Media Play
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Media Play was a chain of retail stores founded in 1992 that sold movies on video, DVDs, music, video games, books, toys, and games in the United States. Each store essentially contained a book store, a movie store, a music store, and a video game store under one roof. At their height, they operated 72 stores in 19 states with 2,000 employees. The first store opened in Rockford, Illinois, in 1992. Hundreds of stores were slated to be opened, but only 89 ever were.
Their Replay program was a loyalty program that allowed members to earn points for purchases which can earn members gift certificates. The same Replay card also worked at Sam Goody and Suncoast Motion Picture Company stores.
In December 2005, Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Musicland Group, which owned Media Play, announced it would close all 61 stores by the end of January 2006 and refocus on its Sam Goody and Suncoast chains[1].
Media Play had been unprofitable for a number of years. In late 2005, it increased its advertising and sales promotions, but to no avail. It is thought that the unprofitability, caused by competition from Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and online retailers such as Amazon.com, was the major factor in the decision to close the retail chain.
In January 2006, all of the Media Play stores had closed. Just months after the chain closed, the website was also closed. Today, the website is now under the control of f.y.e.(For Your Entertainment) but the websites for Sam Goody and Suncoast are still up and running. Some former Media Play stores became home to f.y.e. Superstores beginning in June 2006.
