Headlines

GameStop Pivots Back to Brick-and-Mortar

After its e-commerce push fell short of expectations, the videogame retailer is hitting the reset button

Published

1 year ago

March 30, 2023

VMSD Staff

GameStop Pivots Back to Brick-and-Mortar — Photography: iStock

Photography: iStock

When Ryan Cohen took the reins at GameStop (Grapevine, Texas) in early 2021, his turnaround plan relied heavily on e-commerce. However, it became clear that wasn’t working last year, so Cohen has returned to an emphasis on bricks-and-mortar and cut e-commerce spending, according to LinkedIn News and The Wall Street Journal.

The company halted construction of warehouses for online orders, an e-commerce customer-service center was shuttered and hundreds of corporate jobs were cut.

Last week, those steps helped GameStop report its first profit in two years. While revenue dipped 1 percent, its stock jumped more than 40 percent on the news that the company was back in the black.

Even with a renewed emphasis on stores, the chain has a long way to go to reach its previous plateau in that category. According to a variety of published reports, GameStop currently operates a total of about 4400 stores, including just under 3000 in the U.S. As recently as 2017, the company operated a total of more than 7100 locales.

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