A lot of talks have been going around regarding the decline of GameStop. The sale of this gaming company has declined since the year 2014 and in the year 2018, it suffered a loss of $32 million. Due to the rise of digital gaming and competing companies like Amazon & Best Buy, GameStop is bound to go through rough times.
Many stores of GameStop are getting closed now. Recently, James Bell, the CFO of GameStop revealed that almost 140 underperforming stores will get closed, around the world.
The news is that industry giant GameStop closing hundreds of stores in the next year, after keeping a concise view on the performance of the stores.
The company is also working on restructuring its business model. Due to their acquisition of ThinkGeek, they had to close their official website for the new subsidiary. The outlook of the stores will be soon changed and many specialty stores will also be structured. The classic GameStop stores will be open and along with these, many specialty stores will come up with various new kinds of merchandise and a vast assortment on collectibles. There will be two types of specialty stores-one will focus on eSports-related gaming merchandise and the others will specialize in the classic market.
These advancements are coming months after GameStop’s announcement of non-availability of discounts by long-standing Pro Membership on the pre-owned games. Rather than this, they will switch their focus to the rewards program and offer the users a $5 coupon, on a monthly basis. This move by GameStop seems pretty strange, considering the fact that it was the Pro Membership benefits that helped them in competing with the rivals.
GameStop had an advantage in the market, as Amazon had eliminated their discount offers and Best Buy Gamer’s club also came to end. However, GameStop was left behind due to Walmart’s bold move of selling new release titles for a less of $10 than others.
The company has planned to turn the entire scenario around but there are doubts that whether they will succeed or not. The creation of specialty stores might confuse the consumers and it might prove to become the final nail in the coffin. The fans have to wait and watch to see what happens next.
