GameStop has just announced that it will be closing over 300 stores this year as part of its ongoing effort to “de-densify” its business. Last year the company closed down 331 stores, bringing the total number of stores to 5500 locations. GameStop CEO George Sherman, said there are plans to meet or possibly exceed the 300 number during this fiscal year, which means there will soon be many GameStop employees out of a job.
As of right now we do not know which stores will be shut down, or when the shut-downs will happen, but we can assume they will occur during the fiscal year. Much of GameStop’s focus markets are parts of the U.S. that have sub-optimal internet bandwidth so online services like Steam are really not an option for customers.
The most recent earnings call did say that there was actually a 2% increase in store sales in March when compared to March 2019. This is likely due to the fact that both DOOM Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons dropped this month. During the call there was a comment about a possible delay in the release of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X as supply-chains around the world are severely disrupted, not to mention people’s disposable incomes.
Via Comicbook
