GameStop To Close More Than 300 Stores In 2020

GameStop has announced plans to close more than 300 stores in 2020, though the retailer was careful to note that this is part of an ongoing plan and not a response to recent trends. Chief financial officer Jim Bell announced the closures during the company's latest fiscal earnings call.

Specifically, Bell said that the closures this year will be roughly similar to the closures in 2019, when it closed roughly 320 store locations on net. GameStop currently operates roughly 5,500 stores around the world.

"In fiscal 2020, we will continue in our efforts to de-densify our store base, focused on maximizing product productivity of the entire fleet," Bell said, via Gamasutra. "[We] anticipate store closures to be equal to or more than 320 net closures we saw in fiscal 2019 on a global basis. Importantly, we want to emphasize that these store closures are a very specific and proactive part of our de-densification plan and they are not related to recent business trends."

GameStop's business practices were in the spotlight recently, as it claimed it was "essential retail" in response to state mandates to close all non-essential businesses, and therefore should be allowed to remain open. It ultimately relented, though, closing stores to foot traffic and instead offering curbside pickup for online orders.