Out with the old, in with the new.
You might head over to your local GameStop store soon and be met with a “For Rent” sign, as GameStop is closing down 120 to 130 of their 6,457 locations. This might come as a shock to many as it would be assumed that with the release of the Xbox One and Playstation 4 consoles, which cost $500 and $400 respectively, the video game behemoth would be thriving — which would be an accurate assumption. GameStop’s Chief Executive, Paul Raines has actually predicted that the console game market will increase to $18 billion in worth be about 2015, with GameStop in line to reap the benefit.
The closing of the stores is actually in an attempt to upsize the company, expanding upon it’s current side ventures — Spring Mobile, Cricket Wireless and Simply Mac. Spring Mobile and Cricket Wireless are GameStop’s AT&T powered prepaid device stores, which are expected to increase by 200 and 150 respectively as part of what Raines is calling “GameStop 3.0”. Simply Mac, the GameStop branch which sells Apple products, will also receive 20 to 25 new stores. So, GameStop will have a firm foot planted in the wireless market following this expansion, with it’s video game presence to continually grow as well.
So fear not, GameStop enthusiasts, bigger and better things are on the horizon.
-Khari Clarke (@KINGCLARKEIII)
