Fury over Kmart's decision to remove 'outdated' item from shelves
Kmart has been slammed by customers for its decision to remove these ‘outdated’ products from shelves.
The discount retailer said in a statement it would remove DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray products from stores to allow more space for new kids’ items.
Kmart customers said on Facebook they were “disappointed” it had not been communicated to them.
“It’s been a little disappointing not being able to get much. But in the new age of Netflix and music streaming they are essentially no longer needed,” one wrote.
Mum Shelley Brokey told Kidspot she thought the idea was “stupid”.
“My daughter likes to watch ABC iView but we can’t afford the amount of internet it takes to use that so I’ve relied on Kmart to buy kids DVDs. I know that’s the way the world is going but some people just can’t afford Netflix or even afford good internet with lots of data,” she said.
Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman told Yahoo7 retailers often looked at whether certain products were selling or just taking up space.
“You have to maximise that shelf space,” he said.
“You go back many years and stores like David Jones and Myer used to stock school uniforms. You can no longer buy those products because people move on, it’s nothing unusual.
“Kmart is doing it as a commercial decision and it absolutely has a right to do it and should do it. People can still buy those products from other places.”
Mr Zimmerman said people were mostly streaming movies and music so having CDs and DVDs on shelves could be costing the business and Kmart could be better utilising the space.
Kmart said DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray products were on clearance as part of the transition and thanked suppliers and customers for their support.
“As part of Kmart’s expanding range of in-house designed products, we have made the decision to exit DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray products so as to allow space within the store for our new creative and activity-based kids products,” a spokesperson said.
