In what sounds like the lovechild of a Blockbuster video store and Netflix’s DVD rental service, GameStop is launching a new video game rental program called PowerPass that gives customers unlimited access to used games. [More]
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GameStop Will Open On Thanksgiving This Year Because… Employees Want To?
By 8.1.17 — Updated: 8.2.17
For the last few years, GameStop, likely owner of your local AT&T store, has decided not to take part in the Thanksgiving Day retail frenzy in much of the rest of the mall. This year, though, there’s a new Nintendo console to sell, and employees asked the chain to open up on the holiday. Wait, what? [More]
There’s A Decent Chance Your Local AT&T Store Is Actually Owned By GameStop
By 6.21.17 — Updated: 6.22.17
When you walk into a store with an “AT&T” sign overhead, you might assume that the employees you’re speaking with work for AT&T. The telecom giant’s sweet-but-bemused store manager character “Lily” may have dominated the company’s TV advertising over the past three years, but what you may not know is that a growing number of AT&T-branded stores are actually owned and operated by third-party companies. [More]
Mom Says GameStop Sold Her A Used Copy Of Grand Theft Auto With Meth Inside
By 5.11.17
Grand Theft Auto is supposed to give players a taste of the underworld, but one mother says that the used copy that she bought for her son at GameStop went a little too far, with a small bag of methamphetamine inside the case. Now she’s warning other parents to check used video games for things that don’t belong in the cases. [More]
GameStop May Be The Latest Loser In Data Breach Roulette
By 4.7.17
Add a new certainty to the old pair of “death and taxes”: data breaches. GameStop may be the latest retailer to face this inevitability, with a new report indicating that customer data has been stolen from its website. [More]
GameStop Closing At Least 150 Stores This Year Amid Falling Sales
By 3.24.17
Efforts by GameStop to drum up business — through the phenomenon that was Pokemon Go and diversifying its portfolio by acquiring more than 500 new AT&T dealer stores — were no match for consumers’ changing preference for digital downloads over physical copies. To that end, the struggling retailer will close at least 150 stores by the end of the year. [More]
Your GameStop Said New Copies Of That Game You Want Are Out Of Stock… Are They?
By 2.2.17
As Wells Fargo rather spectacularly demonstrated in recent months, putting too much pressure on employees to notch up a certain kind of sale can lead to a perverse incentive: Employees who need to keep their jobs may try increasingly underhanded things just to meet an impossible metric. This week, a report suggests that the latest set of employees who might be lying through their face to you just to keep their jobs are the ones selling video games. [More]
Nordstrom Rack, hhgregg, TJMaxx Also Want You To Know They’re Closed On Thanksgiving Day
By 10.12.16 — Updated: 10.13.16
For the last half-decade or so, the beginning of Black Friday has gradually crept back, with mainstream American retailers giving the shopping holiday precedence over the actual holiday, opening on Thanksgiving Day. Then the trend reversed, as retailers came to realize that they could harvest good publicity by staying closed on the holiday and making sure that the public knows it. We’re guessing that they didn’t earn enough money to make opening on the holiday worth their while. [More]
11-Year-Old Finds Bag Of Meth Inside Video Game He Bought At GameStop
By 9.2.16
Unexpected freebies that come with a purchase are one thing, but bags filled with meth stashed in a video game case, well, that’s a case for law enforcement. [More]
GameStop Says Pokémon Go Has Boosted Some Stores’ Sales By 100%
By 7.18.16
As we know, some businesses have embraced the Pokémon Go craze as a way to drum up business. That became more evident over the weekend as GameStop used its status in the game to increase sales at some stores by 100%. [More]
GameStop’s New Venture: GameTrust, A Game Publisher
By 4.18.16
Realizing that the business of selling consoles and physical copies of new and used games in malls won’t last forever, GameStop has been working to diversify its business, acquiring related businesses ranging from third-party Apple store chain Simply Mac to pop culture purveyor ThinkGeek. The company is now starting a new venture even more closely related to its core business: GameTrust, which will publish games from outside developers, and distribute them to its customers. [More]
GameStop Is Not Going To Change Its Name Anytime Soon
By 4.15.16
GameStop’s executives predict that three years from now, at least half of the company’s revenues will come from things that aren’t games. Should they think about changing their name, then? Nah, CEO Paul Raines said in an interview this week: they could change their name in the future, but for now games are still what they’re about. Like most things in life, though, that could change in the future. [More]
GameStop Now Lets You Order Items Online Even If They’re In A Store And Not A Warehouse
By 3.2.16
Most retailers still have a bit of a brick wall between their online and offline presences, and it can create challenges for consumers. To fight that, GameStop has decided to bring a bit of the 21st century to their operation, with a nationwide “ship from store” program. [More]
GameStop Planning To Sell Sony VR Headset In The Fall
By 2.16.16
We’ve been hearing about the Sony VR since it was dubbed “Project Morpheus,” but as much as the tech giant loves to show it off, Sony has yet to give a firm release window for the virtual reality headset. However, GameStop CEO Paul Raines tipped his cards on that schedule during an interview this morning. [More]
Target Jumps On Gift Card Exchange Bandwagon; Offers Customers Less Than Cards Are Worth
By 12.28.15
With the bulk of the holiday celebrations having come and gone, you might be sitting around the dried-out Christmas tree counting up all those random gift cards you received. While you appreciate the generosity of your friends and family, you just don’t have any desire to make a purchase with said cards. To that end, a number of retailers are willing to offer you a trade; joining the ranks of Walmart, GameStop, and Coinstar this year is Target. [More]
GameStop Proudly Announces It Will Not Sell You Video Games On Thanksgiving
By 10.12.15
If you wanted to get away from your family this Thanksgiving and buy video games and/or video game accessories, you’ll have to do it somewhere other than GameStop. The chain announced today that it will not be open on Nov. 26. [More]
GameStop To Sell Steam Hardware Even Though It Can’t Sell You Games To Play On It
By 10.6.15
Why would a store want to sell you something that could mean you will not need to walk through its doors again? We don’t know, but GameStop is doing it anyway: the brick-and-mortar retailer will be selling Steam hardware next month — game consoles that are designed for digital video games purchased on the Steam marketplace… the exact kind of games you won’t find at GameStop. [More]
GameStop Ditches Digital Downloads In Console Bundles
By 9.18.15
With consumers abandoning their stacks of CDs, DVDs and video games in favor of digital downloads that can easily be viewer or played for any number of devices, GameStop’s latest attempt to keep its bread-and-butter — the sale of trade-ins — goes against the no-disc trend: only selling game console bundles that include physical discs. [More]
