I'm an early riser so I visited my Wal-Mart when they opened at 5AM. This is in San Gabriel Valley, CA, just outside of Los Angeles. There was almost no line of any kind to get in, and I was the only person interested in vinyl records. The first picture is of the display. The second is all of the non-sale-vinyl in the store. They had removed it from the floor so people wouldn't think all of the records were on sale. They were being kept at the counter. All the employees were flabbergasted at the low turnout for their Black Friday sale. I'm not sure what it means for the overall economy but it was really, really strange.
I remember last year there were albums that showed as "out of stock" that ended up being available in the store. Walmart is like 28 minutes from me but I guess I can go check it out. Most are showing up not available at the store but it seems unreliable.
I too am an early riser and made it a point NOT to set an alarm for this sale. I figured if I were to wake up early enough, I'd go by and see what was left. Awoke at 4:45 a.m. and after getting myself ready, I was at the Orange, CA Walmart by shortly after 5:00 a.m. Virtually no cars in the parking lot which made me question whether the online posting of early store hours was a mistake. Inside the store, hardly any customers. The regular vinyl section was devoid of the sale titles and there was no display nearby. I asked and was directed to the toy section. Of course, vinyl with toys...makes perfect sense! There I immediately spied three titles on my "list", Hall & Oates, Journey & ELO. I recalled hearing there is a limit so I did self-check and went back inside, having alerted my music buddies that I was in the trenches. One requested a John Coltrane and an ELO so I added a Coltrane of my own and self-checked again without issue. At this point I decided to make my way over to Costco Fullerton to fill up my tank with the cheapest $4.00+ per gallon gasoline. As I got close, I remembered there is a Walmart nearby so I stopped there. The same display was present, laid out pretty much identical to the Orange store. The difference here was a robust selection of some of the other sale titles in the regular vinyl section where I picked up a couple copies of the Kiss compilation (one for me, one for another friend) as well as The Mandalorian picture disc. Hope that one isn't a POS like last year's issue. All in all, a worthwhile trip. I got three that I really wanted and another three that I am super happy to have.
There's a little activity on the Walmart.com page. It shows a few titles available for pickup at a couple of my local locations. Robot or human?
Perhaps you haven’t been following, but the ad said the same thing last year, but all vinyls were $15 in store. Otherwise I missed your point?
I stopped by my Local walmart , most stuff was in stock & plenty of it for Lps in the ad (probably 80% of them) No joan jett , Whitney or KISS , but most of the rest . I was happy to get the Carrie underwood as it came out today A few Questions people had , Yes they had stuff that did not show as being in stock on the website like the Dixie chicks one & No problems Buying a 2nd copy , there were no signs saying you could not & my best Friend is working all day so i got him the Carrie & ELO he wanted . Also look in the regular lps ( the Sale ones were mid main aisle over by toys as someone already stated) , Like the Motley crue i saw in the regular section & checked it at price check & it was $15 ...... Hopefully some of this helps those looking .
Last year the ad said “All vinyl, in-store only”. Nothing about that is the same as this year’s ad, i.e. what you pointed out.
I'll be curious to her if anyone can verify that it is possible to purchase non-advertised vinyl for $15.00. That is a game changer if true.
I picked up a few today. Metallica sounded good to my ears but the Ozzy album hurt my ears. Did anyone like the sound of Diary of a Mad man?
My local Walmart had the same display. However, it was on the other end of the aisle were the LPs are. I nearly missed it. I picked the CCR, Hendrix, Hall & Oates and Journey LPs.
I picked it up yesterday and haven’t opened it yet as I wanted to see what the consensus is. Sounds like the usual half-baked digital transfer.
There was nothing this morning when I hit the Walmart closest to me. No display, and no sale records in the rack. I went back tonight about 6pm and the sale records were jammed in the rack with the others. I pulled the Journey, Creedence, Motley Crue and Metallica Black Album. Then I grabbed a second Metallica and headed for the register. One Metallica rang up at $15 and the other at $27.97. I asked the clerk to check it and he deleted the expensive one and told me to scan the $15 again. When I got home, I realized the $15 issue is lighter weight and the $27.97 was actually the 180 gram version. I'm going back out to see if I can find the Hendrix and the ELO.
Members are still asking if all vinyls are $15 in store in this thread because of last year. I’m letting them know this is not the case this year. There was no point in you taking a smart ass jab at my post like I can’t read. Didn’t appreciate that.
My store had Journey, Kiss, Chris Stapleton and CCR. No ELO, Ozzy or Hall & Oates. One of the guys who worked there said they were supposed to get a shipment with a display but it never came.
I got the Ozzy yesterday. It’s pretty bright, could use more bass. But it is very clear and detailed. My copy is dead silent for surface noise. It is also pretty warped but not bad enough to affect the sound. According to the notes on Discogs, this uses the same mastering as the 2011 pressing, which has quite a few good reviews over there: Ozzy Osbourne – Diary Of A Madman (2021, Blue Swirl, Vinyl)
2011 = cut by RKS @ sterling sound, pressed at RTI 2021 = cut by daniel krieger @ SST, pressed at MPO not the same. rats.
Just got back from the second store...... they had the dedicated bin for the sale stuff. I ended up getting Kiss, ELO, Hendrix, and picked up Whitney for my wife. There was still a pretty nice selection of albums there, at least 5 or 6 Hall & Oates lps. Apparently there are not many H & O fans in North Port.
Thank you. A friend of mine just confirmed the same thing a short time ago. Seems there was some misinformation upstream.
Hearing the same with Ozzy Diary. Just listened to it. Great reviews on discogs as this is the 2011 master but definitely sounds like it’s been eq’d up in the higher end. Aside from that, it sounds ok overall I guess, but I felt the title cut especially had no punch too it.
Ditto for the three locals I checked...no special display and only a portion of the advertised titles. I was still happy to pick up Journey plus the Ten Things I Hate About You soundtrack for the sale price.
Got ELO and Ozzy this morning (Saturday). Already have "Escape" so really no need for another version even if it's clear vinyl. Suspicious of Kiss. Is this original recordings or the retreads from Sonic Boom? Debated getting Metallica but decided to buy only the 2 I got. Hendrix is only LP 2 of the double LP set which I already own so that one was a hard pass. Haven't played Ozzy yet, hope it's ok it sure looks cool.
I almost missed it too. I was looking at the regular section and nothing was $15 there so I thought my Walmart wasn't having the sale. Then when I left electronics I saw the $15 display. I was hoping it was all LP's but it was the ones advertised.