The Warehouse Group announces exit of R18 games and DVDs
Today, The Warehouse Group announced that it will be taking R18 games and DVDs off the shelves following a review of its
range. As a result the Group will no longer be stocking R18 games and DVDs within The Warehouse and Noel Leeming stores
and online, reinforcing its family-friendly brand values.
The Warehouse Group Chief Executive, Mark Powell says that the business’ strong foundations are a result of putting our
people and communities at the core of what we do. “This decision to exit R18 games and DVDs has not been made lightly,
but has been driven by increasing customer, community and team member feedback. This feedback has formed part of what
has been an ongoing internal review, to ensure that the products we range reflect our brand values of family, children,
and community.
“The recently released Grand Theft Auto V, which contains graphic sex scenes and violence towards women from a first
person perspective, has acted as a catalyst for our decision to totally exit the R18 games and DVD market. We considered
simply de-ranging this product, however that would require us to judge the merits of every R18 product on an ongoing
basis, which we are not in a position to do, nor do we see as our role.”
“One of The Warehouse Group’s guiding principles is to help make New Zealand a better place to live. We stock more than
120,000 products in a typical store and are continuously evolving our range to reflect our customer feedback, meet
customer needs and wants, and reflect the changing times. With the increasing amount of feedback we get from customers,
team members, and the wider community around R18 material, we believe that our exit from R18 games and DVDs will be
positively received by parents and families around the country; it’s simply the right thing to do for our brand,” says
Mr Powell.
It will take around 48 hours to execute the de-ranging of all R18 censored games and DVDs across The Warehouse and Noel
Leeming. Any customer purchases already undertaken, for example online, would be honoured, and this decision relates to
future sale and stock.
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