GameStop Permanently Closes 300 More Stores Due To Financial Uncertainty

GameStop is facing 300 permanent closures this year. This news came via an earnings call that the company made, revealing the trouble that the company is currently under. It is also revealed that the company “plans to meet or exceed” the number of closures that it made last year, where 321 shops permanently closed.

The earnings call focused mainly on the financial uncertainty this year, where the biggest root was from the current novel coronavirus pandemic, according to IGN. In an ironic turn of events, however, they did admit that the current lockdown helped business as sales went up by 2 percent since the outbreak started.

GameStop made a profit during the fourth quarter last year and a decrease in net loss for the full fiscal year. From $673 million, it turned in a total of $470.9 million in profit this year. The business call also mentioned GameInformer, a GameStop media outlet that had laid off employees last year. The company has plans to “build value” in the brand, though it didn’t really go into detail about that.

Staying open during the lockdown may be GameStop’s best bet. According to Kotaku, some stores remained open despite state and city lockdowns in light of coronavirus outbreaks. It did say that their stores are an “essential retail” for consumers comparable to pharmacies and groceries. This should also exempt it from being forcibly closed.

On the other hand, some employees have expressed their fear of keeping their shops open during the COVID-19 outbreak. Some think the response to the outbreak had been “misguided and indefensible.” Since then, GameStop had closed down its stores in adherence to CDC guidelines and after it came under fire for remaining open despite the lockdown.