GameStop is a Texas-based video game retailer. - DEPOSIT PHOTOS
GameStop is a Texas-based video game retailer. - DEPOSIT PHOTOS
Kimberly Redmond//March 28, 2025//
After shuttering nearly 1,000 stores globally over the past year, GameStop expects to reduce its footprint further in the coming months.
In a March 25 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Texas-based video game retailer said it plans to close “a significant number” of locations, but that a “specific set of stores has not been identified for closure.”
As of February, the chain operated 3,203 outposts worldwide, with about 2,325 stores in the U.S. At its peak a decade ago, GameStop had over 6,000 total locations.
New Jersey has seen several GameStop stores go dark in recent years. The retailer still has about 50 locations left in the state.
The waves of closures come as the company has found it difficult to sell video games, consumer electronics and gaming merchandise in its stores as more consumers shift to buying games online and streaming.
Between 2018 and 2023, GameStop saw five chief executive officers depart after failed attempts to turn the business around.
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Since September 2023, Ryan Cohen, a billionaire activist investor who founded Chewy, has been GameStop’s CEO. Cohen bought a financial stake in GameStop in 2020 and became board chairman in June 2021. He reportedly does not receive a salary.
In its fourth quarter earnings report released March 25, GameStop said its net sales declined about 28.5% year over year during the period to $1.3 billion.
The dip in sales for the 2024 holiday season followed the company’s warning to investors that digital gaming was a major threat to its business.
In September 2024, GameStop said it was conducting a store portfolio optimization review that could “result in the closure of a larger number of stores than we have closed in the past few years,” Retail Dive reported at the time.
As part of GameStop’s pivot away from retail, the company plans to invest heavily in bitcoin to help boost the profitability of its business. The chain also announced it is attempting to raise $1.3 billion to fund the buying spree, but did not say if there’s maximum amount of bitcoin it may accumulate. GameStop also didn’t say if it may sell any of the cryptocurrency it acquires.
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