When Beyoncé shocked the world by unveiling a full studio album with no prior press, singles or teasers, everyone was impressed with the fact that there were no leaks of information or content. BEYONCÉ went on to sell over 800,000 copies worldwide in three days and break iTunes digital sales records.

With all of this commercial success there was still someone being left out, stores. Due to Bey’s surprise release, there wasn’t much need for stores to work as the middle man between the label and fans. Target already made a statement by announcing that they wouldn’t be selling physical copies of the CD because they felt that it wasn’t in their best interest to sell hard copies of an album that the whole world had already gotten a digital head-start on.

As a fair rebuttal, Beyoncé stopped by Walmart to show her mutual support for them selling her album, in stores, and awarded customers with a total of $37,500 in gift cards for their holiday shopping. Amazon is now following suit and will not sell physical copies of the CD.

Because of Amazon’s many third-party sellers, physical copies of the album can still be found on the website if you’re willing to put in some work and dig a little.

–Keith Reid-Cleveland

[via VIBE]