GameStop

It would appear that Krampus rolled up to GameStop, stuffed its holiday sales in his sack, and ran away.

In other words, if GameStop was expecting some holiday cheer, the Texas-based retailer of games and collectibles got a steaming heap of coal instead. You get the idea.

Sales at GameStop fell a whopping 27.5% compared to the 2018 season. Comparable same-store sales for the season — the shortest since 2013 — fell 24.7% compared to a 1.5% increase during the previous holiday run. The news follows a downward trend that has been accelerating over the past year, with a 25% decline for the third quarter following a 14.3% drop in the second quarter.

Following some successes in growing its presence in the toys and collectibles space last year and adding a lot of exclusive merch, the downward spiral picked up steam last summer as the company began shuttering its ThinkGeek subsidiary. In the months since, GameStop shuttered its long-running Game Informer magazine, went through rounds of corporate layoffs in August and November, and revealed plans to close as many as 200 of its underperforming stores.

At the same time, GameStop  revealed plans to reinvent its stores by entering into a strategic partnership with R/GA — a global innovation and design firm — with a goal of creating “unique in-store experiences” as the company seeks to “re-affirm its place in the video gaming culture.”

Even that might be too little, too late as other players, such as Playlive Nation, have entered the game and are quickly leveling up.

GameStop CEO George Sherman continues to lean on the fact that we’re in the lull before a new console year, but can the arrival of Sony’s Playstation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X keep the company afloat?

Photo: GameStop

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

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