• Wall Street Journal, Monday, October 5, 2009 10:45 AM

Wal-Mart is eliminating display cases that promote the latest hot movie titles, striking yet another blow to reeling Hollywood studios already suffering from changing consumer buying patterns. "We think the new strategy implies Wal-Mart no longer sees DVDs and Blu-ray discs as traffic drivers," says J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan.

Studio chiefs dispute that conclusion, Nat Worden reports, and Wal-Mart would not comment. But the move is part of its larger "Project Impact," which devotes more shelf space to top-selling products and cuts back on laggards. The Digital Entertainment Group estimates that overall U.S. retail sales for DVDs fell 13.5% to $5.4 billion during the first half of 2009, rentals rose by 8.3% to $3.4 billion.

Wal-Mart is also is trying cutting back on clutter in its aisles - such as corrugated displays for DVDs -- in hopes that it can attract a more upscale shopper, Worden writes.

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