GRAPEVINE, Texas, September 12 — GameStop is reopening recently closed stores nationwide, the company confirmed, a move that runs against a US retail sector still cutting physical space at a record pace. The bottom line: the Grapevine, Texas-based video game and consumer electronics retailer, founded in 1984 and trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GME, has not disclosed how many stores it is reopening or where they are. The reopenings began September 11.
The company has not explained the strategic rationale, and no official statement from GameStop executives was available at the time of this report.
A store base that has been shrinking
The numbers tell the story of the past few years. GameStop reported 4,816 stores as of January 28, 2023, down from 5,089 a year earlier, according to its annual filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company announced in 2023 that it would close an unspecified number of stores and lay off staff.
Investors will note the losses. GameStop reported a net loss of $313 million for fiscal year 2022 and a net loss of $6.8 million for fiscal year 2023, per SEC filings.
In its most recent quarterly report, the company disclosed a decline in net sales. It ended fiscal year 2023 with $1.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents, according to its annual report.
Retail’s broader retreat
The reopenings land in a brutal stretch for brick-and-mortar retail. US retailers announced more than 4,600 store closures in 2023, according to Coresight Research, and the figure exceeded 7,000 in 2024. Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy in April 2023 and closed hundreds of locations.
GameStop’s own history explains why its store count matters. The company became a cultural and financial phenomenon in 2021 when retail investors coordinated on social media to drive its share price sharply higher, an episode known as the GameStop short squeeze.
Leadership has shifted repeatedly since: founder and former CEO George Sherman departed in 2021, and Ryan Cohen, co-founder of Chewy and chairman of GameStop’s board, became CEO in September 2023. Beyond discs and consoles, GameStop has expanded into collectibles and trading cards under its GameStop Collectibles brand. In 2022 it launched an NFT marketplace, then wound it down in 2023.
The retailer faces competition from digital game downloads and streaming services, which have eroded demand for physical game discs. Its stores also serve as hubs for used game trade-ins, a business that has declined as console makers push digital storefronts.
The company has not announced whether the reopened stores will feature new formats or services. What to watch next: store counts and locations, expected as the September 11 reopening date passes, and whether GameStop pairs the expansion with a format or service change it has so far declined to detail.
