GameStop has announced that it will be bringing back some stores across the country, beginning with the first on September 11. The formerly ubiquitous video game brick-and-mortar retailer has been notoriously going through some tough times for over a decade. There have been rumors over the years that the well-known store, which is a household name for gaming enthusiasts in the United States, was going kaputt, and many people feign surprise that GameStop still exists. But happily for many, the retailer seems to not only be hanging on but actually reviving formerly closed locations.
Stores have been being closed intermittently over the years, and GameStop kicked off 2026 by shutting down about 300 locations. While many people claim not to like the gaming retailer, mainly given its infamously low compensation for trade-in games and consoles, the closure of so many stores still marks a sobering end of an era. There was a time when there was a GameStop store on seemingly every other corner, and many people fondly remember standing in line for midnight game launches. The magazine Game Informer, which had been in print for over 30 years and was acquired by GameStop in 2000, was shutdown and its digital archive lost in August 2024. Luckily, Gunzilla Games revived the publication in June 2025.
In a recent Twitter post, GameStop revealed that it will be reopening select stores nationwide beginning with a location in Brooklyn, Ohio, on September 11. Just how many brick-and-mortar locations will be making a reappearance has not been revealed, but many responses under the social media post express a bit of dubiousness. This seems largely due to the fact that many former GameStop stores have already been taken over by other retailers in many areas, with comments like “my local one is a poke restaurant now” and “it’s a stupid vape shop now.” And the path for reopening and, more importantly, remaining financially viable will be an uphill one for the retailer.
One of the more obvious obstacles for the long-term health of a video game retailer is of course the decline in popularity of physical media, a fate that seems undeniable now that PlayStation has officially declared it will stop producing physical media beginning in January 2028. However, that may not be more than a minor inconvenience to the game store. In July, GameStop's CEO Ryan Cohen said that software sales are actually irrelevant, whether physical or digital, to the retailer. According to the exec, software sales make up less than 12% of the company's business. Collectibles, on the other hand, are where it's at, and gamers who regularly trek to their local GameStop to stock up on Pokemon cards and Funko POP figurines can probably attest to the veracity of that.
GameStop also still has its eyes set on acquiring eBay, at least as recently as July 2026. Despite the company's rumored financial struggles, CEO Cohen has said that GameStop is "coming for eBay one way or another." The opening offer of $56 million was outright rejected by the e-commerce company, though that doesn't mean the idea has completely disintegrated. Cohen seems to believe that the acquisition could result in a powerhouse video game merch and collectible marketplace. And with the reopening of several stores across the country, it's clear that GameStop has not yet given up the ghost or given in to many doomsayers' outlook about the company's future.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/gamestop-closed-stores-coming-back/
