GameStop, once the stomping ground for video game enthusiasts seeking physical copies of the latest titles, has been steadily reducing its presence in malls and shopping centers across the nation. In a continuation of a trend that saw a "significant number" of store closures throughout its fiscal year 2025, the retailer shuttered 590 locations nationwide in the previous fiscal year and has not yet disclosed the full extent of its latest reductions. The company's struggles are due in part to the rise of digital game downloads and stiff competition from online retailers like Amazon, as reported by FOX B32 Chicago.
Within the Chicago area, 19 GameStop branches have been earmarked for closure, with at least 10 already having ceased operations. A "comprehensive store portfolio optimization review" conducted by the company, based on individual store performance and wider market conditions, has driven these decisions. In a report provided by NBC Chicago, the locations within the city that have closed or are slated to close span from the northwest Indiana suburbs to the heart of Chicago itself.
Amid reports of revenue declines, GameStop's December earnings showed a drop of $39.3 million from the previous year, underscoring the ongoing financial challenges the company is facing. Efforts to adapt included a revised investment policy to allow for Bitcoin investment as articulated in early 2025, in an attempt to optimize investment returns, the company said. When the company granted its CEO, Ryan Cohen, a performance-based stock option intended to incentivize growth, his profits hinged on GameStop's market cap soaring to an ambitious $100 billion, far from its current valuation of $9 billion, as FOX 32 Chicago stated.
While GameStop's descent has been chronicled alongside the broader trend of brick-and-mortar retail struggles, it found a second life as a "meme stock" in 2021, fueled by retail investors from Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets. The retailer's stock saw dramatic movement, albeit with a loss of over 34% in the past twelve months, suggesting that the company's challenges extend beyond its physical retail presence and into the realm of its market performance, according to FOX 32 Chicago.
