Slackers CDs And Games
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Slackers CDs and Games, often shortened to Slackers, is a small chain of
entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
retailers Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler ...
located in the
Midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
United States. The store specializes in both new and used
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
s and
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
. It was founded in 1993 in
Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...
by Kurt Jellinek and Paul Zacharias, originally as a music store. The store is known for selling local
independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a DIY ethic, do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties aff ...
, its collection of classic games, and for giving good credit for trade-ins. In 2007, the store raised some controversy for stockpiling
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
s. As of 2021, there are 9 locations in
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
and
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. Jellinek has said that the name "Slackers" comes from being a slacker in college—playing video games and listening to music during their free time. A new store would be opened every few years, in various separate locations, so as not to lose business by placing two stores close together. Jellinek and Zacharias manage the chain of stores with a hands-on approach.


History

The original idea behind Slackers first occurred in 1990. Along with some friends, Kurt Jellinek and Paul Zacharias went to a
Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician who is a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and co-lead vocalist, as well as its sole continuous member. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles ...
concert, and began thinking about owning their own music store. At the time, the two were undergraduate students, and decided to focus their studies on business management and becoming entrepreneurs. Slackers CDs and Games was officially founded in 1993, by Jellinek and Zacharias, in
Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...
. Jellinek and Zacharias opened the store after graduating from
Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...
, using only their own collection of 1,500 music CDs. The name originated from their
generation A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...
being considered
slacker A slacker is someone who habitually work aversion, avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term "slacker" dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the UK, British Gezira Sche ...
s before being given a chance to prove otherwise. Although business was slow at first, with the store sometimes only making
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
30 in a day, business eventually increased. After 2 years they were able to open a second location in
O'Fallon, Illinois O'Fallon is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The 2020 census listed the population at 32,289. The city is the second largest city in the Metro East region and Southern Illinois. It sits from Scott Air Force Base and from Dow ...
. As of 2009, there are 10 locations in the states of Missouri and
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, eight of which are in the
St. Louis Metropolitan Area Greater St. Louis is the 23rd-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the largest in Missouri, and the second-largest in Illinois. Its core city—St. Louis, Missouri—sits in the geographic center of the metro area, ...
, and two of which are in
Mid-Missouri Mid-Missouri is a loosely-defined region comprising the central area of the U.S. state of Missouri. The region's largest city is Columbia, Missouri, Columbia (population 121,717); the Missouri state capital, Jefferson City, Missouri, Jefferson C ...
.


Praise and criticism

Slackers CDs and Games won an award for best used CD store in 2006 from the ''
Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') was a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, that consisted of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its websit ...
''. The ''Riverfront'' ''Times'' cited its collection of
vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, ...
s and independent and rare music CDs as the basis for the award. Since the store buys video games from all consoles, it is known for its collection of classic titles. However, they do not require the box or manual for cartridge based games. The store is also known for giving more credit for trade-ins than its competitors. In 2005, ''Vox Magazine'' had the same four games (''
Halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...
'', '' Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'', ''
NHL 2004 ''NHL 2004'' is an ice hockey sports video game developed by EA Black Box. It is the successor to '' NHL 2003''. The game adds three European Elite Leagues: Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Sweden's Elitserien (SEL), and Finland's SM-liig ...
'', and ''
Madden NFL 2005 ''Madden NFL 2005'' is an American football simulation video game based on the NFL that was developed by EA Tiburon, along with Exient Entertainment and Budcat Creations, and published by EA Sports. The 16th installment of the '' Madden NFL ...
'') priced at
EB Games EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique, EBX, and EB World) was an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prus ...
,
Game Crazy GameCrazy was a video game retailer based in Wilsonville, Oregon. It was a subsidiary of Movie Gallery. The stores were often, but not always, located adjacent to Hollywood Video rental stores. GameCrazy and its parent company, Movie Gallery, f ...
, and Slackers CDs and Games, with the trade-in values being $16.50, $26.82, and $45 respectively.


Wii Controversy

On December 20, 2007, the store raised some controversy when ''
Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
'' reported that the chain was stockpiling
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
systems to sell at a higher profit while telling retail customers that the chain did not have any systems in stock, and were not expecting any. On December 21, 2007, Kurt Jellinek responded on the Slackers website by stating that the article was sensationalist and misleading. Jellinek said that, of the 44 units the chain had, five were sold on
eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
for $399.99, with a couple of units still in stock, and 35 were held for specific customers and sold at the
MSRP The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...
. The remainder were given away. Some sites believe this may violate Nintendo's enforcement of the Wii's $249 retail price, and may prevent the store from receiving future products from Nintendo. Nintendo has refused to comment on the issue.


References


External links


Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slackers Cds And Games Music retailers of the United States Video game retailers of the United States Companies based in Columbia, Missouri American companies established in 1993 Retail companies established in 1993 Privately held companies based in Missouri