Why are DVD's so hard to come by these days?

I recently made a trek almost the entire way down the east side of I-485, stopping at each Sam's Club location, trying to find Green Acres on DVD.

It started when I was talking with someone recently. She'd mentioned that Green Acres is at least $20 online. I said, 'No way. It's only $8 at Sam's Club.'

Thankfully I had a picture to prove myself right.

However, I figured it'd be good to get them on DVD while I could. I didn't want to shell out $20 if Sam's did stop carrying them.

I went to three Sam's Club locations and none of them had Green Acres, like they had just a few months ago. Finally, after getting a day pass at BJ's, I found three seasons of Green Acres for $8 each.

It got me thinking about how difficult it is to find DVDs these days.

Growing up in the '90s, I remember being able to find almost any movie at a plethora of video rental stores. If you wanted to own a movie, you could buy movies at Suncoast Motion Picture Co., Books-A-Million, or Sam Goody. Most of those stores are now completely shut down or close to permanently gone.

The only options you have these days are Big Lots (where you'll typically find b-movies for under $5) or the overpriced f.y.e. and Kmart.

You can sometimes find discounted deals at Barnes and Noble, but if it's not discounted, then their DVD's are usually overpriced, just like Kmart and f.y.e.

Target can be an option, but if the movie you're looking for is not a new release or one of their select titles, then it isn't available. The $5 bin at Wal-Mart has become the best spot to find a DVD that's more than three years old.

I use Netflix all the time, but they don't have some older titles. Maid to Order and Don't Tell Her It's Me are two examples of great movies from 25 years ago that are extremely difficult to find.

How did we let ourselves end up in a world where good DVD's are so difficult to find?

I know there's the government shutdown to worry about right now, but pressing matters like this just can't be ignored.

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