Video gamers still hold out hope for Xbox 360s by Christmas

New Orleans CityBusiness, Dec 19, 2005 by Tommy Santora

Thirty-six hours before Best Buy on Veterans Memorial Boulevard launched sales of the Xbox 360, more than 100 people lined up outside the store waiting to buy the hottest game system this holiday season.Most left empty-handed.We only had 32 shipped to us, the first 32 got tickets to purchase the system and we sold out in 20 minutes, said Kirsten Holliday, Best Buy media supervisor.Holliday said Best Buy was scheduled to receive more systems Sunday but did not know how many would be shipped.

Nationwide, Best Buy stores will receive between 20 and 60 per outlet depending on location.Microsoft's Xbox 360 is the hottest video game system and also the hardest to find. Electronic retail outlets nationwide are complaining about lack of shipments from Microsoft after the company launched sales worldwide last month with too few units manufactured to fulfill waiting lists in time for Christmas. Customers who reserved the system as much as six months ago may not receive the system until January.Microsoft would not say how many Xbox 360 systems have been shipped or sold, but Greenwich, Conn.-based American Technology Research estimates just 400,000 systems were ready for the launch date of Nov. 22. Xbox CFO Bryan Lee released a target of 2.75 million to 3 million units sold in the first three months and 10 million consoles sold by the end of 2006.With the lack of availability in stores, gamers have taken to online retailers like eBay to buy the systems but at a hefty price - from $400 retail to $1,000 to $2,000 online. In one extreme case, an Xbox 360 and a Florida home to go with it sold for the cool $2 million. Xbox 360 sales on eBay have now accounted for 10 percent of the available stock from Microsoft.Antaeus Rhodes, manager at GameStop on Manhattan Boulevard on the West Bank, said 75 customers are on the waiting list at his store, including 35 who preordered from the GameStop in Oakwood Mall before Hurricane Katrina. Rhodes estimates the reservation list will be filled by the end of January.Chris Olivera, director of public relations for Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop Corp., which owns GameStop, EB Games and Electronics Boutique, says customers will be able to walk in to an electronics store by spring 2006 and buy the Xbox 360 system off the shelf.This system with high-definition graphics and multimedia capabilities has targeted all kinds of age and consumer groups, not just your regular gamers, Olivera said. That's why the demand has been higher than any other system released in years past.November retail sales up 7.4 percentThe National Retail Federation reports retail industry sales increased 7.4 percent unadjusted over last year and rose 0.5 percent seasonally adjusted from the previous month. The increase is in line with the Washington D.C.-based NRF holiday sales forecast of 6 percent growth to $438.5 billion.The NRF expects retail industry sales to increase 5.6 percent this year over 2004. The report was boosted by strong year-to-year growth across nearly every retail industry category, including building material and garden equipment and supply stores, which jumped 14.3 percent over last year. The main drivers for this holiday, apparel and electronics, also experienced solid growth. Sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores rose 7.6 percent over last year and electronics and appliance stores jumped 7.4 percent from November 2004. Father-son duo opens FQ antique storeHurricane Katrina wiped out some favorite shopping stores in the city but new retail stores have popped up, too. Bottom of the Barrel, an antique shop owned by Greg and Christian Rackham, a father-son team from Austin, Texas, opened Thanksgiving weekend at 1303 Decatur St. near the French Market.The store specializes in reasonably priced antiques, said Greg Rackham. It's the kind of shop where people can afford stuff, he said.