Bye Bye Game!

[[TW]Fox]

Presumably they couldn't ditch the stores beforehand due to contracts, it's the only thing that makes sense. If not, the management was truly questionable!

The duplicate store issue has existed effectively since 1998 and the purchase of Game by EB, and practically since 2002 when the former EB stores rebanded to Game.

Short term store closures may have been a contractual thing but seriously, they had 10 years to slim the operation to something slightly more practical. In some towns the two stores were literally OPPOSITE each other. In the good old days it seemed nobody minded as they had two stores in a town turning a good profit, but this just hid the problem. Two profitable stores - two lots of fixed costs = less profit.

Exactly. This is a business that turns over something like £1.4bn a year - if they can cut costs it could be a profitable, viable business in a slimmed down form.

It would seem from news stories the 277 stores closed were those not making a profit. This would imply all remaining stores are profitable, which should vastly increase the chances of finding a buyer. Nobody would have wanted to take it on with a liability as big as 2000 staff in 277 unprofitable stores.

 

[thingemajib]

i was expecting one of the hanley ones to go seeing as one is literally above the other in the same shopping center but not both of them...

 

[3dcandy]

both obviously performing badly...though if I remember correctly, the victoria centre (right name?) is very expensive rent wise...

 

[mithrandir]

Was going to wait and see if Star Wars The Old Republic collectors edition came down any further in price. But now the store that had two copies has closed, and the website is down.

When I checked the other day it was just under £50 (the big box one with statue, etc)

 

[thingemajib]

both obviously performing badly...though if I remember correctly, the victoria centre (right name?) is very expensive rent wise...

potteries shopping center. ony victoria thing i can think of in stoke is victoria halls which is a concert hall

 

[HangTime]

Gotta say I agree with the comments about running multiple stores being a bit strange, e.g. in Southampton there should be EB 5mins walk from Game, then EB merged with Game but they kept the small EB store open. Game had a big shopping centre store at the time which would have seen much greater football I would imagine.

Likewise in Salisbury, EB changed to Game but then they bought gamestation who had a small high street store. Running two shops within 5mins walk of each other again.

Normally when you see mergers there is a degree of rationalisation, OK so maybe the 'backend' stuff like finance, HR etc saw efficiencies of scale but in a market where shelfspace was getting slightly less important (shrinking from big boxes to DVD cases, move to online sales and digital distribution etc) having so much floor space must have cost them a lot.

 

[Wizzfizz]

Our local Gamestation closed over the weekend.

 

[3dcandy]

potteries shopping center. ony victoria thing i can think of in stoke is victoria halls which is a concert hall

Been years since I worked in Hanley to be fair. But yes, I'm pretty sure rents there are extremely high...

 

[ToejaM]

Newport store is closed, was hoping for a cheap bargain!

Has posters in the window saying things like "Gutted We've Closed.. goto Gamestation"

 

[Anon-e-mouse]

I am surprised people are not blaming piracy for part of the downfall of GAME Remember kids, one download = one lost sale.

It's been proved time and time again, that a download isn't a lost sale. Often it's a gained sale.

Go and have a chat with Gabe or Notch..

 

[buchtis]

Anon-e-mouse, look up sarcasm.

 

[Huw]

Yeah Anon, I think it's quite obvious that was sarcasm, otherwise I would've been saying the same thing you did.

 

[jrodga2k5]

Well my mate is relieved for now, the Motherwell Gamestation Store stayed open so he's still in a job

It's either going to go the pre-pack administration route or a buyer, certainly by closing so many stores it will be a much more sustainable business. Out of the 5 in Glasgow City Centre they closed 2xGames and 1xGamestation, there really was no need for them all when they were all within walking distance of one another. Seemed crazy!

 

[gothic_hobbit]

I miss the days of Future Zone and Electronics Boutique.

I won't miss GAME that's for sure !

They dug their own grave.

 

[opstrat]

I miss the days of Future Zone and Electronics Boutique.

I won't miss GAME that's for sure !

They dug their own grave.

+1

turns out a guy in a suit came into game and says, we should have a shop on every high street and shopping centre. pretty much down hill from there.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I miss the days of Future Zone and Electronics Boutique.

I won't miss GAME that's for sure !

Game is Electronics Boutique, and Electronics Boutique was Future Zone. They were the same firm...

 

[ZG002]

Game is Electronics Boutique, and Electronics Boutique was Future Zone. They were the same firm...

It's amazing how many people come into this thread or the other Game thread don't read any of it and say "Well why did they open so many shops?" etc

Getting annoying.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Game is Electronics Boutique, and Electronics Boutique was Future Zone. They were the same firm...

Same firm, but things certainly changed when the name changed. The GAME of today is nothing like Electronics Boutique used to be. GAME has been going downhill for a long time, and their inability to adapt to the changing market is just one of their many problems.

It is just a shame how few people will discover PC gaming these days. It was so prevalent back in my day - these days it is a struggle to find PC games anywhere!

 

[Inazuma]

Saw GAME today in Middlesbrough town centre. Still open, but shelves were starting to empty. And yet, the posters said "Spring cleaning sale!" rather than "Goodbye" or something to that effect. Why still lie?

 

[3dcandy]

because it's not in their interests to say "Bye" is it? They want to sell the company as a going concern...whether they can or not is a different matter though