GameStop will be closing more stores than their estimate in March of this year. The estimate was 320 and now on September 9, during an earnings call, it came up that around 400-450 of the 5,122 stores now open will be closed.
This of course does not mean the downsizing will not continue in the next year, Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell suggested even more stores would close next year.
Thanks to CNN and their story where they point out GameStop’s increase in online sales in the second quarter of 2020. While the retailer did attempt to bill its stores as “essential retail” during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic this year, for a period of time starting in March 2020 it did close its doors to customers and rely on online purchase and curbside pickups. The earnings call said online sales accounted for 20% of all sales and were up 800%.
GameStop stores appear globally, though the number of them will be cut by 400-450 in 2020. As part of its other 2020 affairs and adjustments, former Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime was added as an independent member of the company’s board of directors.
