night (Wednesday), 'but no, we didn't get much play."
Dow Stereo/Video, meanwhile, is slated today to hold a press conference announcing the introduction of DVD in its stores, in which it will begin taking orders for the products. Shipments to customers will take place March 1.
Tom Campbell, a Dow director, said Dow has been in possession of the DVD units for more than a week, and has been offering customers demonstrations since "last Wednesday or Thursday" (Feb. 12, 13), a day or two before the date of The Good Guys! press release.
Campbell said he expects a mass media response to his event today, including coverage on Cable News Network.
The Good Guys! spokeswoman said CNN told her they'd already covered DVD to death, and provided no coverage of her company's event.
While Dow and The Good Guys have a short history of sparring over first-to-market announcements, neither company can actually begin selling units until the official street date of March 1, when two Panasonic units hit the market nationwide. Panasonic and Toshiba already are selling units in Japan.
Dow's Campbell said his company will hold giveaways of DVD players in its stores today, and customers can leave stores with those units.
Software for DVD players, which have been stalled in copyright and technological issues for more than a year, won't be available until March 24, Dow said.
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