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Chinese Democracry No Boon for Best Buy
Chain bought exclusive sales rights to new album
By Matt Cantor
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Posted Dec 16, 08 1:42 PM CST
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(Newser)
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Best Buy paid millions for exclusive sales rights to Guns N’ Roses latest effort, but of 1.3 million copies ordered, only 318,000 have left the shelves, the Wall Street Journal reports. The chain was betting Chinese Democracy would be the record of the year. Instead, it debuted at No. 3 on the charts, with sales falling 78% in its second week—and the company is stuck with the leftovers.
The timing for Best Buy, which predicted third-quarter sales would plunge 5%-15% compared with last year, is particularly poor. Partly to blame may be the failure of Axl Rose to do much to promote the long-awaited disc. In a similar deal, Wal-Mart sold more than a million copies of AC/DC’s latest alongside other band paraphernalia.