GameStop closing locations in the US

Summary

GameStop is quietly closing stores in the US, leaving customers and employees shocked and disappointed.
The decline of GameStop is evident as its brick-and-mortar locations have shrunk by nearly a third.
Customers and employees are sharing the closures on social media platforms, hinting at a worrisome future for the company.

GameStop appears to be closing many of its stores across the United States, often with little or no warning, leaving loyal customers in shock and disappointment. While there doesn't seem to be any official announcement from GameStop about an increase in store closings, customers and employees have been active since the beginning of the year reporting their new or soon-to-be-closed stores on social media.

The largest brick-and-mortar retailer of new and used video games in the world, GameStop has a history that stretches back more than 44 years, back when it was known as Babbages. The first location opened in a suburb of Dallas, Texas in August 1980 with financial support from former US presidential candidate Ross Perot, and at its peak in 2015, the brand was represented by more than 6,000 locations worldwide and reported approximately $9 billion in annual sales. But the number has declined over the past nine years as game sales have shifted to a predominantly digital format, and as of February 2024, GameStop's brick-and-mortar location numbers had declined by nearly a third, with about 3,000 of those stores in the United States. states, according to data collection site ScrapeHero.

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GameStop is leaving a big country

GameStop will close all stores in a major country in the near future as the company tries to adapt.

Following a December 2024 regulatory report that suggested GameStop would close more stores in the near future, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, both customers and employees at GameStop locations have been sharing their discoveries of closed locations on platforms such as Twitter and Reddit. Some, like Twitter user @one-big-boss, lamented the closure of his favorite spot, which he saw as a good source for buying cheap games and consoles. He said that particular location still seemed to be popular and successful, and he sees the upcoming closure as a bad sign of things to come for less busy locations. Many employees have also spoken out, with one Canadian worker complaining of “ridiculous targets” when the company's senior managers judge which stores to keep open.

GameStop customers continue to see stores close by

The recent reporting of closing GameStop locations is a continuing trend for the shrinking gaming retailer. A March 2024 Reuters report predicted a bleak future for GameStop, showing that the company had closed 287 of its stores in the previous year after fourth-quarter 2023 numbers that saw revenue drop by nearly 20 percent, or roughly $432 million. compared to the same period in 2022.

In recent years, there have been many plans to save GameStop from sources inside and outside the company. As their customer base has shifted to buying video games online, the company has tried many other strategies, from an increase in video game-related toys and apparel to dipping its toes into completely different industries, such as phone trade-ins and trading card grading. Meanwhile, the company received a lifeline in 2021 from a group of amateur investors on Reddit, whose exploits have been immortalized in works like the Netflix documentary Eat the Rich: The GameStop Sagaand the movie Stupid money.

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