http://www.thechannelcheckers.com Institutionalized, large scale channel checks for fundamental stock research Mon, 12 May 2008 18:41:10 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Channel Checkers has been tracking the sentiment of game store employees on their enthusiasm for GTA IV, the new game released by Take Two Interactive last week.  Our most recent survey covered from April 21 to April 28. We found that approximately 62% of respondents to our survey believed ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/05/take-twos-gta-iv-tracks-below-halo-3-sentiment/ On Wednesday, April 23rd NextWave announced it would sell off its spectrum assets to top bidders. Nextwave holds WCS, AWS and EBS/BRS spectrum assets. Estimates for Nextwave's spectrum on the open market total close to $900 million according to some market analysts. We believe that the company's total ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/04/nextwave-spectrum-value-in-question/ Nintendo of America, the maker of the insanely popular Nintendo Wii consoles, says the inventory of the game is improving and a good thing too for fans. The Channel Checkers surveyed 32 electronics, game and console stores across the nation this week and asked whether the Nintendo Wiis were in ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/04/nintendo-wii-still-popular-but-availability-is-improving/ Our most recent research of video games and consoles at retailers (59% were Gamestop locations), showed that the Nintendo Wii had reclaimed the honors as top video game console at 48% of stores that responded (up from 36% in our previous survey). The Xbox 360 was only cited as top ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/03/super-smash-brothers-brawl-top-game-wii-number-one-console/ Our friends over at TickerMine have run some interesting reports on fuel efficient cars in the current high gas price environment. Sales of alternative fuel cars are still buoyant but could be flattening soon, judging by a recent Tickermine survey. Tickermine surveyed managers at 31 car dealerships around the country ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/03/gas-prices-changing-landscape-for-cars-sales/ Publicly traded until it was taken private last year, Alltel was the subject of our most recent survey. We polled Alltel stores across the country and found that LG phones are the bestsellers. Thirty-seven percent of respondents named as bestsellers LG models including the AX8600, AX 145, Rumor and Scoop. ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/03/motorola-is-best-selling-phone-music-device-for-alltel-blackberry-takes-email-honors/ The Nintendo Wii continues to be scarce in the US. Following up on a survey done in January, we polled Best Buy, EB Games, Gamestop, Target and Walmart in the US and Canada in February. Of these stores, 68% did not have the Wii in stock. The average wait was ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/03/wii-remains-scarce/ In our survey over the first two weeks of February of broad line electronics retailers we found that the Apple iPod continues to lead the market for MP3 players. The Apple iPod was seen as the "best" MP3 player by 75% of our respondents (up from 71% in our December ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/02/ipod-remains-top-mp3-player-music-phones-viewed-as-superior-to-mp3-players/ Kohl’s Corp., the US department store chain, is having a reasonable year so far in spite of an overall sluggish retail sector. We interviewed 30 stores across the nation and asked how business was, whether there was any excess inventory, is the weak economy and housing market jinxing business and ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/02/kohls-corp-sees-stellar-sales-in-spite-of-sluggish-retail-sector/ Chipotle Grill is a hot topic these days with a massive valuation and a market segment in between casual dining and fast food.  How is the chain doing and what are customers looking to get there? We surveyed 30 stores to take a look. Our most recent survey of Chipotle Mexican ... http://www.thechannelcheckers.com/2008/01/chipotle-mexican-grill-chosen-for-menu-not-organic-food-the-burrito-wraps-it-up/